I’m aware that while there are a lot of people glad to see me writing about Linux, I must say that it’s not the only operating system I use. And if you read my security suggestions, along side common sense, I’ve also recommended that people run an anti-virus and keep their patches up to date, along with an HIPS, the one of choice I have is WinPatrol.
I’ve used it’s paid version for a long time, and I suppose that makes me very biased, as it’s one of the first things I install on a Windows operating system, and it’s the one thing that remains constant so long as I use Windows. I’ve recommended it to several people as well who need a quick free tuneup. But before I rave too much about it, let me get into it’s features.
- Startup Programs – Like it’s name suggests, is used to see what programs are in the Startup, but works in tandem with the Delayed Start tab
- Delayed Start – If you have something in the Startup that you must have launched, but takes a lot of resources, you can delay it from anywhere from 10 seconds to 61 minutes after boot (give or take), to make your boot ups faster
- ActiveX – Provides insight into what’s adding itself to IE via ActiveX and can also tell you want is already installed, great for watching your security
- IE Helpers – Like ActiveX, tells you about what’s loaded into IE at the time, great for watching out for drive by downloads
- Scheduled Tasks – Tells you what is in Windows Task Scheduler, will help to troubleshoot anything going wrong
- Services – Tells you the services that are enabled and running at the moment, as well as the disabled ones
- Active Tasks – Much like the task manager built into Windows
- Cookies – Lists the cookies inside your computer and can actively delete them
- A File Extension watcher, to see if something changes that .TXT from Notepad to Notepad++
- A list of hidden files on your computer, to watch for any hidden malware
- A list of recent files to help with malware clean up, including a “Delete on Reboot” option
- With the Plus subscription, you also get easy to understand definitions of what something is and what it could be
It is easily one of the best tools I’ve paid for, and while $30 is expensive, considering that the license is a lifetime one, and can be installed as many or as little computers as you own, it is one of the best deals in terms of computer software. I highly recommend it for the power user or the users that don’t know very much about computers. With the ability to kill and delete a file on reboot, it really deserves a place in everyone’s toolkit. WinPatrol remains to this day on all my computer, due to the shear amount of power it allows me to have over my computer. While I admit, there are other tools that do other portions of this program, the fact that this is an all-in-one solution that weighs in at less then 2 mb, there’s no reason not to run this on a Netbook, a Laptop, or even a top-of-the-line gaming PC. I have no issues at all with this program, and I actually use the portable version in a USB drive to help others out. It supports all the way back to Windows 98, upwards and including Windows 7 64 bit. It’s one of those programs you’ve got to try to believe how amazing it is.
And while the free version is amazing in itself, Bill Pytlovany, (the developer of WinPatrol) has given me three licenses to give away to three random commenters on this post for the paid version. On Sunday, Midnight Atlantic Daylight Time, I’ll announce the winners on this post, who will then receive an email from Bill Pytlovany with their licenses. The rules are very simple:
Make sure you’re signed up for the newsletter
Comment on this post about why you’d like to receive a license, doesn’t have to be long.
That’s it, the winners will be decided via Random.org, best of luck to all who enter!
UPDATE: Congrats to our winners, they have been decided, they should be receiving their emails and licenses for WinPatrol Pro soon!
Congratulations to Leandro, Cesar Jimenez, and Andre, our winners!
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