Opportunity for 3rd Party Application Developers

As the time grows closer to the release of WinPatrol 18 I wanted to use BitsFromBill.com to share new possibilities to my friends in the developer community. The new custom Registry Lock feature could be a application all by itself but instead it will be integrated into the robust real-time monitoring of WinPatrol PLUS.

The custom Registry Lock feature has the added benefit for other programs to have their critical registry locations be protected.

To Trusted Developers,

I’ve always been pleased that WinPatrol runs fine along with your program. I plan on continuing to promote WinPatrol as a non-intrusive program well suited to run along side your favorite full featured AV/Security programs and/or firewalls.

The new Custom Registry Monitor provides the ability for users to keep a watch on a limitless range of registry keys. WinPatrol will either lock them down or users can be notified if they change. WinPatrol will also log any attempts to change the default value.

Having the average consumer add an individual registry entry isn’t the best usability experience so I’ve solved that problem too. As a service to other developers I will create custom add-on scripts of registry entries related to a particular theme or 3rd party programs like yours.

I’d like to offer you an opportunity of both added protection for your customers and promotion of your program. Your program could be listed on our “Suggestions” web page not only as compatible with WinPatrol but I would create a custom add-on which would be available as a free download. This add-on would protect critical locations needed for your program to function properly. When WinPatrol 18 is released next month over 70,000 PLUS members will be directed to this suggestion web page.

Participation is Simple
All I would need from you is a list of basic registry entries which if modified indicate a possible problem or perhaps an indication that Malware is trying to remove you or shut you down. I recommend a list as few as 2 or as many as 10 entries. You can decide if these values should never change or if you’d like your customer notified. These default values would exist in our own registry tree so it would be WinPatrol’s responsibility to remove them at uninstall time.

WinPatrol has never been a target of malware programs trying to disable us so having Scotty protect our mutual customers is a win for everyone

If you’re interested just send me a list of registry keys and values you’d like monitored. Even if this doesn’t meet your needs I still welcome any registry entries you’ve seen abused lately. WinPatrol 18 will be very flexible in protecting our fans.

Thanks,

Bill Pytlovany
support@WinPatrol.com

Registry Tweaks Cause Unexpected Results

I recently wrote about the problems that can result from so many different files that make up Windows. This week I found out the hard way how simple registry tweaks generate unintended surprises.

A few years ago, a tweak started making the round that allow users to add “Move To” and “Copy To” to the Windows Explorer in XP. Just last September TechRepublic was promoting this registry hack which used some additions to the registry key…HKCR\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers

Well, it turns out this tweak can cause some unexpected surprises. I can tell you I was surprised when my new friend Mark told me about the unexpected behavior he experienced. When he clicked on PLUS Info… he was greeted with a “Move Items” Dialog screen.

After doing some research I found many other unexpected surprises caused by this registry hack. This is just one of the registry changes which has caused problems since I’ve fixed a previous Windows quirk that impacted WinPatrol users.

Most of the registry flaws appear to be caused by 3^rd party browsers or other internet programs which made changes when they installed, but didn’t restore the original values when they were Uninstalled

When it comes to our newest WinPatrol (12.1.2007.0) I’ve narrowed most problems to the registry key HKCR\InternetShortcut\shell\open\command. If you experience problems getting PLUS Info visit http://www.winpatrol.com/faq.html for help. If this causes a problem in WinPatrol it will most likely cause problems to other programs.

If you’re one of those people who like the “Move To” / “Copy To” registry hack I can point you to the correct solution. MVP Ramesh Srinivasan provides an explanation and new method at http://windowsxp.mvps.org/movetocontext.htm

Top Ten Blogs April 2007

I’m ending the month with a list of the most popular posts. This is mainly to aid people who get here by searching for topics included in this months archive web page.

So, here’s the top ten for April in no particular order…

1. File Restoration, a new Revenue for Microsoft


2. Multiple Languages for WinPatrol


3. Not All Computers are Updated Equally


4. Female Journalists in the Media


5. Connection Not a Vista of Dell Problem


6. Dell Offers Windows XP As Choice


7. Apple Ad Could Improve New Windows PC’s


8. Microsoft Patches & BlackBerry Updates


9. Do I Need a Registry Cleaner?


10. AntiSpyware Advertising Gets Nasty