WinPatrol identifies startup programs

It's a unique and ingenious software application that does things that makes you sit back and wonder why nobody ever thought about it before. Plus it has a free version.

the paid version is $19.95 with all the bells and whistles.

WinPatrol not only identifies items by name, but gives you a full report that tells you exactly:

- what they are
- where they came from
- and what they do

Typical situation - If you press ctrl-alt-del it's easy enough to see exactly what's running in memory from startup by a list of items it displays.

The major problem is what the heck do all those cryptic names of the items on the list mean.

WinPatrol not only provides that info, but also allows you to immediately get rid of what you don't need.

The result is a faster boot up and less junk running in memory to steal your system resources. This is also essential to detect malicious software such as trojans, worms, spyware, adware or any other program which may insert itself into your startup.

Also, WinPatrol constantly monitors your system to automatically identify any new items that install themselves into your startup list and permits you to allow them there or not. Similar identification features are provided for all programs that are running, for cookies, and more.

When you click on Startup Programs tab you can review the list of programs that launch automatically each time you start your PC. Many of these programs will be essential, but this is a prime opportunity to catch potentially harmful spyware or to just prune away unnecessary programs. If you are curious about what any program does, select it and then click on the info button.

If you purchase a WinPatrol Plus license, you can click on the Plus Info button. This will take you to a detailed description of the program and specific recommendations on WinPatrol's Website as to what you should do about it.

Nice piece of software and we highly recommend it.

Feb 17 - 11:55 AM PT  |  filed under Tools & Utilities  |   Printer-friendly version