Long-time members here will recall how I have always promoted EAM (formerly a-squared) as a pretty good free anti-malware on-demand scanner.
Thus I was surprised today when WinPatrol Plus alerted me that a new Startup Program, Emsisoft Anti-Malware Real-Time Protection, wants to run in the background, from c:\program files (x86)\emsisoft anti-malware\a2guard.exe /d=60. This came entirely out of the blue.
I rejected the change, as I use MBAM Premium for this purpose. I have used EAM as a free, on-demand scanner for years (from when it was a2) without problems, so I was surprised when this attempt to sneak the Real-time program onto my Win 7 appeared. The change I rejected returned, and "replaced the automatic entry" according to WinPatrol. It says a "partner program" could be malware forcing this unwanted program into my startup.
So I checked msconfig.exe, and sure enough there was a2guard.exe /d=60 in my startup list. I could not remove it with the WinPatrol Plus startup manager.
I don't believe EAM has gone over to the dark side, but I take a dim view of any program that forces its way into my startup list and resists removal. I have fired off an enquiry to emsisoft, and will post any explanation they offer.