A Direct Installation Monitor?

[squinteyes]

Ive been thinking off downloading some of the free games from gamehouse.com but they want to directly install them which kinda makes me a little nervous not knowing where all the files might be going.

Are there any free monitors that "watch" over these types of installations?I'm not asking about in/uninstallers such as Total Uninstall,Revo or Ashampoo's.

All replies will be greatly appreciated!

[GlobalForce]

Although you'll probably receive a direct recommendation, you can look through these (http://www.snapfiles.com/Freeware/system/fwmonitor.html) for the time being. Check this (http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=1472121&postcount=1) too!

[virtumonde]

Total Uninstal might be fine ,not sure why you're against it,or better you could try sandboxie,and see what is created.

[noone_particular]

I normally use Inctrl5 to monitor installs. I don't know if or how well it works with XP and newer systems. I'm running 98 and 2K. It's basically an "unzip and use" type of install so it shouldn't be a problem to try on a newer OS. Inctrl5 takes a "snapshot" of your system before the install, then takes another after. It then lists all registry changes and all new, modified, and deleted files/folders. The results can be saved to file as text, html, and csv. It also has a "2 stage mode" which can monitor changes made by websites and online games.

Whatever option you decide on, don't limit the monitoring to the install process. Some apps will download and install more when first launched. It's entirely possible for an installer to be clean, then infect your system with material downloaded when it's launched.

[JRViejo]

When I install an app, my main concern is how that program impacted the Registry and to that extent, I use RegShot (http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Registry-Tweak/Reg-Shot.shtml), a small utility that's super simple to use.

[MrBrian]

I use these four programs to check for system changes from prior snapshot:
NIS Filecheck - file changes by contents
HijackThis
Autoruns
What's Running

Additionally, you may be interested in SpyMe Tools, which lists registry or file changes between snapshots (file comparision done by metadata, not contents).