Asked By
ashlyn
410 points
N/A
Posted on - 06/01/2011
Is there a way that I can monitor user’s computer activity and send it to my email? I suspect that my younger brother is visiting dangerous and inappropriate sites. I’m afraid that it may risk the computer security and vulnerable to threats such as viruses, worms and Malware.
I also want to limit or block the website that he can visit. I want to monitor the user’s activity remotely without being discovered. Can some give me clear instruction on how to do this if possible?
Can this be done without installing software if not then what kind of software would be best for this? Also provide me instruction for the setup of the software and some configuration for better result. This would be my resort in solving my brother illegal activity. I’m not prohibiting him from using my computer I just want to minimize his computer usage and figure out what he is doing.
This is just my precautionary actions before it’s too late.
Software for monitoring computer activity
Monitoring the computer usage particularly web browsing activity is very important to maintain the stability of your operating system. Knowing all the websites that have been visited gives you an idea if something is not right with the performance of your system, maybe one of your family member or friends access some sites that is harmful to your computer, this site could give you viruses, worms, Trojans etc.
There are many ways to monitor your computer activity without installing any third party applications. You can see visited websites through your internet browser’s history. Web browser history is a compilation or a collection of web sites that have been visited by the user. It is useful when you forgot the websites that you visited. You’ll just have to look it on your browser’s history. I will show you how to check histories in Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.
For Internet Explorer:
1. Press ctrl+H or click the “Star“ image found at the left of your browser.
2. Click the “History” tab. Customize your search by clicking the drop down menu under History tab.
3. To view history items, click the calendar icon to see all the list of the websites that you visited and click the yellow icon if you want to see pages that you visited under the same site.
4. You can open the site by clicking the link, it will open the site on the same window. Right click it if you want it to open in a new window.
For Mozilla Firefox:
1. Press ctrl+H or click the “History” tab found at the top of your browser.
2. Click “Show All History” under history tab.
3. Double the icon with “Today, Last 7 days or the current month” calendar.
4. It will expand and show you all the list of web sites that you visited.
5. Right click to open, open in new tab or open in new windows.
If you really want to monitor the whole computer usage, both online and offline, use monitoring software for your computer. You can use Desktop Activity Recorder. It is a freeware application that lets you record almost all of your activity on your computer. It is like having a built-in video cam inside your monitor, recording entire desktop activity.
How to use Desktop Activity Recorder?
1. Download and Install Desktop Activity Recorder. You can download it here.
2. Launch the application. Customize the settings to record the entire screen of your monitor. Click the “Region” menu and select “Full Screen” or you can manually put the width and the height the region by clicking the “fixed region” option.
3. If you want to include the audio on your recording, go to “options” menu and uncheck the “Do not record audio” from the list.
4. Under program options in “Options” menu, check the “Minimize program on start recording” and the “Hide flashing rectangle during recording”
5. You PC surveillance are ready to film. Click the Record button to start recording.
Software for monitoring computer activity
Is there a way that I can monitor user’s computer activity and send it to my email? I suspect that my younger brother is visiting dangerous and inappropriate sites.
Hi,
Yes there is a way to do just that. What you need is a keylogger. Traditionally, a keylogger is a computer software that captures the key presses of a computer and stores them. It is usually used by bad people to steal information on other people's computer. But it can also be used by parents who want to control their children's computer usage.
The stored key presses then can be accessed by the person who installed the keylogger. Many modern keyloggers, however, beside of having other features such as capturing screen shoots, also have the ability to send that log to an email address. All of this without your younger brother knowing that you're spying on him.
I suggest you to install one on your computer. You can try Refog Keylogger (you can download it from
https://www.refog.com/keylogger/. They have detailed instructions on how to set it up.
I’m afraid that it may risk the computer security and vulnerable to threats such as viruses, worms and Malware. I also want to limit or block the website that he can visit. I want to monitor the user’s activity remotely without being discovered. Can some give me clear instruction on how to do this if possible?
To limit or block the websites that he can visit, you can use a Parental Control software. Try K9 Web Protection, it's a freeware. However, by using a parental control, most likely your brother would realize it, because when he open a blacklisted website, it'll get blocked, hence he will know that you have done something to the computer.
