How to use winpatrol to monitor your windows pc for changes

WinPatrol is a great utility that you can use to protect your computer if you know how to use it to monitor changes made to your files and folders. Unlike using FCV (FolderChangesView) from Nirsoft Labs which we discussed in an earlier article, WinPatrol is made for beginners and experts alike for in depth PC monitoring.

There are two options to choose from when you download WinPatrol as with most programs online, the free, and the paid version. For the purposes of this article, we will focus on using the free version to monitor changes on your computer.

To begin, you will need to navigate to WinPatrol’s download page to download the installation file. This file will be used to install both the free and paid versions of WinPatrol. Once you have downloaded program to your computer and installed it, simply double click on its icon to launch it. You will notice that the home screen for this program offers 14 different tabs with monitoring functions of which three are only available with the PLUS version.

Startup Programs

From the “Startup Programs” tab, you can monitor the programs that turn on when you start up your machine. To enable or disable any item that is currently in the list, simply click on the entry then click the enable or disable button. The orange arrow shows a box that, when ticked, will make WinPatrol to check for any changes to the startup programs.

By clicking on the pink arrow, on the small clock icon, you will be able to change how often WinPatrol checks for these changes. I recommend that you leave it at two minutes, which is the default.

When a startup entry is removed manually or because of an uninstallation, it will be detected by WinPatrol and you will see a notification like the one below.

If a new entry is added, such as when you install a program, you will be asked whether or not this task has permission to start with windows. You can either accept or reject the change from this window. You can also open the folder where the executable file is located or view the file’s properties. If you did not install a program or recognize the change, it is safest to reject the change. Since this is just a startup notification, it will not uninstall the program; just prevent it from automatically turning on.

Scheduled Tasks 1.0

This tab is where you can see any tasks that are scheduled to run on your computer. If you select an item and press the “info” button, you will also see any information related to the program’s schedule. To change how frequently WinPatrol checks for changes to this section, just press the stopwatch and change the timer.

Services

The services tab will show you a list of all the services on your computer that are running and stopped. You will also see details about the startup settings, executable name, and the company that it comes from. To change how frequently WinPatrol checks for changes to this section, just press the stopwatch and change the timer.

Cookies

On the cookies tab you can search for, and remove, cookies with specific text in their titles. This helps you to filter out cookies that you don’t want to keep on your computer. You can also select which browser you want to search and whether you want to remove them. For example, if you type the word “facebook” in the “Add” section, you can prevent the selected browser (Mozilla Firefox) from storing them.

Recent

If you happen to know that you had a recent malware infection and you need to ensure that all residual traces of the program have been removed, you can use the “Recent” tab. This will show you a list of all programs and processes that were recently active. You can select any item in the list and kill the task. Before or after killing the task, you can right click on the item and select “Delete on Reboot” to delete all traces of the program the next time you start your computer.

Options

The options tab will present you with several report functions which you will see on the right side of the screen. On the left, you can click on the two stopwatches to edit the time it takes before the corresponding actions take place.

If you click on the “Repair and rest tools,” you will be taken to a new popup screen with several other tasks to choose from. These are user tools to undo changes, cleanup specific areas of the program, and delete any files that have been deleted with WinPatrol.

Wrapping Up

As I mentioned earlier, WinPatrol’s main function is to monitor your system for any changes. This is highly useful when you are installing new programs and when you are browsing sites with bad reputations as malware hosts. Whenever it detects a change in your system, it will bark and present a popup screen that asks you whether or not you intended to make any changes and will ask for permission to carry out the operation.

The genuine file is a software component of WinPatrol Monitor by BillP Studios .
Winpatrol.exe is the main process that enables the WinPatrol program to run. WinPatrol provides increased system performance, real-time monitoring without slowing down the processor, customized Registry monitoring and ActiveX management.

BillP Studios was founded by Bill Pytlovany who is known for creating the software behind AOL. Today, BillP Studios creates software oriented towards cyber-security and utility.

The .exe extension on a filename indicates an exe cutable file. Executable files may, in some cases, harm your computer. Therefore, please read below to decide for yourself whether the WinPatrol.exe on your computer is a Trojan that you should remove, or whether it is a file belonging to the Windows operating system or to a trusted application.

