The final version of Mirekusoft Install Monitor 2.0 can be installed over any existing 2.0 beta versions or 1.1 version and will preserve any existing data. It is available as a 30-day trial and to use the software beyond 30 days you will need to activate it. When you activate you will have to option to activate at a Standard or Premium level. The premium level includes all features plus will be eligible for premium feature additions or enhancements. The standard level includes all features except the Program Process Viewer and Program Scanner. Free activation keys will be released so follow this site for more information.

Another thing you can do is look in the programs list of Install Monitor. You may be able to figure it out from looking at the names and dates of the programs. The Find Window tool () is also useful in this regard. It will identify the program in the program list when you drag the mouse over the toolbar. This actually works for other windows as well and not just toolbars. Once you have identified the program you can use program tree to find out how it got installed. In many cases simply forgetting to remove a checkbox can result in unwanted toolbars. From here you can use Install Monitor to remove the toolbar and any other unwanted programs that were installed at the same time.

The Find Window Tool makes it easy to remove unwanted toolbars like the Babylon Toolbar.

The instructions for the Find Window Tool

One of these feature is the ability to start a program from the program list. One of the changes from Mirekusoft Install Monitor 1.1 is that the right pane no longer shows shortcuts that can allow you start a program. However now by right-clicking a program you are provided with a “Start” menu option that allows you start that program. Technically what happens is that Install Monitor will try to figure out the correct shortcut to start based on installed shortcuts. In many cases it will automatically guess correctly and the program will start. If it can not guess it will present you with a list of shortcuts similar to the right pane in 1.1. This feature also works with Startup Monitor to start any background services required for the program. Another benefit of this feature is that it provides another way to start programs on Windows 8 due to the missing Start Menu on the desktop.

This feature can be useful for programs that you rarely use but need to run every so often. When you exit the program you can also use the Program Process Viewer to make sure it is no longer running and all related processes are shutdown. When used together the result is there are less processes running and a more responsive computer. For instance I have an application that requires a service that I run rarely. Instead of having the program always starting I disable it with Startup Monitor and then when I need to run it I start it from the program list.

The right pane in Install Monitor 1.1 shows shortcuts for the current program.

Usually later on the user realizes they have something installed they did not want. It may not be obvious how the software was originally installed. With the Program Tree, Install Monitor is able to groups together programs based up how their installed. For instance many large programs include several support programs. With the Program Tree it is easier to see this relationship and remove all programs when uninstalling. The keyboard shortcut for the program tree is Ctrl-B.

An example of bundleware

With the Program Tree it is possible to see when programs are installed together

There are different ways to find programs and items that can be removed that involve some work and guessing. Mirekusoft Install Monitor can make it simpler by giving you more information about programs that are installed. Now Install Monitor provides more information about how you use your programs that can help you in deciding what programs to keep. There are two new columns called “Usage” and “Last Used” that show you how often you use a program and the last time you used the program. With this information you no longer have to compromise on disk space or guess how much you use a program. This makes it easier to remove programs you are not using. Install Monitor 2.0 also provides a “User” column which provides information about who installed a particular program. This can be useful on systems that have multiple users.

In Install Monitor 1.1 the contents pane organizes file and registry items hierarchically by file history. This gives you a history of how items are installed. Also items that are created later show up towards the end of the list. In Install Monitor 2.0 there is now a new default format for the contents pane that organizes items by location on the system. This can make it easier to see what was installed. The view format can be changed in the Options screen with the “Show file history in Contents pane” option.

The contents view now organizes items by location

The contents pane showing items by file history

Too many processes

The Program Process Viewer makes it easier to understand and manage what programs are running. Most process viewers present a long list of running processes and information on each process. However this list can easily become very long. It is not uncommon to have over 100 processes. Many of these processes are Windows background processes. Many programs are made up of several processes. This can make it hard to identify which processes belong to which programs. It makes it difficult to see how many resources a programs is using at any point in time. It is more useful to know that the Widget Viewer program you installed last week is using lots of memory than the memory usage of a single wdgtvw.exe process. Just like in a restaruant it is probably more useful to know the calorie count of your entrée instead of the calorie count of individual ingredients.

The Program Process Viewer helps to make it easier to see what programs are running by grouping related processes together. You can actually see what installed programs are running. The amount of processes being used by each program are shown in parenthesis next to it. It also groups all processor, memory, and disk usage together. You can terminate an entire program and all related processes with a single button click. This can help make sure a program is fully stopped before uninstalling it and possibly reduce an unneeded restart. Another benefit of the this feature is it helps to identify bloatware by excessive resource usage. This can help you to make a decision about how bloated a program is and whether to look for alternatives.

The Program Process Viewer shows what programs are running