WinPatrol can help you keep your computer safe from ill-intentioned applications. It focuses on detecting malware executed along with system startup. It has an intuitive tabbed interface. Thus, by clicking on the corresponding tab, you can have easy access to the desired function. However, I feel that there are too many tabs, perhaps because of the huge number of features available. Unfortunately, you will not be able to switch to some of the tabs because they are not activated in the trial version.
WinPatrol works mainly by letting you decide which programs should really start along with the system. One of its assets is that it can display not only common startup entries but those included in the so-called “secret startup locations.” It allows you to view information about startup entries, disable or delete unnecessary ones, or add new ones. Besides, you can also delay the execution of given applications so that your system takes less time to boot.
In addition to controlling your startup lists, WinPatrol can also be used to monitor Windows Task Scheduler and remove unnecessary or potentially dangerous tasks. Similarly, you can also view other lists, such as cookies, file types, hidden files, and recently executed programs.
In general, the information provided by WinPatrol can help you effectively prevent malware infections. As it runs from the System Tray, it continuously alerts when an application tries to include itself in the Startup list. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of this program depends on the user’s skills to take appropriate decisions.
v28.9 [Sep 5, 2013]
1. Notification.
WinPatrol will now send a message letting you know when a new build is available. When this notification is displayed we also change the text on the PLUS screen to remind you.
2. Windows 8 Task Manager.
Instead of using MSConfig, Windows 8 includes a list of Startup programs as a tab in the Task Manager. Users can disable startup programs using the Windows Task Manager. While WinPatrol's "Disable" feature includes additional features it now recognizes choices made by the Task Manager and will alert Task Manager when files are disabled by WinPatrol. As in the past WinPatrol will monitor programs which are disabled so if they are forced back to normal by a partner program, WinPatrol will automatically reset them to disabled unless you click to Enable the program. (Windows 8 only)
3. Installation Program
The WinPatrol setup program will no longer launch regedit as part of the install process. In the past, regedit was used to set some useful examples on how to use the feature that allows WinPatrol to monitor any registry location. Launching regedit was not acceptable to some secure systems and with so many different versions of Windows not all of our examples were useful on all platforms. A help file is still easily accessible on the Registry Monitoring tab.
4. Windows XP Enhancement..
As part of our dedication to XP users we've improved performance that can sometimes be affected by large Temp Internet Folders or hard drives with little space. Even if you don't use Internet Explorer unrelated quirks can sometimes occur when the temp file grows too large. For more information on healthy temp files reading Free #1 Tweak to Improve Windows Performance While for safety we recommend XP users upgrade to Windows 8 before the end of support from Microsoft next April, WinPatrol will continue to detect changes including zero-day infiltrations on Windows XP systems. (Windows XP SP2 & SP3 and Windows Vista users.)
Mall Creeps
