I have been using WinPatrol for a few years at least now,
I find it a very valuable tool to my online and offline security. I highly
recommend using the program and for those who can afford $19.95 I highly
recommend supporting BillP Studios by purchasing the product. It is a one
time cost and covers any future upgrades to the program, well worth the
cost!
Now what exactly can WinPatrol do for you? Read on and
see exactly why I find it so valuable.
The Common Features (the features found on most of the tabs)
If you are not sure of the
program or file mentioned you can click on the Info button and it will bring up a new
window (shown on the right) that will give you a bit more information about the program. For
PLUS users you can click on the PLUS Info button
and it will take you to the WinPatrol website which will provide more
information on the file and whether it is safe or not. Click this
button to see a
sample of the information that Scotty can provide for you when you are a PLUS
user. If the file does
not happen to be in the database you can provide BillP with the
information needed to add it to the database. I do know that he
works hard at keeping it up to date because the WMP10 files are already
in the database. By providing him with any you find not listed will help
him to keep the database as up to date as possible. If you are using the
free version of WinPatrol and you click on the
button and you are
taken to a page that lists WinPatrol's most UnWanted list and a list of the most
popular files that are being requested by PLUS users. You can check any exe files at
Answers that Work under their
tasks section. But Scotty is not limited to exe files, he can even provide you
with information on dll files. Finally when in the info window you have the
and the
buttons where you can
just go through the entire list of files gathering the information about each
file on your computer and
will take you back to
the tab you were working on in WinPatrol.
The remove button is what you would use to remove a file from
the list you are working on but it will not remove the file from your computer,
it simply stops the file from being run on your computer. If the file is one
that you know is safe to remove you can right click on the file and choose
Delete File on Reboot. Sometimes it is not wise to remove a file, but instead to
disable it.
On many of the tabs you will also see the Full Report button. When you click on
this Scotty will provide you with a page listing every file in that category and
the basic information that WinPatrol has on it. Again if you are a PLUS user
then you can click on the link provided under each file and get more information
about the file and if it is a needed file or not. At first this can be used as a
learning tool on what is running on your computer and it's purpose, and if you
can safely shut it down. By keeping these lists and learning to recognize your
valid active tasks, startup files, etc. you will eventually be able to quickly
recognize something that should not be running on your computer and do what is
needed to get rid of it.
Also
any that carry the red check in the top right corner (as shown on the left
here) can be monitored which means that WinPatrol will notify you of any
changes being made to these groups. To turn monitoring on or off click on
the monitor box a window as shown on the right will pop up. Setting it
to 0 will turn monitoring off, any other number will determine how often
Scotty will sniff for changes in that area.
You want to make sure that you do have Scotty monitoring
these groups for good reason. The top one I can think of is, what if some
worm got past your firewall and anti-virus programs? You don't have a clue
they are sitting there doing whatever they were sent there to do. But if
Scotty is watching over your computer once that worm tries to add itself to
your active tasks or to your startup Scotty is going to ask you if you
authorized this change. Right there and then thanks to that barking dog, you
have just been alerted that some nasty worm has bypassed your firewall and
anti-virus and installed itself on your computer. You tell Scotty no, I
don't want that in my startup and I don't want it running now either. Scotty
disables it and you can now follow the steps to get rid of this nasty worm
who thought he could invade your territory, Scotty's territory.
Scotty doesn't delete the files but you
can be guaranteed they won't get anywhere on your computer as long as Scotty
is in charge.
By clicking on the Help button in each section of
WinPatrol will take you to the help page for that section. There is a
separate help page for each of the WinPatrol tabs with the exception of the
PLUS tab.
By clicking the close button on any of the tabs will return Scotty to your
taskbar, it will not shut the program off, Scotty will continue to protect
you from the taskbar.
