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Startup Guard v1.1.

Startup Guard continuously monitors your registry and startup folder, for software that sets itself to start with Windows.
This could be a virus, or some other form of malware, but is more likely to be a legitimate item of software, that the author thinks is so indispensable, that it must start with Windows. This increases the time Windows takes to start and uses system resources, often for very little benefit.

Startup Guard alerts you to any new entries and allows you approve, or disapprove them. It also monitors the Internet Explorer home and search pages, alerting you if an attempt is made to change them.
Note: With legitimate software, it is often better to turn a startup setting off using the options, otherwise the software may repeatedly try to set the option.

On its first run, Startup Guard asks you to approve the current startup items and it then will run quietly in the background, alerting you if necessary.
I found that Startup Guard works well and is quite light on system resources. But it can be a little slow to respond to threats and the icon in the system tray is unnecessary (IMOP). But overall, a useful and lightweight addition to your system security.

Freeware -- Download size 324K -- Win 9x, ME, 2K, XP.

http://www.acelogix.com/freeware.html

Free Hide Folder v1.5

Free Hide Folder is a simple way to keep your personal files, pictures, etc, securely away from other  people. You can hide as many folders as you wish and these folders simply vanish, giving no clue as to their existence.

The help file is online and a bit sparse, but this shouldn't be a problem, as Free Hide Folder is  very easy to use.
On first startup you will be prompted to choose a password, this will then be used to access the Hide Folder window, where you can add, or remove folders, that you wish to secure and choose to hide, or show folders.
You can also change your password and make a backup of the folder locations (do this!), so that if by chance the program data should be corrupted, you can still access your folders.

Free Hide Folder should provide enough security for the average user. But the hidden folders aren't encrypted, so if you are a spy, or something similar, you might want to choose a stronger system.
I did manage to access the hidden folders (no, I'm not telling you how), but I had the advantage of knowing their location, as I created them. Without this inside knowledge, it would be very difficult to locate them.

Free Hide Folder is an attractive, easy to use, program, that provides a reasonable level of security, without lots of technical jargon and complex settings and should meet most users needs.

Freeware -- Download size 740k -- Win 9x,Me,NT,2000,XP,2003
 
http://www.cleanersoft.com/hidefolder/free_hide_folder.htm

Startup Monitor.

Startup Monitor alerts you, when a program tries to set itself to start with Windows. This can be very useful in preventing attacks by viruses, trojans, etc, which often exhibit this behaviour.
It also gives you some control over the current annoying trend of virtually every software maker, to insist that their program always starts with Windows.

There is no program interface, or tray icon, Startup Monitor just quietly runs in the background, only alerting you if there is a problem.
I currently use RegProt to protect the registry, but Startup Monitor has clearer alerts, uses slightly less system resources and also monitors the startup folder.
There is no built in help, so save the web page for later reference.

Freeware -- Download size 60k -- Win(all)

http://www.mlin.net/StartupMonitor.shtml

Security software -- WinPatrol.

WinPatrol monitors the start up section of your computers registry, to see if any new programs have been set to start with Windows, if they have, it notifies you and enables you to block the changes.
This is very useful for stopping viruses, trojans, etc, as most malicous software tries to start automatically with Windows. You can also disable those annoying but harmless programs, that insist on setting themselves to start automatically, every time you run them.

WinPatrol also controls which BHOs (Browser Helper Objects) are allowed to be installed in Internet Explorer. BHOs can be useful, such as a search toolbar, but can also be malicous, causing pop up adverts, or worse.
You will also be alerted to changes to the IE homepage, search page and hosts file.

Further areas monitored for changes by WinPatrol are the scheduled tasks, services, file types and cookies.
The file type monitoring could be useful for preventing new software associating itself with files of a certain type, but disappointingly only a small selection of file types seem to be monitored.
Note: on the options page, you can choose to "lock" the file types.

I tested WinPatrols monitoring and was quite impressed, it detected all changes, to a variety of start up locations in the registry and the start up group in the menu. It also detected changes to the home and search pages in IE and a new entry in the hosts file.
In all cases WinPatrol successfully reversed the changes.

The only drawback to WinPatrol, is that the monitoring is not real time, so there is a delay between changes happening and you being notified. To keep this delay to a minimum, I would advise changing the monitoring interval to 1 minute (I have no idea why it is set to longer by default?).

Overall, WinPatrol provides very good protection against programs starting without permission, while being light on system resources. And although some of its features, such as active tasks, are easily available from Windows, WinPatrol does display them more clearly and with more information.
A plus version is available for $29.95, giving you real time monitoring and better information on programs and processes.

Freeware -- Download size 5.41Mb -- Win 95,98,ME,NT,2000,XP
Note: Win95 users visit this link: http://www.winpatrol.com/win95.html

http://www.winpatrol.com

Encrypted virtual drive-- Dekart Private Disk Light v1.22

Private Disk provides an easy way of securely storing private data on you computer, be it business documents, your password list, banking details, your latest invention, or whatever else is important to you.

