WinPatrol Professional

Good morning all,
I am currently using the free version of WinPatrol. i especially love that it alarts the user to new applications that have been added to the startup areas of Windows and you can block these changes.

I notice there is a discount on WinPatrol for Father's Day. I am interested in purchasing the full version.

I've tried reading the comparison chart on the WinPatrol website as well as the realtime intrusion prevention feature added in the Plus version, but I'm still confused.

What does the PLUS version offer that's different than the free version? Would this be a good preventative / behavior based replacement for Threatfire? I have a conflict with Threatfire and my enlarging software (software for the visually impaired).

Would this be a good intrusion prevention program? I'm sorry if my questions are vague, but if someone could help me i'd appreciate it.

 

Let me say first off that I love WinPatrol and never have a computer without it being installed. I've found it to be the best method to be immediately alerted to programs that will try to set themselves as defaults for various filetypes or put themselves as Windows startup programs, both of which are done without my knowledge. It's also an excellent way to choose what starts up with Windows, thereby improving performance.

The main difference between the paid and the free is realtime notification vs delayed, and the ability to look up stuff (services, questionable files, etc) on their website via a right-click within WinPatrol.

But as a replacement for Threatfire or whatever, the answer without question is no.

Let me add one thing: For whatever reason, very rarely has any of my security programs saved me from malware. But WinPatrol has saved my computer from being screwed up by legitimate software many times.

It's good, it's cheap, and the guy that authors it is very nice.

 

I to have used WinPatrol Plus for several yrs. now on three computers.
It has become a main stay.
You asked about the differences between free and Plus.
This should answer your question:

http://www.winpatrol.com/whyplus.html?index

All the Best, Dan

 

I purchased WinPatrol with the Father's Day discount too. But i wouldn't replace Threatfire with it. IMHO it's not in the same league. I see WinPatrol most as "antispyware". With the PLUS the main advantage is that everything is done in real time, you get also a not well explained "behaviour" blocker and info for the processes you run (which is good, since i found i had a ZA leftover-junk file in hidden files that i hadn't noticed before).

I wouldn't have my hopes too high for WinPatrol stopping any serious malware, that's Threatfire's job, but, i think it may handle some spyware and you increase the probability of being alerted of something "weird" going on.

 

If you find yourself accessing ThreatFire and its system processes section, or continually viewing windows task manager (or a similar program), then you will benefit from the Plus version as the explanations are clearly set out and helpful.

The Plus version monitors your registry and critical system files real time whereas there is a delay in the free version of a couple of minutes. Its home page states the Plus version was tested against a selection of 'popular' spyware:
http://www.winpatrol.com/rid.html

I haven't noticed any impact on system performance so I'm assuming it shouldn't impact on ThreatFire's performance (or your visually impaired programs) at all.

But if you have to remove ThreatFire because of conflict problems, use the Plus version with say, the free version of sandboxie for all your browsing and better protection.

 

I've actually gone back to GesWall. I like the policy based restrictions in addition to a LUA. Sandboxie is good because it keeps everything in a sandbox but for some reason I feel more secure with GesWall.

I really liked Threatfire, but unfrotunately as I said it conflicts with my enlarging software. My enlarging software has a feature where it magnifies the logon screen in vista. When Threatfire is installed and I log off, my computer gets frozen. I can no longer move the mouse and I have to hard reboot. Once I uninstalled Threatfire, this problem went away. What's interesting is version 3.0 never had this problem, so I don't know what they changed in 3.5\

That's why i was hoping WinPatrol would be a good alternative. I think I will stick to the free version for now.

Thanks for everyone's help.