Part 2
In part 1 we covered PLUS,
Options, Cookies and File Types, this section will cover the rest
of WinPatrol.
On any of the tabs mentioned in this
section of the tutorial with the exception of the Services tab you can
right click on the program name and a menu will pop up giving you all
the button options for that tab but also the option to "Delete File on
Reboot." It is one way of removing the malicious content from your
computer.
Once your system is rebooted the file
will be removed before Windows starts any program that could prevent the
deletion of that file. Please be sure that any file you plan to delete
is not a file needed by a valid program on your computer, you can't get
the file back after deleting it.
The Startup Programs tab lists
all the programs that are started when your computer is rebooted or
turned on. You can quickly and easily disable or remove an item from
startup by clicking on the buttons provided for that service. The remove
button was discussed in the first part of this tutorial, the Disable
button is unique to the Startup Programs tab. If you
just want to temporarily interrupt a program from running click on the
Disable button and the file will be placed at the bottom of the list and
Version will turn to Disabled instead of listing the version number of
the program. When you want to Enable the program highlight it and the
Disable button changes to the Enable button (as shown on graphic above,
if clicked it will display Enable button. If however you find a program that should not be or you
prefer it not to start on startup then you can click the Remove button
and it will remove the program from running at startup. When you select
to remove a program from startup a window will pop up telling you that
the file will not be deleted from your computer, but it will be stopped
from starting at startup. The file can still be accessed manually when
you want to run it. (See the movie below and click on Startup Programs
to view what this tab looks like.) I quote the faq on WinPatrol
Have you ever had an annoying program that insisted that it
belonged at startup no matter how many times you tried to stop it? Why on earth
are you letting it happen? Install WinPatrol and let Scotty take care of that
headache! Those who know me know just how much I despise Quicktime and
RealPlayer. If you insist on using them, please know they are not needed on
startup and Scotty the watchdog will keep guard and stop them from doing what
they should not be doing which is tying up your available resources. Bill and I
will have to agree to disagree about MSN Messenger, I see it as a tool to help
others and think it does belong in startup, remote assistance needs either MSN
Messenger running or Windows Messenger running, so in my line of work I find
Messenger a required program. It is not only valuable for helping clean an
infected computer, it is also a wonderful tool for visual teaching, I can teach
someone miles away, without messenger I would not have this opportunity. But the
main point is that if you have a program that insists it belongs in startup and
you know it does not Scotty will make sure that your wishes are granted, instead
of removing these be sure to allow them into startup and then disable them.
The IEHelpers tab lists any
browser helper objects or toolbars that have been installed on
your computer. If you are not sure of the
program you can click on the Info button and it will bring up a new
window that will give you a bit more information about the program (see
screenshot on the right). If you are not a PLUS user you can get
information on a file by using BHOlist.
Are you beginning to see all the tools you are going to have to use if
you are not a PLUS user? The advantage of being a PLUS user is that
answers to your questions can be very easily provided for you by simply
clicking a button rather than having to run a few different programs or
find the answers by searching the internet. Being a PLUS member makes it
so much easier for those with a thirst for learning about what is running on
their computer! With WinPatrol it's a matter of clicking on a button and
the browser is opened for you with the information right there. Without
WinPatrol PLUS you will have to open the browser yourself, go to one site to
find out what you can about exe files then to another site to find out about
BHOs and toolbars. That's a lot of unnecessary work when you know that it can
all be accessed so easily for such a small cost which provides you with the PLUS
version, one time only, all upgrades are free.
The Scheduled Tasks tab
provides you with a listing of tasks you have scheduled to run on your
computer. It lists the name of the program, the program filename, when
it was last run and when it is scheduled to run again. If you prefer to
schedule your tasks rather than run them manually, you will find them in
this list. WinPatrol does give you the option to remove the task if you
no longer want it to automatically run by clicking the Remove button.
The
Services tab lists all services that are present on your computer.
Whatever you do, don't pay attention to any of the settings that show in
the Services tab in the movie above because I've been testing and playing to
find out exactly what some of the services do and if they are really needed or
not. If you just want to view the services that are non-Microsoft just check the
box beside "List non-Microsoft services only". If you highlight one of the
services and then click the Info button another window will pop up like the one
shown at the right. As you can see you are given the option to stop or start the
service and you are given the option to change the Startup Type, you can enable,
disable and Automatic. One thing about this tab that stands out the most for me
is the list of files under the Command section. If you've ever wondered after
seeing a HiJack This! log or viewing the Task Manager, why on earth are there so
many instances of svchost.exe running on your computer, this tab will show you
what svchost is controlling. You are not just provided with that filename, but
also with the filename that is relying on it to provide the service. Now it
becomes clear why there are so many instances of one file running at the same
time.