logging - How do I monitor what my kids do on the computer?

07
2014-07
  • mysterious

    My computer is used by my kids, who are 10 and 15 years old. I want to monitor that what they do in my absence. I want to see when they turned the computer on or off; which websites they opened; whom they chatted with; screenshots every x minutes; etc.

    I do not necessarily want this info e-mailed to me, or for their passwords to be saved. I just want to monitor their activities.

    How can I keep track of my kids' computer use? Does there exist software for this?

    • Answers
  • Moab

    Windows has a tool offered through their Live services that offers most of these features. I'm not sure if it does screenshots, but it does monitoring and filtering and reporting on web and apps.

    Windows Live Family Safety 2011

    Here are the System Requirements for Windows Live Family Safety 2011, it will not run on XP.

    As far as screenshots, this may be able to be accomplished with a scheduled task. You'll need to write a screenshot script that then saves the resulting file with a time-stamped filename. Another question here on SU has answered this particular question before.

  • Tom Wijsman

    Notice: Don't let your children use an administrator account! Or they'll easily override things...

    I want to see that when they turned on or off computer.

    There is a folder in the Windows Event logs containing all the start-up and shutdown events.

    What sites did they open.

    History sites can help you with that, just disable the relevant options and the privacy tab.

    With whom they did chat.

    For clients, that would be just their friends; I don't see them temporarily adding someone...

    There are chat logs for that purpose, just make sure their enabled in the chat client.

    Screenshots after every x minutes etc.

    TimeSnapper is a highly configurable program to set this up and play them back as a video.

    You might be able to find alternatives by searching for "periodic screen capture software"...

    As for logging applications and websites, there is ManicTime.

  • Mic

    The program Children's Care has history option that allow you to capture the screen every half/1/5 minutes. Check here: Children's Care

  • user276689

    I think a common screen recorder will do your a favor. Here:http://www.apowersoft.com/track-computer-activity.html. Set it to automatically to start up to track their activity, it will save every recorded video.


    • Related Question

    parental controls - How to help children avoid the dangers of internet
  • Questioner

    I am sure many of you "SuperUsers" have children, and you have the internet. What software, computer settings, etc do you do to protect your children?

    I feel strongly that the best defense is to supervise your children's internet activities and teach them what is and isn't acceptable. I also feel that the family computer should be in the main public room of the house, and NEVER in their bedroom. I agree with the information in this article.

    So, the above is my first line of defense. I also feel that the parental controls in windows provide some benefit.

    In addition, on all of my computers, I modify the search preferences. I set the SafeSearch option to Strict (i.e.: Filter sexually explicit text, images, and videos from your search results).

    What do you do? Thanks.


    • Related Answers
  • alt text JohnFx

    Software4Parents.com's Top 5 Internet Safety Tips

    1. Tell your child to NEVER EVER reveal their name, address, phone number or any other personal information to ANYONE online. Once you give out this information, it is impossible to retract.

    2. Communicate regularly (not just once) with your child about WHAT they do online and WHO they talk to online. If you have actually met the friends they are talking to in person, you'll know it is OK for them to chat with them online.

    3. Take computers out of children' rooms and put them into public areas such as the family room. Many parents think they are helping with homework by giving the children a computer, but it also opens certain dangers that you may be unaware of.

    4. Choose your child's screen name, email address or instant message name wisely - don't' reveal ages, sex, hobbies, and CERTAINLY NOT suggestive or sexy names. Predators are more likely to pursue a child with the screen name "sexyteen5" than "happygirl5"

    5. Use technology to help you protect your child. Monitoring software gives you the ability to review your child's Internet usage. Even if you don't look at each and every email or instant message they send, you'll have a good idea if they are making smart choices online.

  • alt text Ivo Flipse

    My niece's school recommended K9 Web Protection which is a free content filtering service. This is very easy to set up and allows you to deny or permit sites by category.

    Another option is Open DNS.

    Both of these are discussed at the Gizmo's Freeware site.

    ...and of course, having the computer in a public part of the house.

  • Seasoned Advice (cooking)

    My advice is to use first install your child's computer so they do not have administrative access. Then install a program like NetNanny so you can prevent them from going to inappropriate sites. These suggestions should be done along with Krish's suggestions which are all spot on.

    Net Nanny Website