WinPatrol.exe file information

Description: WinPatrol.exe is not essential for the Windows OS and causes relatively few problems. WinPatrol.exe is located in a subfolder of “C:\Program Files (x86)”—mostly C:\Program Files (x86)\Ruiware\WinPatrol\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\BillP Studios\WinPatrol\. Known file sizes on Windows 10/8/7/XP are 1,223,560 bytes (23% of all occurrences), 1,216,648 bytes and 33 more variants .
The file is not a Windows core file. WinPatrol.exe is digitally signed. It can change the behavior of other programs or manipulate other programs. The program is not visible. The program starts upon Windows startup (see Registry key: Run , MACHINE\Run , MACHINE\User Shell Folders ). WinPatrol.exe is able to monitor applications. Therefore the technical security rating is 54% dangerous; however you should also read the user reviews.

If WinPatrol.exe is located in a subfolder of C:\, the security rating is 55% dangerous. The file size is 1,216,648 bytes (20% of all occurrences), 418,024 bytes, 325,512 bytes, 1,154,112 bytes or 439,360 bytes. The file has a digital signature. WinPatrol.exe is not a Windows core file. It can change the behavior of other programs or manipulate other programs. The process is loaded during the Windows boot process (see Registry key: Run , MACHINE\Run , MACHINE\User Shell Folders ). The program is not visible. The file is a Verisign signed file. WinPatrol.exe is able to monitor applications.

External information from Paul Collins:

• “WinPatrol” can run at start up. WinPatrol – “Manage Startup programs, tasks, cookies; will sniff out Worms, Trojan horses, Cookies, Adware, Spyware, Klez, Assumption and other malicious programs”

Important: Some malware camouflages itself as WinPatrol.exe, particularly when located in the C:\Windows or C:\Windows\System32 folder. Therefore, you should check the WinPatrol.exe process on your PC to see if it is a threat. We recommend Security Task Manager for verifying your computer’s security. This was one of the Top Download Picks of The Washington Post and PC World.

Score

User Comments

Summary: Average user rating of WinPatrol.exe: based on 38 votes with 24 user comments. 30 users think WinPatrol.exe is essential for Windows or an installed application. One user thinks it’s probably harmless. 5 users think it’s neither essential nor dangerous. One user suspects danger. One user thinks WinPatrol.exe is dangerous and recommends removing it. One user is not sure about it.

Best practices for resolving WinPatrol issues

A clean and tidy computer is the key requirement for avoiding problems with WinPatrol. This means running a scan for malware, cleaning your hard drive using 1 cleanmgr and 2 sfc /scannow, 3 uninstalling programs that you no longer need, checking for Autostart programs (using 4 msconfig) and enabling Windows’ 5 Automatic Update. Always remember to perform periodic backups, or at least to set restore points.

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Generic Company Place Holder WinPatrol 2013 Plus

A guard dog is only as valuable as the alarms he sounds. The latest version of WinPatrol, a handy security utility that serves as a virtual guard dog for your PC, drives this point home. WinPatrol 2013 still alerts you when changes are made to your PC, but does so less frequently. so when it does bark, you sit up and take notice.

WinPatrol Plus offers fewer alerts, but lets you know when important changes are being made to your PC.

WinPatrol is available in a free version, which offers a handful of ways to monitor just what’s going on on your PC. You can see a list of startup programs, which you can choose to disable or delay. You also can see a list of recently used programs, hidden files, file types by associated program, active tasks and services, and much more.

The latest version of WinPatrol looks the same as ever, a drab gray design weighed down by a lot of text. But it does feature an improved alert system: WinPatrol no longer notifies you as to every tiny change made on your PC. Instead, WinPatrol barks (and yes, it actually barks) only when your attention is needed.

For example, past versions would notify you when a legitimate program was added to your Startup program list. The latest version will notify you when a higher level of activity—typically signifying some sort of malicious intent—is detected. WinPatrol also now has the ability to learn from your responses: when you tell the program that you approve of an application’s actions, it won’t alert you about that action again.

WinPatrol Plus still features a text-heavy interface.

WinPatrol 2013 is more user-friendly than past versions, but it’s still technical enough that it will likely overwhelm the less savvy. Those folks will likely find the $30 WinPatrol Plus more valuable, as it includes access to the PLUS Info. This button links users back to WinPatrol’s online database, which includes detailed information on the programs and actions to which WinPatrol is alerting you. The database has added community data, so you can peruse the info supplied by other users to see how they’ve responded to similar alerts.

In addition, WinPatrol Plus adds ActiveX Monitoring and custom registry tracking, which allows you to monitor any registry value. $30 may seem like a lot to spend on a software application these days, but it’s a small price to pay for an attentive guard dog that will watch over your PC.

