If a parent configures the computer for their children, they will do everything they can to use it safely, also trying to understand what they can do when accessing the Internet (child surveillance is never too much). In companies, an office manager may put his employees’ PCs under surveillance to check what they do and what sites they visit.
In this guide we will therefore tell you how monitor the activities and operations performed on a computer, useful for both statistical control both as real surveillance on the computer, be it corporate or personal.
How to check and spy on your PC
Record PC activity includes the control of the programs that are executed and the creation of a historical memory that acts as a Log, that is, a list of the operations carried out, so as to always know what is done in our absence or when we do not pay attention to what is done.
Windows activity log
On Windows 10 the log is the event viewer, which we can quickly recall by pressing the right button on the Start menu at the bottom left and pressing on the item Event viewer.
This event log is rather limited to system information, it does not clearly provide what has been done and what has been started, since it mainly reports errors without giving any notification about the programs used.
This register is only good for occasional checking or to check when the PC has been turned on or off (useful for unmasking unauthorized night sessions).
READ ALSO: See recent PC usage and latest activity on programs and files
KidLogger
If we are looking for a real program to use to control or spy on a PC, we can immediately try KidLogger which spies on what is written, sites seen and programs used.
By starting this program from our administrator account we will be able to record the keys and phrases generated by the PC keyboard but also the open applications, the websites that have been visited in our absence and much more.
This program is easy to configure, difficult to trace and equally easy to monitor, since it is enough to read the logs generated by the program (in a folder that can also be protected) to understand what is done on the PC for a given user account.
Hooker
Another very good program to record PC activity is Hooker, which is also available for free for any PC.
By installing this program on the computer to be monitored we will be able to capture all the keys typed on the keyboard and the programs started but also to capture the copy and paste made on the Web pages or in other documents. The log file can be protected, so that it cannot be deleted or discovered easily.
The convenience of this program is to be free for non-commercial use and to present itself as a portable application, that is, we can start it immediately without having to do any installation.
Keylogger Free Revealer
Among the best programs to control and spy on the use of the computer we also recommend Revealer Keylogger Free.
By installing this program on our PC we will have a powerful control tool, able to keep track of the texts typed on the keyboard, the passwords typed and a copy of the conversations made and the programs open, with the possibility of capturing screenshots every few minutes as proof of the fact happened.
The program can be used for free without limits, although some advanced functions are only available in the paid version.
READ ALSO: KeyLogger Windows Spy: 8 Free Programs
Spy Monitor Screen Recorder
Are we looking for a program to record everything that happens on the screen? In this case we can rely on Spy Monitor Screen Recorder.
By starting this program we will be able to collect sceenshot of each program started or of any action performed on the PC, so as to always have a trace of what is done in front of it in our absence. The program is very small and easily concealable, to the point of almost completely disappearing: we can in fact recover it with a keyboard shortcut.
Windows Activity Monitor
For monitor the activities and use of the PC a free program done very well is called Windows Activity Monitor which installs itself as system service (thus remains invisible) and operates in the background.
The service automatically records the activity and operations performed on the PC and generate gods graphic reports which can be accessed with a web browser. Access to this information is available both locally, on the same controlled PC, both remotely, i.e. from another PC connected to the network, for example from another room.
It can be very useful for parents to monitor their children’s PC usage and for an administrator or office manager to monitor the activities of employees, employees and consultants.
Activetrack
A similar program is ActiveTrack, free up to the control of three computers, which monitors all the activities of the computers connected in a network and generates excellent summary graphs to know what employees are doing and how they work Since spying on employees is not legal, this tool however, it could be used as it is mainly used to generate statistics and send messages.
READ ALSO: How to install a Keylogger to secretly spy on a PC
Conclusions
Finding programs that can spy on the computer and monitor the activity carried out completely for free is not easy, given that companies still want to get a fair profit from the “desire to spy” of their users, offering really very powerful and difficult to identify products . By using the programs indicated, however, we will be able to apply a good form of control on any type of computer.
If we want to increase the controls on the computers assigned to children and adolescents, we advise you to read our guides Parental control and family filter on PC and internet: 5 ways to keep children safe is Control how children use the PC and the internet with Windows Family accounts.
If, on the other hand, we are looking for other valid programs to track the movement of the mouse or the keys pressed on the keyboard, we recommend you read our guide Personal computer usage statistics: keyboard, network, mouse, everything.