Screenshot Monitoring Software

[tedanderson]

Does anyone know of a monitoring program that takes periodic screen shots of a PC desktop?

I want to be able to monitor the activities on a workstation PC without the user knowing and I would like for all of the screen shots to be saved on a local server. Currently the server is accessible by the users, however, I would like to set up a folder on the server that only the program can access. I am not concerned about tracking internet usage as much as I need to track inappropriate use such as activities that would be better suited on another machine.

This is a PC that is used as a character generator, however, people have a tendency to install software for doing homework or they use it for writing up ministry reports, editing documents, etc. which isn't the worst thing in the world to do to a PC, however, every so often the machine gets out of whack and nobody seems to know how it happened.

Has anyone here ever used software monitoring before and/or can recommend a good program?

[cmchamp]

Can you not just set up the generic log in to be a restricted user who can't install anything?
I would think that would be an easier solution.

I did this search at CNet

http://download.cnet.com/1770-2023_4...entNav;navForm

I haven't used anything like this in over a decade.
C.

[tedanderson]

I am not interested in restricting access because there are things that people legitimately need to do and sometimes there is indeed a legitimate need to download and install software. One thing that I cannot stand personally is having to jump through hoops just to complete my project as a result of policy restrictions. It stifles creativity and productivity and so I wouldn't like doing that to anyone else. At least if I can see what they did, I can fix and/or undo the problem.

[cw4u]

I'd still go for a limited user account if possible. Our CG machine isn't even hooked up to the internet and for good reason. I didn't want anything to happen to it. We have an additional machine in the video production room for casual internet browsing and stuff like that.

You could purchase some type of screen monitoring software. Or use VLC as a viewer only type client. Maybe even a keystroke logger would work. A program like DeepFreeze might work as well.

[[Admin] osborn4]

Our lyric computer operators have limited user accounts. I had to rebuild the computer one Friday (our services our Saturday morning) after one of our operators tried to install a special video player for his wedding.

Anyone who's job is to install software on that computer has access to the administrator password. All others use the restricted account. I even use the restricted account when I'm operating.

[tedanderson]

Thanks for the suggestions guys but restricting access to the machine isn't going to serve the purpose of what we are doing.

Fixing and/or rebuilding the machine is a relatively easy process. I just want to be able to help those who use the machine understand what they did to destroy it in the first place. This is set up in more of a training environment than a critical production environment.

So if they do something stupid like install Limewire because they were looking for the new Hillsong track, we can go back and look at what happened and say, "This is where you went wrong." because most of the time people are only interested in achieving what they set out to do rather than consider the ramifications that come along with it.

It would be nice if everyone followed instructions, however, I think that there is much to be learned when people don't. There is value in making mistakes and I think that if we protect users from inadvertently making these mistakes, they don't learn anything.

So having said that, I've been shopping for screen shot software and was wondering if anyone else on here ever used it before.

[FlamHappy]

We have Iprotectyou software on our AV machine.
We set it up so that it will go to the web sites we want but none others without the password.

$34.00

Done.

[mifantrax]

Try a free keylogger that has also screenshot capabilities. maybe ...
try this http://kidlogger.net/

I used some shareware that have screenshot features and they worked ok

[superdave058]

try Activity Monitor from softactivity.com

[geanchur]

Hi,
Try Webwatcher and StaffCop, these two software are good example of monitoring software using screenshots. It paints the accurate picture of what is happening on a specific computer you want to monitor.

[Nicole565]

We are using Praetorian Guard in our office. The Screenshots are taken every 3 minutes, there is an option to play them as a movie or slideshow as well. It is working well for now.

[leonidus2012]

you can try extraspy employee monitor - a completely free software to monitor computers in lan.