Along with WinPatrol, I run Norton System Works 2004,
Norton Personal Firewall 2003, Windows XP Firewall (SP2), Windows popup
blocker, SpywareBlaster, IE-Spyad, Spy Sweeper and Ad Muncher on my
computer. None of these conflict each other. Spy Sweeper and WinPatrol enjoy
seeing who will alert me first to anything being installed on this computer,
but that is about the only conflict I see. I run a slower computer for
today's world, PIII 800Mhz and in all the time that I've used WinPatrol I
have not experienced it being a resource hog whatsoever, you only know it's
on your computer when Scotty detects changes.
The PLUS
tab, it will show you what version you are running, a link to the WinPatrol
site and email address with copyright information. It is in this window that
you will enter your name and registration code if you decide to support the
product. Also provided is a button to check for any upgrades to the program.
There is nothing in place to notify you of any updates so checking for
updates is recommended. If you are a member of Ask Maggy Mae, you will most
likely find out there is an update to the program from one of the members or
admin posting that there is one. By clicking the Reset link you will be resetting your name and registration
code, you need them if you want to continue using the PLUS features.
Next you will want to use the Options tab to set up your preferences
for the program. I highly recommend
checking both settings on the top
portion of the options tab. The default patrol time is 2 minutes with both
of these options and I recommend staying at this time frame to best protect
your computer.
"Detect Changes to Internet Explorer Home
and Search pages" check it off and you don't have to worry about them being
hijacked because Scotty will protect you and will pop up and tell you that
he has detected a change and ask if it is allowed, if you say no he does not
allow the change to happen.
"Warn if changes are made to my Internet
HOSTS file" check off, also found on the Options tab. You can also check off
"Lock HOSTS file" for added security and nothing will be able to write to
the file until you unlock it. I have never locked my Host file and it has
not been compromised, the day I am (doubtful ever will be) watch that
be locked real quick! You can view your HOSTS file by clicking on the button
provided on the Options tab.
The WinPatrol section:
Track Changes in History Log File
for possible restoration - I recommend checking this, and you can view
the history by clicking on the View History button.
Play Sounds - If you don't like
Scotty barking at you when he wants to warn you of something you can
disable his bark and he will NOT hold it against you and he will still
remain faithful and warn you.
Automatically run WinPatrol when
your computer starts. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
This takes care of the Options tab.
If you click on any of the buttons above it will show you
the shot of that WinPatrol screen.
With
the File Types tab you can monitor any changes in the file types.
Sometimes you might notice that when you install a program it changes
the default file association from your preferred program to the new
program. WinPatrol protects your present file types and detects any
changes that an installed program will attempt and ask you if this
change is what you want. If you answer no it will leave your present
file types as the default. You can turn off monitoring by clicking on
the red check mark in the top right corner under Help. You can even add
file types to WinPatrol, it does not add it to your computer but it will
monitor the extension. When you click the
button at the bottom of the window a new window will open like the one
on the right. Add the extension you wish to monitor and click add. You
can also remove extensions from being monitored by clicking the remove
button described above.
The
Cookies tab is one that I visit often, the reason, it's an
excellent way to keep control of the cookies being left on your
computer. When you first open the Cookies tab you will see a list, this
list is used to get rid of cookies from your computer. To add to the
list just type in the box beside the Add button (shown in graphic above)
a portion of a word or even just a letter or number then click the Add
button. To remove a nut from the list just highlight it or type it into
the box beside the Remove button and click the Remove button. You
can add key words to nuts to eliminate cookies, if you don't want any
cookies saved the easiest thing to do is just add each letter of the
alphabet individually and all numbers to the nuts list, that should take
care of them unless they start using special characters. You can also
type in word or groups of letters, if you typed in msn then any cookie
that has msn in it will be automatically deleted from your cookies. This
does NOT in any way affect your online experience with MSN Groups, I
have that and Microsoft as nuts in my list and I can still freely access
MSN groups, Microsoft, all it does is removes the cookie from you
computer when the browser is closed. Just in case someone is curious it
does not even effect my automatic sign in when I go to groups.
