McAfee Virus Definitions description
McAfee virus pattern and engine updates

Virus definition, or .DAT, files contain up-to-date virus signatures and other information that Network Associates anti-virus products use to protect your computer against the thousands of computer viruses in circulation.

Whether it's VirusScan, VirusScan Pro or Internet Security Suite, make sure you have the very latest Internet protection.

Network Associates releases new .DAT files regularly to provide protection against the approximately 300 new viruses that appear each month.

To ensure that your anti-virus software can protect your system or network against the latest virus threats, download and install the latest .DAT files.

The DAT files are compatible with our anti-virus products (McAfee) that use the version 4.3.20 (or later) virus-scanning engine. We recommend that you upgrade to the latest version of the virus-scanning engine for optimal virus detection and cleaning.

We store new DAT files on our web site in several compressed formats to reduce transmission time:

- Compressed DAT Package. This file contains the DAT files, compressed in a ZIP or tar file. You can extract and install them yourself to update most of our anti-virus software. The file has a name of the format DAT-4316.ZIP or DAT-4316.tar, where 4316 is the four-digit DAT version number such as 4321.

- DAT Package Installer, or "XDAT file". This file includes the DAT files plus an executable that installs them. The file has a name of the format 4316XDAT.EXE, where 4316 is the four-digit DAT version number such as 4321.

- SuperDAT Package Installer, or "SDAT file". This file includes the DAT files plus an executable that installs them. It may also include a new virus-scanning engine and other program components. The file has a name of the format SDAT4316.EXE, where 4316 is the four-digit DAT version number such as 4321.