Very disappointed with BillP studio's TaskCatcher

[bellgamin]

I visited the rather uninformative website about BillP Studio's Task Catcher, then decided to download a trial copy for a spin. Using the trial copy, it was not possible to discover any real facts about how TaskCatcher works because the trial copy is 99.99% non-functional. Moreover, there is no Help file with the program or on its website.

Basically, all the trial copy lets you do is to examine the various tabs on the GUI, which gives no more information than would a screenshot.

Even so, because of BillP studio's fine reputation as proponent of WinPatrol, I paid $12.95 to get a registration code. Now my copy of TaskCatcher is "fully functional" -- such as it is.

I *thought* this program would function more or less as a process firewall, & that it would notify me whenever any unknown process kicked in. But it does NOT do this. I started up several programs, & Task Catcher never made a murmur.

Bottom line -- as far as I can tell, all that Task Catcher actually does is...

(1) Allow me to list essential programs that should run at all times. TaskCatcher will then seek to ensure that they ARE running.

(2) Allow me to list programs that I do NOT want to run. TaskCatcher will then seek to ensure that they do NOT run. (This is basically useless as a prevention against malware that somehow gets aboard & starts up.)

I am very disappointed at the small value presented by this program. At $12.95, I feel the price is about $10 too high.

I have left it installed as a reminder for me to be a more cautious buyer in the future, but I won't run the program any longer. Too bad I can't deduct the cost as a charitable contribution.:dry:

Ah well..... live & learn.

[Infinity]

Thanx for the heads up Bellgamin and I'm sorry to hear you had this experience.

well, I would assume that every program they make has the same quality then Winpatrol, apparently it is not .. it's a shame.

Have you tried to get into contact with Bill? the posts he made here were helpful and Winpatrol got even better so hopefully he'll read this and fix this issue.

regards,

I do find it strange they don't mention it on their site but I've found their website
http://www.taskcatcher.com/

[Mikkey]

To be honest i think BillP is overrated. I purchased the Plus version of Winpatrol and found the RTM clashed with two of my application's. I posted on the forum at Castlecops about this and nothing was ever done to fix it. I also had a look at TaskCatcher and quickly uninstalled it about 10 minutes after using it. Winpatrol never found anything anyway. My other security apps have caught things that Winpatrol is supposed to cover, but Winpatrol never gave a beep. I tried Regrun and never looked back.

M.

[Infinity]

{QUOTE-> I tried Regrun and never looked back. <-QUOTE}

same here, Regrun is a very nice program, glad to have it.

[deviladvocate]

Well taskcatcher isn't supposed to be a security program is it??

Regrun is nice, but too geeky for me. It might be okay for infinity but it's too advanced for me.

[Infinity]

{QUOTE-> Regrun is nice, but too geeky for me. It might be okay for infinity but it's too advanced for me. <-QUOTE}

LOL, I don't think it's too advanced for you cause if I can use it, you can use it and I bet you know this stuff better then me plus you can explain it all just a bit better too :P

it's one of the easiest programs to use to be honest and very light (watchdog is only 1-3mb in mem). out of the box its protection is good ...

there are some utilities/modules in Regrun that I don't use but for the rest it's one of the best tools I have. (3 years using it now, updated/upgraded everytime and never paid twice for upgrading it)

have a nice weekend,

Inf.

[bellgamin]

{QUOTE-> Have you tried to get into contact with Bill? the posts he made here were helpful and Winpatrol got even better so hopefully he'll read this and fix this issue. <-QUOTE}No sense contacting anyone -- the program isn't broken. It does *next-to-nothing* very well. :'(

[Notok]

Well, broken or not I agree that it would be wise to let your opinion be known. There's much less chance for change if he doesn't know that users are disappointed.

{QUOTE-> there are some utilities/modules in Regrun that I don't use but for the rest it's one of the best tools I have. (3 years using it now, updated/upgraded everytime and never paid twice for upgrading it) <-QUOTE}I agree. I find it useful for so many other things (system configuration and troubleshooting) that sometimes I forget it's considered a security app :) It's a great program, and one I wouldn't be without.

[Franklin]

{QUOTE-> . My other security apps have caught things that Winpatrol is supposed to cover, but Winpatrol never gave a beep. I tried Regrun and never looked back.
M. <-QUOTE}
Could be that Winpatrol checks every 3 minutes instead of realtime.

Still has one of the best startup managers around!

[justcurious]

{QUOTE-> Well, broken or not I agree that it would be wise to let your opinion be known. There's much less chance for change if he doesn't know that users are disappointed.

I agree. I find it useful for so many other things (system configuration and troubleshooting) that sometimes I forget it's considered a security app :) It's a great program, and one I wouldn't be without. <-QUOTE}


Just curious Notok, do you use your kitchen sink for computer security as well, because it seems you use just about everything else (as far as programs go) under the sun. ;)

[be aware]

buyer beware and be aware. It does exactly what it says it does:

{QUOTE-> Task Catcher allows you to efficiently monitor programs running on your computer without slowing you down or hogging all your memory. Task Catcher will block unwanted programs from running and restart your favorite programs if they are disabled or crash. As always, our goal is to put YOU back in control of your computer <-QUOTE}

[Notok]

{QUOTE-> because it seems you use just about everything else (as far as programs go) under the sun <-QUOTE}Lol, but not all at once :) Well, ok, once in a while when I get bored and want to see what happens.. and sometimes just to be a smart a** beta tester: "Your program crashed when I ran it with 15 other programs! Fix it!!" ;D ;D