This lightweight system monitoring software (802Kb) supervises the programs running in your PC, it will create a snapshot of the critical files in your operating system and warn you if anything has changed, it uses heuristics, based on file behaviour, to detect zero day attacks. WinPatrol has a tabbed easy to navigate interface. Inside the “StartUp Programs” tab you will see a list of the software that starts at boot time, double clicking on any of the program names will give you further information on them, with another click you can disable a start up program or decide to delay its launch, this can speed up your Windows boot up time.

WinPatrol will stop changes without your permission in the registry, scheduled tasks, IE Addons, ActiveX controls and more, hidden files will be exposed and if a program has changed a file association, WinPatrol can restore it. Unlike other antispyware software WinPatrol does not scan your hard disk for malicious files it monitors the system files behaviour instead, this will minimize conflicts with other computer security software you are running. WinPatrol also has a privacy feature to stop Internet tracking cookies allowing you to manage your cookies and erase them based on cookie name using keyword filtering.

WinPatrol system monitoring tool

If you suspect you have malware in your computer or notice a sluggish PC, you can use WinPatrol to look at the software running and kill unwanted background processes, WinPatrol it is a good complimentary tool to stop malware. Together with a good antivirus and firewall, this software will help you control how your computer system files work, some of the features like real time monitoring and access to a database with information about cryptic files and what they do are only available with the non free Plus version of WinPatrol.

I use Winpatrol as one of my security features. Lately it’s been asking me if the following programs changes are acceptable:

1) “Winpatrol has detected a change to one of your file type associations .REG

The program currently associated with this file type is:

Notepad
MIcrosoft Corporation
Notepad.exe %1
A change was made to use the following program for this file type:
Registry editor
Microsoft Corporation
Regeditor.exe %1″

2) “Winpatrol has detected a change to one of your file type associations .SCR
The program currently associated with this file type is:

Notepad
MIcrosoft Corporation
Notepad.exe %1
A change was made to use the following program for this file type:
Registry editor
Name
Company Name
% 1/s”

Recently, my machine was infected with a variety of viruses and spyware despite my having ZoneAlarm and Malwarebyes loaded. I ran several other anti-virus and anti-spyware programs and eventually these programs reported no malware or spyware was present.

I wonder if the above requested changes are being made by a virus that the anti-virus programs I used missed.

I’d very much appreciate any comments, advice or information about the above changes from the Microsoft community since Microsoft software is involved in the requested changes. I very much appreciate any help that can be given and thank you in advance for it.

I use Winpatrol as one of my security features. Lately it’s been asking me if the following programs changes are acceptable:

1) “Winpatrol has detected a change to one of your file type associations .REG

The program currently associated with this file type is:

Notepad
MIcrosoft Corporation
Notepad.exe %1
A change was made to use the following program for this file type:
Registry editor
Microsoft Corporation
Regeditor.exe %1″

2) “Winpatrol has detected a change to one of your file type associations .SCR
The program currently associated with this file type is:

Notepad
MIcrosoft Corporation
Notepad.exe %1
A change was made to use the following program for this file type:
Registry editor
Name
Company Name
% 1/s”

Recently, my machine was infected with a variety of viruses and spyware despite my having ZoneAlarm and Malwarebyes loaded. I ran several other anti-virus and anti-spyware programs and eventually these programs reported no malware or spyware was present.

I wonder if the above requested changes are being made by a virus that the anti-virus programs I used missed.

I’d very much appreciate any comments, advice or information about the above changes from the Microsoft community since Microsoft software is involved in the requested changes. I very much appreciate any help that can be given and thank you in advance for it.

WinPatrol portable allows you to control the installation of malicious programs on your computer. The program monitors important system areas (area load, system folders, register), which usually vary malicious programs. Through the program, you can stop the process and disable / enable starup program. The program also allows you to control cookies, delete them based on keyword. WinPatrol monitors and deletes the operating system, various modules and malicious spyware programs such as Adware and Spyware, finds and neutralize some types of viruses, Trojans, viruses, and auto programs that threaten the confidentiality of computerized information. WinPatrol monitors changes in the browser and does not allow the installation of the various bars and spyware modules. Of course, it does not protect your computer is completely different from the attack, but a good complement to secure antivirus and firewall redirector.

WinPatrol uses a heuristic approach to detecting attacks and violations of your computing environment. Traditional security programs scan your hard drive searching for previously identified threats. WinPatrol takes snapshot of your critical system resources and alerts you to any changes that may occur without your knowledge. You’ll be removing dangerous new programs while others download new reference files.

