It’s quite puzzling and occasionaly vexing that that Microsoft does not bundle a software into the OS that  monitor specific folders for file changes and iterate the changes in an east table to provide the user with means to scrutinize those modifications

Useful software like this can be helpfully insightful- popping up during occasional changes to critical files like documents or the addition of new files to a monitored directory. Of course, like the much maligned UAC, it comes with a gag switch that turns off notifications when updates become hectic.

Oh and  the software can preven viruses to. Imagine yourself surfing the web and suddenly the system informs you that an executable file has been nuked and replaced in the system folder. Should you raise brows? Yes definitely. Notifications of this sort can help block rouge software coming in.

Welcome Spy the Spy,  a software for Windows that frisks folders and subfolders (and even network folders) for file modifications and additions. To minimize false alarms, you select file extensions to be monitored. I’d recommned keeping an eye on exe, docs, dll and bat.

For a start only the Windows folder and its system subfolders are frisked by the application. It won’t be a doozy to add on the MyDocuments, Downloads and Program File folders.  Keep an eye on these as viruses use these as portals to your PC.

After a file gets changes in the monitored folders a notice popsup giving the user a handful of possibilities. The file can be dumped quarantine, the procedure can be logged and a System File Check can be started.

The application doesn’t go beyond tagging file changes so it can’t serve as a standalone antispyware tool. Worse, it cannot fix changes to the Windows Registry neither can it process files to determine if they are indeed spyware or legit applications. The biggest downer is that Spy The Spy cannot deny read or write access to files. For this I recommmend having Spybot Search and Destroy running as complement. This freeware antispyware bests most of the commercial offerings Ive seen

Download

Spy-The-Spy 1.1 (link 1)
Spy-The-Spy 1.1 (link 2)