Yes We Can, Release WinPatrol v16 Beta

On this historic day I’ve chosen to watch the Inauguration on TV instead of going down to D.C. for the event.  If this event was in April I might have chosen differently.

To make my impact on history today I’ve released a new build of WinPatrol simply called WinPatrol v16. I considered calling it WinPatrol 2009 but with all the exhortionware like AntiVirus 2009 and others using it, the 2009 moniker has become tainted.

This new version has a couple major changes.  The first has to do with Windows 7 and User Access Control.  There are two versions of the small WinPatrol monitor component. One requires UAC permission, one does not.

Initially, the non-UAC version will run so you don’t have a UAC alert every time you reboot.  If however, a change is detected and WinPatrol needs permissions we’ll swap the WinPatrol monitor with the one which requires UAC.

This dialog will only be seen by Vista and Windows 7 machines with UAC activated. It will only occur once and only if needed.

 

The 2^nd big change is a long time request. Many users have wanted to configure WinPatrol so that alert messages may be hidden from users.  Typically, this has been requested by IT managers or parents but it may also be handy to regular WinPatrol users. This will be a bonus feature available only to supporters who have upgraded to PLUS.

I’ve also thrown in a feature which ignores “RunOnce” changes to the registry.  I have never seen malware use this entry alone and it’s often used by legitimate and frequent updates. If you’re setting up a system for someone else this might be an option you’ll want to use.

Keep in mind this is a beta version which I hope to finalize soon. If you’re interested in helping to report bugs you can download the new beta version at http://www.winpatrol.com/beta16.html

Thanks,
Bill Pytlovany