Tool Tuesday: WinPatrol

My past years of experience in maintaining computers, both of mine and my friends has taught me that people are not very aware of SpyWare. Agreed that this is a lot better than a few years back when spyware was just beginning to raise its ugly head.

We have several spyware tools (which I shall look at in the coming weeks) that will work wonders after the spyware has infected your PC. However, what is really needed is a tool that prevents the infection in the first place. One such tool is WinPatrol.

WinPatrol is a small program featuring Scotty who is a little virtual doggy who will look after your PC and keep it safe.

WinPatrol comes with a host of features. The primary focus of the program is to control which programs should startup automatically with your computer.
You also have the option of delaying the startup of certain programs so as to speed up the initial boot up of the operating system.

You can also control which addons are added to Internet Explorer, the Scheduled Tasks, Active Tasks, Cookies, Services, Hidden Files and various File Types.

WinPatrol also offers a Plus edition with 24/7 connection to their online database for looking up information about programs, real-time infiltration detection and search for hidden startup entries.

This is a great first level prevention worth running if you’re new to computers and are not able to recognize risky programs and sites. For advanced users, it offers piece of mind to know that nothing will slip through your strong defences.

- Download WinPatrol