gHacks technology news » monitor computer http://www.ghacks.net A technology blog covering software, mobile phones, gadgets, security, the Internet and other relevant areas. Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:31:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 PC Activity Monitor http://www.ghacks.net/2009/09/12/pc-activity-monitor/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/09/12/pc-activity-monitor/#comments Sat, 12 Sep 2009 11:28:39 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=16250 windows softwareAn activity monitor is a software program that can be used to record PC activity that includes running programs and processes on a computer system. The Windows Activity Monitor installs itself as a system service in the Windows operating system. The service will automatically record PC activity and generate reports that can be accessed with a web browser. Access to these information is available from the same computer system but also remotely which can be very helpful for parents to monitor the PC usage of their children. Other possible uses include running the activity monitor in an office or organization.

pc activity monitor

The PC activity monitor is configured over the web interface as well. Here it is possible to activate remote access, change the listening port, data retention and password protection. The reports are divided into tabs for easier access. Each report can be configured to show the activity on a specific range of days and by user to filter the results more effectively.

The statistics tab displays the last activity on the monitored computer system as well as the general use of applications in a pie chart. The timesheet tab on the other hand lists when applications where used on the computer system. Groups are helpful to add multiple applications to a single group, e.g. Internet programs or Office programs to get a better overview on first glance.

The last tab will list the running processes starting from the point of running the activity monitor. This usually means that no processes are listed after installation. The process list will however be filled with processes as the service (called wam in the service configuration) is configured to automatically start with Windows.

Windows Activity Monitor can be downloaded from the developer’s website.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2009/09/12/pc-activity-monitor/feed/ 3 Parental Control Software Auto Screenshot http://www.ghacks.net/2009/09/01/parental-control-software-auto-screenshot/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/09/01/parental-control-software-auto-screenshot/#comments Tue, 01 Sep 2009 20:14:26 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=15920 microsoft windowsParents have several options to monitor their children’s Internet usage. The most effective method is to be there when the children use the Internet. This is however not always possible. Software programs try to fill this gap that can be used to control and monitor what children do and cannot do on the Internet. These parental control software programs are only as effective if the child is not able to overcome them.

Auto Screenshot is a portable software program that falls into the parental control software category. It can be used to monitor users on a computer system. More precisely: It can be used to take interval screenshots of a user’s desktop whenever the user accesses the computer system.

parental control software

The tri-lingual software program offers a few options to configure the process. The user – which in this case should be one of the parents or guardians – can configure the delay between screenshots in seconds and the number of screenshots that should be kept on the computer system. It is furthermore possible to set the download directory, delete duplicate screenshots and to compress images to save space on the hard drive.

The process of the parental control software is visible in the task manager. This means the software can only be effective on user accounts without administrative rights. Auto Screenshot (via To The PC) is available at the developer’s website.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2009/09/01/parental-control-software-auto-screenshot/feed/ 6 Monitor Computer Activity http://www.ghacks.net/2009/01/06/monitor-computer-activity/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/01/06/monitor-computer-activity/#comments Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:09:07 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=9678 The Windows operating system records all kinds of information during computer usage. It records what searches are performed on the computer system, what programs are opened or saved, which urls are opened and which documents have been opened recently.

While many users do not worry about those information some prefer to manage which information get recorded and which do not.

Win Spy is a free software program that can monitor computer activity, or to be more precise to display what has been recorded by the Windows operating system in the past. It displays general operating system items like the recent documents but also Internet Explorer specific records extracted from the index.dat file.

monitor computer activity

Each of the eight different histories can be accessed by clicking on the tabs on top of the application. Files can be executed by double-clicking them. While the application is great to monitor computer activity it does not come with the means to erase the information.

A simple web search usually provides the tools to delete those information from the computer system.

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