MSAV

"Microsoft antivirus" redirects here. For the later Microsoft anti-virus product, see Microsoft Security Essentials. For a malware masquerading as an antivirus, see MS Antivirus (malware).
Microsoft Anti-Virus
Developer(s)Central Point Software
Initial releaseMarch 30, 1993; 31 years ago (1993-03-30)
Operating systemDOS, Windows 3.1x
PlatformIA-32
SizeMSAV.EXE: 236 KB
VSAFE.COM: 62 KB
Virus Definitions: 60 KB
Available inEnglish
TypeAntivirus software
LicenseProprietary

Microsoft Anti-Virus (MSAV) is an antivirus program introduced by Microsoft for its MS-DOS operating system.[1] The program first appeared in MS-DOS version 6.0 (1993[2]) and last appeared in MS-DOS 6.22. The first version of the antivirus program was basic, had no inbuilt update facility (updates had to be obtained from a BBS and manually installed by the user) and could scan for 1,234 different viruses.[3] Microsoft Anti-Virus for Windows (MWAV), included as part of the package, was a front end that allowed MSAV to run properly on Windows 3.1x.

In 2009, Microsoft launched an in-house antivirus solution named Microsoft Security Essentials, which later was phased out in favor of Microsoft Defender.

  1. ^ A History of Microsoft MS-DOS and Windows (and its main competitors) on the 8086 Processor family Archived 2006-02-24 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Wolverton, Van (2003). Running MS-DOS Version 6.22 (20th Anniversary Edition), 6th Revised edition. Microsoft Press. ISBN 0-7356-1812-7.
  3. ^ List of viruses detectable by MSAV