Win Patrol: a strong recommendation

Question

for those of you who haven't heard of it, WinPatrol ('Scotty the Windows Watch-Dog') is a really neat program to have running on your system.  Among other things, it's a rather complete start-up manager...  it tells you what's automatically running every time you turn on your PC... and it very easily allows you to manage this... by adding programs to start-up... by TEMPORARILY disabling programs from startup... or by deleting programs from start-up.   A particularly strong feature of WinPatrol... for many of the 'mean' programs that 'insist' on trying to re-insert themselves over and over again at start-up (such as MSN messenger, for those who don't want it to auto-boot)... if you can get WinPatrol to 'temporarily' DISABLE the startup (rather than 'delete' the startup entry), WinPatrol will 'remember' this... and if that program tries to re-insert itself at a later date, WinPatrol won't let it get thru.  (In contrast, a 'deleted' start-entry is 'forgotten', and CAN be re-instated more simply).   the first time you install/run it, it will present you with the entire list of auto-booting programs, for you to determine their future status.   you have to be careful here... to allow what you need or want... and DISallow any 'bad' programs.  but of course, if you accidentally  give permission for something by mistake, you can always disable or delete its startup at a later time. You must also be very careful in the future... every time you install or update a new program (including some microsoft critical updates) that try to insert themselves in your startup list, 'Scotty' will 'bark' to call this to your attention... YOU have to decide what to allow, and what to disallow... you MUST give permission for the programs you need (e.g., windows security updates) or intentionally want to install.  but most importantly, this feature can be used to warn you, in the future, when a potentially 'evil' programs tries to sneak its way in --- BEFORE it can damage your system!   by the way, you DO want to have WinPatrol itself running all the time, from Start-up.   Similarly, it will offer you a list (and control over) any Browser Helpers that you've installed (or TRY TO install in the future), with the ability to remove any you no longer want.   it monitors your actively-running tasks, and allows you to 'kill' anything you want to turn-off.   it also can monitor and protect your  Browser's HomePage/SearchPage from HiJackings (Redirections), and monitor (in fact, LOCK) your HOSTS file against any WebPage redirections.   and it can monitor (and restrict) the cookies you receive on your PC.   Yes, I realize that many (if not all) of these functions can be performed via other tools (in particular, HiJack This, or hitting Ctrl-Alt-Del to access the running Tasks), but overall, WinPatrol's approach seems much simpler to use (especially for semi-newbies).  It's tiny, both in terms of disk space, memory usage, & resource usage... and I think it's really well-worth considering. Besides, the doggie is just SO cute :smileywink:   if you're interested in reading more, and/or downloading it, go to http://www.winpatrol.com/   Message Edited by ky331 on 04-07-2005 01:08 PM

Cashe · Answer

I also use Scotty and find it to be very helpful.  And yes, the doggy is very cute! ;-) Keep up the good work.

joe53 · Answer

That's a nice summary of an excellent little program. I've used it for some time now without
any problems. In particular, it does not seem to conflict with any other anti-malware utility,
and complements (but does not replace) Spybot S&D, Ad-Aware SE, HJT, etc.

I've seen it highly recommended at a number of reputable sites, but find it odd that it hasn't
achieved the same stature that the other utilities have.

Rob9202 · Answer

Am I wrong or does the new Windows Defender provide the same service as scotty the dog?   You can find Windows Defender here... http://majorgeeks.com/Microsoft_Windows_AntiSpyware_d4466.html   I found this while trying to help a friend get some antispyware programs on his computer, and it seems windows has updated the Antispyware program to Windows Defender.  I believe this new program allows you to block and scan for viruses, and view all programs running on your computer.  Correct me if I'm wrong.

joe53 · Answer

Winpatrol is not an all-inclusive antispyware scanner, and it isn't an antivirus program.   But as an added layer of protection I find it most useful for detecting attempts to insert startup programs in my system tray. (Legitimate programs like Adobe Reader, Real player, and others are noted for this).   It also is a good information tool, combining many lists and tasks in one place: a Startup Manager, a BHO info tool, a list of scheduled tasks, a list of services and their status, a cookie viewer/filter, a file type/association list, and a Hosts file viewer. It will also detect attempts to change your IE home page, search page, Hosts file, and other important sytem files. Most of these functions can be found using various Windows and other third party utilities, but having them all in one place is very handy.   I do not consider WP a replacement for a dedicated realtime antispyware scanner (I use Counterspy and I can't comment on Windows Defender, except to note that it is still a beta program, and many are noting problems and conflicts with it.) It consumes little resources, and seems to coexist happily with my other defenses. I see no downside to adding it to one's computer.

Cashe · Answer

Not to mention, I like seeing the little doggy dancing around :smileywink:

Virus & Spyware

Win Patrol: a strong recommendation

Was this post helpful?