New
to version 8.0 of WinPatrol is the ability to configure WinPatrol to
watch for cookies on a Mozilla based browser, if you prefer to use
FireFox over Internet Explorer, Scotty will sniff for cookies for your
preferred browser. Just check Mozilla Based instead of Internet
Explorer.
You will find
this icon in the bottom left corner under your list of nuts. By clicking
on it you can change your cookie path. Your cookies should actually be
found in the path that is already provided, if they are not seek the
path they are at. Please note the cookies are not kept in your temporary
internet files folder. If you are running Windows XP that folder should
be under C:\Documents and Settings\YourProfileName\Cookies (replace
YourProfileName) with the name of your profile you log onto your
computer, mine is Maggy so my path for cookies is C:\Documents and Settings\Maggy\Cookies.
In a Windows 98 computer the cookie folder should be found under
C:\Windows\Cookies
I do not recommend checking
Always View Cookies if you are going to change the path for where your
cookies are found. You could actually hang the program and not be able
to access it again. If you are going to change your cookie path, then
leave this option unchecked until you are sure it will not hang the
program. If you do change the
path and you did not check Always View Cookies and the program hangs,
end the program using ctrl+alt+delete then reopen the program and you should see a blank where
the cookie path should be click on the icon beside and re-enter the path
originally provided for cookies. If you do choose to check this option,
every time you open WinPatrol to the cookie tab it will display the list
of cookies first, then by closing he cookie window you will view the
nuts and other options on the cookie tab.
By clicking the View Cookies button you'd be
surprised with the amount of cookies that collect on your computer. You
can do several things to get rid of them. If there are no cookies you
want to save then just click on the
button, if there
are just a couple cookies you want to save, check the ones you want to
save and then click on
. If your list of cookies you
want to save is longer than the list of cookies you want to get rid of
check the ones you want to get rid of and click the
button. But the best option of all is to add your unwanted cookies to
Nuts. To do this is a little more difficult than with the older versions
of WinPatrol, but you can write down the list of cookies then close the
window and type them into the Add section of the Cookie tab window. Upon
opening the View Cookies again you will notice all the ones you added to
the nut list are now gone. If
you highlight a cookie and click the
button, you will see all the info that cookie is holding. Now remember
for those cookies that you are wanting to keep, anyone who can access
your computer will have access to viewing those cookies.
If you are not sure of the
program or file mentioned you can click on the Info button and it will bring up a new
window (shown on the right) that will give you a bit more information about the program. For
PLUS users you can click on the PLUS Info button
and it will take you to the WinPatrol website which will provide more
information on the file and whether it is safe or not. Click this
and the
buttons where you can
just go through the entire list of files gathering the information about each
file on your computer and
will take you back to
the tab you were working on in WinPatrol.
On many of the tabs you will also see the Full Report button. When you click on
this Scotty will provide you with a page listing every file in that category and
the basic information that WinPatrol has on it. Again if you are a PLUS user
then you can click on the link provided under each file and get more information
about the file and if it is a needed file or not. At first this can be used as a
learning tool on what is running on your computer and it's purpose, and if you
can safely shut it down. By keeping these lists and learning to recognize your
valid active tasks, startup files, etc. you will eventually be able to quickly
recognize something that should not be running on your computer and do what is
needed to get rid of it.
Also
any that carry the red check in the top right corner (as shown on the left
here) can be monitored which means that WinPatrol will notify you of any
changes being made to these groups. To turn monitoring on or off click on
the monitor box a window as shown on the right will pop up. Setting it
to 0 will turn monitoring off, any other number will determine how often
Scotty will sniff for changes in that area.
The PLUS
tab, it will show you what version you are running, a link to the WinPatrol
site and email address with copyright information. It is in this window that
you will enter your name and registration code if you decide to support the
product. Also provided is a button to check for any upgrades to the program.