Private disc creates an encrypted file on your hard drive, that once "connected" appears in My Computer as a removable drive, this drive can then be used in the same manner as any other drive, copying, moving, opening and deleting files.

To use Private Disc you first create your virtual drive, simply choose a file name and size, enter a password and your drive is created.

Your encrypted drive appears as a file on your hard drive and is only accessible after "connecting" using Private Disc, browse to the file, enter your password and your drive can now be used.
To encrypt the drive, either select "disconnect" or simply close the Private Disk program, the drive will disappear from My Computer.

A very easy and convenient program to use and should be secure enough for the average computer user, just don't forget your password!

Freeware -- Download size 415k --- Win 95, 98, NT4.0, 2000, ME, XP
Note: NT users should read the help file for extra information pertaining to their system.

http://www.dekart.com/products/encryption/private_disk_light/

AnalogX Script Defender.

Intercepts all requests to execute a variety of different script types that are commonly used to infect your computer with viruses - Visual Basic Scripting (.VBS), Java Script (.JS) and Windows Scripting (.WSH) are the most common and can all be intercepted by Script Defender.
Operation is just a matter of agreeing with the defaults, there is a test script included in the folder, to test that everything is working ok.

Freeware -- Download size 224k.

http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/system/sdefend.htm

Script Trap.

This program does a similar job to AnalogX Script Defender, but it intercepts more types of scripts, and has a friendlier interface. You also have the option of scanning a script with your antivirus program.
I have changed to Script Trap, but both programs are very good and provide a good defense against scripts containing viruses, particularly in emails.
You must read the help file included with the program thoroughly, especially if you use Microsoft Word or Excel.

Freeware -- Download size 46k

Note: to scan a script with AVG antivirus enter:
C:\Program Files\Grisoft\AVG Free\avgw.exe and /SE as the option.

Note: you should only have one script protection program installed.

http://keir.net/scriptrap.html

RegistryProt.

With all the viruses, worms, and trojans about today, not to mention spyware, its a good idea to get some extra protection.
RegistryProt can help protect your system by blocking any program that attempts to make important changes to the registry.

Most malware programs rely on being able to alter the registry, so that they will autostart with Windows.
RegistryProt intercepts these changes and asks whether you wish to allow them, this effectively stops any malicious program from running and causing further damage to your computer, it also prevents it propagating itself, thereby preventing damage to other peoples computers.
A further benefit is that by alerting you to registry changes you are informed that something may be wrong.

Of course not every registry change is malicious, many programs add keys to the registry, but its usually easy to tell if a change is legitimate or not, depending on what you are doing at the time of the alert and if you are not sure the alert screen contains enough information for you to make enquries about the key.

An example of a suspicious alert might be if a registry change is attempted while you are surfing or opening your email.

The program comes with a comprehensive help file and once installed you just run the administration program which allows you to turn RegistryProt on and from then on it will run quietly in the background, with no icon or interface you will not even notice it is running, until it gives an alert, when something tries to alter an important registry key.

RegistryProt is a useful extra tool in the battle against malicious programs, but as with any tool of this type it does need to be used with a modicum of care, and as such is probably best suited to the more experienced user.

Freeware -- Download size 68k.

http://www.diamondcs.com.au/freeutilities/regprot.php

StartupRun v1.22

StartupRun lists all programs that start up with Windows, along with their product name and path. This can be very useful for spotting malware, or just troublesome programs that are slowing down Windows.

If StartupRun recognises a spyware or adware program it highlights it in pink. You can choose to disable, or even remove startup items.

Freeware -- Download size 30k -- Win 9x, NT, 2000, XP

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/strun.html

ELAU Analyzer v1.0.

One of the easist ways to protect yourself from adware and spyware is to read the licence agreement, before installing a new program, as many programs mention the extra programs they intend to install, in the licence.
Unfortunately many licence agreements are very long and written in legal jargon to try and make you ignore them.
This is where the ELAU Analyzer comes in useful, it scans the legal licences included in software installers, to see if they are installing spyware etc, hidden in the small print.
The program works pretty well, alerting you to any suspicious phrases included in the licence, you can then make an informed decision as to whether you install the software, or not.

Note: You will usually need to use Ctrl - C to copy the licence and then paste it into the analyzer window.

Freeware -- Download size: 1.7Mb

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/

Testing your antivirus software.

EICAR Standard Anti-virus Test file.

Once you have decided on an antivirus program to use, it would be nice to see what happens when it detects a virus, of course, actually deliberately catching a virus for test purposes, would not be very sensible.

Luckily a harmless test file can be used, that should be recognized by most antivirus programs, this file is known as the EICAR Standard Anti-virus Test file. (EICAR is the European Institute of Computer Anti-virus Research)

You can find the test file in several formats along with more information here:
http://www.eicar.org/anti_virus_test_file.htm

Note: It is a good idea to save the file to a floppy disc, or CD, this saves any problems with deleting the file later, if your antivirus program will not let you access it, it also allows you to store it for future testing, without getting a virus alert every time you scan your hard drive.

Rob Goldfish Web Site