WinPatrol

WinPatrol Plus v10.0.3.0
Publisher: BillP Studios (http://www.winpatrol.com/)
Category: System Protection Utility Price: $29.95

WinPatrol is an easy to easy-to-use, powerful program will let you take back some control of what runs on your computer.

The WinPatrol program is freeware. It doesn't cost you anything. You can download it for free from WinPatrol.com.

WinPatrol Plus has a few more functions than the standard WinPatrol. The real value that I've found in WinPatrol Plus is its online database. It has one more function in the program. More importantly, it gives you access to WinPatrol.com's online database of programs and recommendations. WinPatrol Plus is $29.95, which includes a "lifetime license." I find that the small charge is money well spent, especially since the license includes all of your family's PCs -- you don't purchase a license for each machine!

In addition to handling startup programs, WinPatrol lets you control and uninstall "IE Helpers" (also known as "Browser Helper Objects"). These are sometimes-useful extensions to Internet Explorer that add functionality to I.E. Unfortunately, there seem to be a whole lot more adware BHO's than helpful BHO's. If you get popups every time you start Internet Explorer, no matter where you go on the Internet, that is a sign of a BHO. Some of them are trojan downloaders - they download programs you haven't requested onto your computer automatically.

WinPatrol also shows you Scheduled Tasks and lets you remove them. It shows you details of all the "Services" that are part of or added to Windows XP and lets you stop or start them. You can also change whether they start automatically or not. You can control your cookies in IE and Firefox. You can change file assocations, e.g., ".xls files open in Word" can be changed to ".xls files open in OpenOffice." There are several more neat functions in WinPatrol.

WinPatrol is also a system protection utility. WinPatrol operates by scanning every few minutes for changes. If it finds certain changes, e.g. a program that is now set to start automatically, WinPatrol's Scotty dog (it's logo, who sits in the Windows Status bar) barks and a window opens to ask you if you want to allow the program to start automatically. It similarly protects the Windows "Hosts" file, Internet Explorer browser helper objects, and other components.

Download and check out WinPatrol. It does not add a large burden to your system and it can help keep your system clean and functioning. I run it on all my computers.