This site describes two programs that you can use to monitor and record what programs are run on your computer and what Internet sites people view on this computer. These programs are designed to allow parents to monitor and therefore protect their children and to allow employers to prevent misuse of comp nay computers by employees. Web Surfer Watcher keeps a log of what Web sites are visited, while Computer Use Reporter keeps a log of what programs are used and (to some extent) what is done with these programs. For example, Computer Use Reporter will give you some information on what Web sites are visited and what documents are viewed on a word processor. Note: Some antivirus programs have mistakenly labeled these as spyware and will display warnings when these programs are installed. This is a mistake. Although the programs do record some activity conducted on the computer, they do not transmit information over the Internet, nor do they record passwords or other sensitive information. They merely record information on what programs are used and what Web sites are visited. This information can only be viewed by reading it from the computer.
Web Surfer Watcher
Web Surfer Watcher is a software program for
Windows (does not work on NT computers) that records what Web sites have been
viewed on your computer to allow Internet monitoring. Web Surfer Watcher
operates hidden in the background, recording Web site titles and URLs
(addresses) of Web sites viewed using Internet Explorer or America Online. It
can only record the titles of Web sites viewed with other Web browsers, such as
Netscape, Opera, or Mozilla. You can configure Web Surfer Watcher to either
record this limited information from these browsers, or block these browsers
from running to force people to use Internet Explorer or America
Online.
When you run the viewer, you will see a list of
the titles of Web sites that have been visited. The list displays the Web site
titles. You can click on any title on the list to see the URL of the site, and
also when the site was viewed. You can then click on the View Web Site button to
actually see the Web site if you like. You can search the list of viewed sites
for specific words to simplify checking for objectionable sites.
This program can easily be run on a network, allowing you to monitor
Internet activity on multiple computers from one computer.
Web Surfer Watcher is available as shareware ($20 individual fee, with volume discounts available). Try it for a month to see if you like it before you have to pay for it. Just download the install file to your computer, then run the file like a program by double-clicking on the install file in Windows Explorer or My Computer to install Web Surfer Watcher. Remember that complete instructions are provided for uninstalling Web Surfer Watcher if you decide that you do not like it.
Read Web Surfer Watcher Instruction Manual
If you are interested in this program, contact Leithauser Resarch at [email protected].
Computer Use Reporter
Find out what your employees or children are doing on the computer. Computer Use
Reporter covertly monitors what programs are used on the computer, what files or
Web sites these programs access, when they are accessed, and which user is on
the computer at the time.
Computer Use Reporter is a software
program for Windows computers that records what programs are used on a computer.
Specifically, it records the text in the title bars of any programs that are run
on a computer. The title bar is the blue bar at the top of most windows. This
title bar almost always contains the title of the program (hence the name, title
bar) such as "Internet Explorer" or "MicroSoft Word". In addition, on most
programs it also contains information about what file the program is currently
accessing. Of particular importance is that Web browsers include the title of
the Web page being viewed in that browser. For example, if you were viewing the
Leithauser Research home page in Internet Explorer, the title bar would be
"Shareware Software by Leithauser Research - Internet Explorer." This means that
you can track what Web sites are viewed on a computer that has Computer Use
Reporter installed.
Computer Use Reporter records the date and
time the title bar is opened, and the date and time each time it changes. If
there are several users who have access to the computer, it records which user
is using the computer at the time the program is used.
You can
view the report on which programs were used using the Computer Use Reporter
control program. This program lists the contents of all titles bars, giving the
tile and date each title bar was first displayed. If you click on an item on the
list, it shows you the user name of the person on the computer.
Note: Computer Use Reporter cannot record activity of a user who has restricted
authorization to write files to most folders. For example, it cannot record
activities of a user on an XP computer if the account type setting for that user
is "limited", which causes XP to block them from saving files. Likewise, it may
not save the report for some restricted Windows 2000 users, depending on the
user properties. This is because these settings block Computer Use Reporter
saving the report information while that user is on the computer.
This program can easily be run on a network, allowing you to monitor
computer activity on multiple computers from one computer.
Computer Use Reporter is available as shareware ($25 individual fee, with volume discounts available). Try it for a month to see if you like it before you have to pay for it. Just download the install file to your computer, then run the file like a program by double-clicking on the install file in Windows Explorer or My Computer to install Computer Use Reporter. Remember that complete instructions are provided for uninstalling Computer Use Reporter if you decide that you do not like it. Computer Use Reporter runs on Windows 95/98/2000/NT/XP/ME.
To see an excellent review of this product, click here.
If you are interested in this program, contact Leithauser
Resarch at [email protected].
If you
have any additional questions about this product, click here to send an email to Leithauser
Research
or call 386-410-6769.
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If you like this program, but would like to
see some improvements or additional features,
contact Leithauser Research at
[email protected] or (386)-410-6769 and
describe the addition features you would like to see in this program. If they
sound like good ideas, we will add the improvements at no charge.
Just part
of our customer service!
If you have any questions, please send email to [email protected]. In case of emergency, you can call (386) 410-6769 between the hours of 11 AM and 5 PM Eastern time.
If you prefer to write, the address is
Leithauser Research
821 SnapDragon Drive
New Smyrna Beach, FL
32168
Go to Leithauser Research home page