Most spy-ware, trojans, viruses or spam ridden software will place entries into your registry, without your knowledge. Once the entry has been made, the program can run once the computer is restarted. If software is discovered after this, it is too late because the damage has already been done. A timely and difficult clean up job is required to restore your computer to full working order… if you are lucky.

Reg-runner is a program that runs in the task tray, that will help you protect your computer from these nasties, by popping up a small alert when a change is made to the registry, or when a program or process has started or ended. The majority of these alerts will be for programs you intended to install or run, but eventually the time will come when you are alerted to a program that is not wanted. 

Reg-runner has a number of tabs, showing the programs that are loaded at startup, running processes and registry changes. Each of these entries can be looked at more deeply. Right clicking on any of the startup items or processes will bring up a context menu. From this menu, Reg-runner can shoot you off to Google or Processlibrary.com for more information. Using these resources, you can find out if any program is malicious, or more simply, what any of your programs or processes do.

This program is small, weighing in just under 400k. For those who don’t like to use virus scanners or anti spy-ware programs because they slow down your computer, this would be a very sensible addition to the task tray.

Reg-runner is available for free from SourceForge. There is a standard version, and a black edition for those who like to live on the dark-side.