Eye On Things - Free system startup monitor software
Every computer has a list of many startup programs, services, drivers, DLLs, and even browser objects (BHO objects) that run automatically in the background whenever your computer starts up. Many spyware or virus programs can also be hidden in these areas. I wrote this for myself to allow me to go back in time and look at what changes were added to my startup program list in case I need to remove a virus or spyware module that may have been embedded into my system. If software installations or system changes have caused problems, it will allow you to go back and view exactly what was added so you can manage or change your startup list. This generates a log file everytime you reboot, but only 1 per day, so over time you can go back to many different days to see if there were any changes made. This software download is free, there are no costs of any kind.
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Help FAQ: How do I run this? It's very simple. Just download and install and you will see the program in your system tray in the bottom right. Click the "eye" to view your log or compare your log. It's very self explanatory from there. Latest fixes: - I completely changed the design of this after using it myself for 6 months. Originally this logged real time any changes that were done on your system. This was not a good design since many tasks can add or remove things during normal processing (Games, etc., can do this). This caused too many "notifications" and this didn't do what I originally wanted because of this. This now creates - I changed the log files to be simple text files. That way they can always be moved or saved elsewhere if you wish, and can be viewed in notepad just by clicking them. - I made some additional changes for Vista, changing how/where files are stored. 1) Is this free? - Yes, this is freeware that I created for my own use. I have no plans on selling this, I have written and sold alot of different software programs over the years but decided to make to make this free for anyone that wants it. 2) What is the log on the left? - This creates a log everytime you bootup your computer, 1 per day only. The dates shown is the date the log file was created (based on your computer date and time), so you can easily view the date that you want to go back and view. 3) What is the compare button? - You can click the arrows to choose 2 dates to compare. This will then list any new programs, services, or browser help objects that were added on your computer. They will display in the list at the bottom. 4) What is the view log? - It will allow you to view your log of files that are running in the background whenever you start your computer. There is alot of information on there that most computer novices will not understand, but thats ok. It includes details like registry keys and locations as to where the task is located when it's started. You can click each line and it will filter out the task, service, DLL, etc., and list it in the bottom box so you don't have to decipher the text list. You can also lookup the task on the web. 5) What is the lookup task button? - Whenever a task is filtered out of your text log, it will display in the box at the bottom. You can then link to the webpage to view the purpose of this task, DLL, service, driver, etc... The site this currently links to is http://www.what-is-exe.com Most programs should be found on there, but some may not. This will also hopefully help answer any questions if you think a task may be a spyware program or a virus program. 6) Does this software have spyware? - Absolutely not. Obviously I'm very much against that. Many freeware items include spyware in them, this one will never have that. 7) Does this slow down performance? - Not at all, it sits dormant in your system tray. Once it makes a log during your bootup (which occurs in less then a second), then its done until you activate it again to look at logs or compare log files. 8) Can this be redistributed to others? - Yes, as long as it's distributed with the normal installation file and is free. It should not be altered or changed in any way. 9) Should I delete the old log files? - The delete button is there for that purpose, these are just text files that take up very little space so it probably doesn't matter much. You can delete some of the old ones if you want, just make sure you keep some old files in case you want to go back to view what has changed, as you never know when that may be needed. 10) How do I uninstall? - Just remove it first from your system tray by clicking the exit option. Then use the automatic uninstall in the add/remove section of your control panel. 11) Where is the latest download? - Currently you can find it at http://www.softdd.com/eyeonthings/index.html
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