Here are some key features of “WinPatrol”:
• Increase Your Speed & System Performance
• Detect & Neutralize Spyware. Detect & Neutralize ADware
• Detect & Neutralize Viral infections. Detect & Neutralize Unwanted IE Add-Ons
• Detect & Restore File Type Changes Automatically Filter Unwanted Cookies
• Avoid Start Page Hijacking. Detect HOSTS file changes
• Kill Multiple Tasks that replicate each other, in a single step
• Stop programs that repeatedly add themselves to your Startup List
• Delete and Remove the most Stubborn Infections

Whats New :
• Fixed bug that resulted in WinPatrol WAR using excessive CPU on some computers.

Detects attacks and violations of your computer environment.

Download

Specs

• Installer
• Portable

Scotty the Windows Watch Dog sniffs out malicious “mysteryware” and parasites that may assault your computer. WinPatrol puts you back in control of your computer so you’ll know what programs are and should be running at all times. WinPatrol is a security tool that protect you from worms, trojan, cookies, adware, spyware.

WinPatrol’s goal is to help you better understand what programs are running on your computer, and alert you to any new programs added without your permission. Scotty lets you confirm any new programs set up to run on your computer.

WinPatrol uses a heuristic approach to detecting attacks and violations of your computing environment. Traditional security programs scan your hard drive searching for previously identified threats.

WinPatrol takes snapshot of your critical system resources and alerts you to any changes that may occur without your knowledge. You’ll be removing dangerous new programs while others download new reference files.

Features:

• Increase Your Speed & System Performance.
• Detect & Neutralize Spyware. Detect & Neutralize ADware.
• Detect & Neutralize Viral infections. Detect & Neutralize Unwanted IE Add-Ons.
• Detect & Restore File Type Changes Automatically Filter Unwanted Cookies.
• Avoid Start Page Hijacking. Detect HOSTS file changes.
• Kill Multiple Tasks that replicate each other, in a single step!
• Stop programs that repeatedly add themselves to your Startup List!
• Delete and Remove the most Stubborn Infections

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Anything like WinPatrol?

• This topic has 13 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 2 weeks ago by anonymous .

Hi, I loved WinPatrol, but I think I finally need to stop using the old thing. Is there any program out there that is comparable?

1. why did you get WinPatrol in the first place, and does it still do what you want?
2. why do you want to get rid of it now?

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

WinPatrol takes a snapshot of your critical system resources and alerts you to any changes that may have occurred without your knowledge. It was a pioneer in using a heuristic behavioral approach to detecting attacks and violations of your computing environment,and provided an easy tabbed interface that allowed exploration deep inside your machine without having to be a computer expert.

WinPatrol appears to have been abandoned, with no updates since 2017.

Non-techy Win 10 Pro and Linux Mint experimenter

2 users thanked author for this post.

Yes, WinPatrol was a WONDERFUL program and was part of my arsenal for keeping my laptop running for 10 years. But as mentioned above, it has been abandoned for a long time with no updates.

Nonetheless, I have used it on my computer up till now, fearing that it is just too old and may have something to do with recent freezing. Just ordered a new laptop, and will not install it. Was hoping that there might be a comparable (up to date) program.

1 user thanked author for this post.

I too regret that WinPatrol has not been supported since 2017, but it still earns its place on my computer for what it does in alerting me to changes. It appears to make only minor demands upon my system. I’ll go on using it, unlike those two “brand extensions” Anti-Ransom and Firewall (was Privacy), which were of little worth.

I see they are still selling these products; I don’t know which is more surprising, that they are still selling them, or that folks are buying them. And they seem to have turned into subscription ware.

Dell E5570 Latitude, Intel Core i5 [email protected] GHz, 8.00 GB – Win 10 Pro

I too have had Scotty on Patrol on my computer for several years and it still does all I require. I think I will keep it until it starts doing something unusual or fails to notify me when something is amiss.

Win Patrol was developed originally by Bill Patovlany and sold through his company BillP Studios. Sometime prior to 2017 I have the recollection that Bill, or some family member, was having some health problems and he subsequently retired and sold the company, which now goes by the WinPatrol moniker. Bill’s delightful blog seems to have disappeared into thin air.

I quite agree that it still is a very useful program, but it is also true that it is not being updated, although it continues to be available and is compatible with WIN 10–at least through my 1903 update. Too bad, it really does warn the user any time there is an attempt to install anything or uninstall something, including critical WIN files. I have been using WP for as long as I can remember, but am at a complete loss as to where I learnt about it. Maybe from Woody or Brian back in the “old days?”