WinPatrol reduces pop-up alerts, makes program less intrusive

BillP Studios has released a major new update to its system monitoring and security tool with the release of WinPatrol 29.0. Version 29 sees its alert screen completely revamped in an attempt to simplify the process of dealing with numerous system changes -- typically caused by malware -- as they occur.

Version 29 also tweaks font handling for improved display as well as moving alert messages to the top right of the screen to make them less intrusive.

The key change in WinPatrol 29 sees the program attempt to reduce the number of pop-up alerts that appear whenever a change -- such as the installation of a new program -- is detected. Instead of providing separate alerts for each change that’s spotted, WinPatrol will provide a single alert with all the information required to help the user decide if this is linked to something safe or not.

The revamped screen also contains a number of new clickable links designed to help them make their decision. These links are basically shortcuts to features previously available via the program’s main tabbed interface, but provided for convenience sake.

The links include Open Folder and Properties, both of which display additional information about the alert triggered, while Disable allows users to not just reject the change this time, but reject any attempts to make the same change going forward.

Advanced users running the paid-for Plus version can reject this new dialog and reapply the previous multiple pop-up settings via the Hide Alert Messages button on the Options dialog -- simply untick "Suppress Continuous Alerts based on first response" to do so.

Version 29 also includes additional features. Font handling has been improved a number of ways, first by reducing the size in dialogs where long path names have been displayed, and secondly when resizing the main user interface.

Alert messages have been moved to the upper right-hand corner of the screen to make them less obstructive, while McAfee users will be pleased that version 29 no longer warns them every time a file signature update is delivered.

WinPatrol 29.0 is available as a freeware download for PCs running Windows XP or later. A Plus version can be purchased for a one-off fee of $29.95 that includes additional features such as "real-time infiltration detection".