Antispyware "registry Controls"

C-1000

Could someone please explain to me what "Registry Control" means? I thought it meant controlling entries from being made in your Windows system Registry, but in the example shown on the Help Section, it shows an Application, in this case, "Program Files\Adobe Acrobat\etc. So is this use of the word "Registry" referring to a company accessing your computer to gather Product Registration information?

For your convenience, here is where I found it in BitDefender's Help file:

Dbl. Click on Management Console, DblClick on Antispyware Module, then click on Advanced Settings - Registry Control.

Thanks very much in advance.

alexcrist

Hi C-1000,

This is what it says in the Help file:

The Registry is also used to define which programs should be launched automatically

when Windows is started. Viruses often use this in order to be automatically launched

when the user restarts his computer.

Registry Control keeps an eye on the Windows Registry - this is again useful for

detecting Trojan horses. It will alert you whenever a program will try to modify a registry

entry in order to be executed at Windows start-up.

In other words, BD doesn't track all registry changes. It simply monitores applications and warns you when a program wants to set itself to start when you turn on Windows. This is a way to protect you against malware.

How can this protect you

BitDefender, as well as any other AV solution, doesn't detect any malware out there (because everyday appear tens, maybe hundreds of new viruses/variants). It's simply impossible.

BUT when a virus comes in your PC, the first thing it does is to set itself to start with Windows. BitDefender monitores these actions and, when something tryes to do this, BD asks you about it (if you allow or deny that application to start at System Startup).

So, even if a virus is not known by BD, you can block it from starting up next time you start your PC. When BD alerts you about Registry changes, just read the message carefully and, if you don't recognize the application, just deny it's action.

Cris.