There is nothing in place to notify you of any updates so checking for
updates is recommended. If you are a member of Ask Maggy Mae, you will most
likely find out there is an update to the program from one of the members or
admin posting that there is one. By clicking the Reset link you will be resetting your name and registration
code, you need them if you want to continue using the PLUS features.
checking both settings on the top
portion of the options tab. The default patrol time is 2 minutes with both
of these options and I recommend staying at this time frame to best protect
your computer.
"Warn if changes are made to my Internet
HOSTS file" check off, also found on the Options tab. You can also check off
"Lock HOSTS file" for added security and nothing will be able to write to
the file until you unlock it. I have never locked my Host file and it has
not been compromised, the day I am (doubtful ever will be) watch that
be locked real quick! You can view your HOSTS file by clicking on the button
provided on the Options tab.
Track Changes in History Log File
for possible restoration - I recommend checking this, and you can view
the history by clicking on the View History button.
With
the File Types tab you can monitor any changes in the file types.
Sometimes you might notice that when you install a program it changes
the default file association from your preferred program to the new
program. WinPatrol protects your present file types and detects any
changes that an installed program will attempt and ask you if this
change is what you want. If you answer no it will leave your present
file types as the default. You can turn off monitoring by clicking on
the red check mark in the top right corner under Help. You can even add
file types to WinPatrol, it does not add it to your computer but it will
monitor the extension. When you click the
button at the bottom of the window a new window will open like the one
on the right. Add the extension you wish to monitor and click add. You
can also remove extensions from being monitored by clicking the remove
button described above. 
The
Cookies tab is one that I visit often, the reason, it's an
excellent way to keep control of the cookies being left on your
computer. When you first open the Cookies tab you will see a list, this
list is used to get rid of cookies from your computer. To add to the
list just type in the box beside the Add button (shown in graphic above)
a portion of a word or even just a letter or number then click the Add
button. To remove a nut from the list just highlight it or type it into
the box beside the Remove button and click the Remove button. You
can add key words to nuts to eliminate cookies, if you don't want any
cookies saved the easiest thing to do is just add each letter of the
alphabet individually and all numbers to the nuts list, that should take
care of them unless they start using special characters. You can also
type in word or groups of letters, if you typed in msn then any cookie
that has msn in it will be automatically deleted from your cookies. This
does NOT in any way affect your online experience with MSN Groups, I
have that and Microsoft as nuts in my list and I can still freely access
MSN groups, Microsoft, all it does is removes the cookie from you
computer when the browser is closed. Just in case someone is curious it
does not even effect my automatic sign in when I go to groups.
New
to version 8.0 of WinPatrol is the ability to configure WinPatrol to
watch for cookies on a Mozilla based browser, if you prefer to use
FireFox over Internet Explorer, Scotty will sniff for cookies for your
preferred browser. Just check Mozilla Based instead of Internet
Explorer.
You will find
this icon in the bottom left corner under your list of nuts. By clicking
on it you can change your cookie path. Your cookies should actually be
found in the path that is already provided, if they are not seek the
path they are at. Please note the cookies are not kept in your temporary
internet files folder. If you are running Windows XP that folder should
be under C:\Documents and Settings\YourProfileName\Cookies (replace
YourProfileName) with the name of your profile you log onto your
computer, mine is Maggy so my path for cookies is C:\Documents and Settings\Maggy\Cookies.
In a Windows 98 computer the cookie folder should be found under
C:\Windows\Cookies
By clicking the View Cookies button you'd be
surprised with the amount of cookies that collect on your computer. You
can do several things to get rid of them. If there are no cookies you
want to save then just click on the
button, if there
are just a couple cookies you want to save, check the ones you want to
save and then click on
button. But the best option of all is to add your unwanted cookies to
Nuts. To do this is a little more difficult than with the older versions
of WinPatrol, but you can write down the list of cookies then close the
window and type them into the Add section of the Cookie tab window. Upon
opening the View Cookies again you will notice all the ones you added to
the nut list are now gone. If
you highlight a cookie and click the
button, you will see all the info that cookie is holding. Now remember
for those cookies that you are wanting to keep, anyone who can access
your computer will have access to viewing those cookies.