At a more advanced level, moreover, when two or more people work with their personal computers, at the same desk or even at home or in the same office, they most likely connect to the same router, using the same internet connection. This means that PCs are connected to the network and can be seen together.
In this guide we will show you all the tools and procedures for spy on a PC and know exactly what it does and what has been seen or done in our absence; We recommend that you use these methods only to protect our PCs and not to spy on other people’s computers (since a criminal offense is envisaged).
How to spy on our PC during our absence
There are various methods that we can use to spy on our personal computer during the absence, so that we know exactly what has been done and find out who has used it or who has done research using our accounts or our Internet browser.
Keylogger
One of the most effective ways to spy on our computer involves the activation of a keylogger, to be left active during our absence and to be deactivated as soon as we return to the position. The keylogger records all the keys pressed on the keyboard, so as to provide us with the phrases, words and texts searched on the Internet or on other apps (also any attempts to violate the password): if nobody has used our computer, the keylogger should be ” clean “on our return.
A variety of free keylogger programs are available, all seen and reviewed in our AI guides Keylogger programs for Windows is How to install a Keylogger to secretly spy on a PC.
Control programs open and displayed on the screen
Next to the keylogger we can monitor the computer during our absence using two free programs such as Hooker and Spy Monitor Screen Recorder.
With the first program we can create an advanced keylogger that will show us all the programs open in our absence and all the keys pressed, while the second program is designed to capture periodic screens of what goes on the screen (programs, videos, the Internet etc. ).
By combining the two programs we will be able to discover in a short time everything that has been done on the PC in our absence and collect valuable information on the person who used it.
Record with the webcam
But the most striking proof is certainly a photo of the alleged “spy”, so as to find out immediately who used the computer while we were absent. For this purpose we recommend using WebCamImageSave.
By properly configuring this program every time you unlock or restart your computer during our absence, a photo of the Webcam will follow, so that the spy will be immediately exposed! To make the best use of this program, we recommend you read our guide How to activate the webcam when the PC is turned on automatically.
Other useful programs to spy on your PC
The programs seen so far should be sufficient to carefully monitor everything that happens on the computer in our absence; if we are looking for other valid solutions, we recommend reading those below:
- AllInOne is a paid program, but it can be downloaded for free for a 7-day trial, which not only captures keystrokes on the keyboard but also has advanced options for sending recordings via email and also for recording sounds. Such programs are not illegal, it always depends on the use that is made of them: if you want to check who uses my PC without permission it is an account, if instead you want to spy on another person without his permission, then you fall into the crime computer scientist.
- A new program to see how your computer is used and also to monitor other PCs on the network is SurveilStar Activity Monitor. This software must be installed on the PC to be checked, which can be that of a family member at home or a work colleague. It is used to check how the internet is used by another computer, monitor it and, if necessary, also block some sites so that they cannot be viewed. This program works through the sniffing driver for Windows WinPCap and, since it is installed manually on the monitored computer, it captures all the information on the sites visited, e-mails and file transfers. SurveliStar Activity Monitor is free for personal use and is a regular program, which is not blocked by antivirus.
- Always to spy on those who use their PC and record everything they do, you can use Blackbox Security that I had described in a previous article on how check other computers on the network. The program always remains to be installed manually on the PC to be spied or checked, however it does not show up, remains hidden, is not caught by antiviruses and is able to send recordings via email. Same type of program is Spy Screen mentioned in the post on how spy and record the activities of a computer. An idea to transfer these programs to the target control PCs, without using USB sticks, are online hard drives such as Dropbox or, better yet, as Box.net which can be used without installing clients, therefore without leaving traces.
- iSpy instead it is one of those programs for record automatically from microphone and webcamIn this case we move to an advanced level of control because we want to record the audio of what is said in a room and also the video of what happens. After configuring the program, with absolute ease, you can go away and let it record all the movements recorded by the webcam. Programs like iSpy or even Yawcam they only record when motion is detected and iSpy also allows you to manage and watch videos recorded by other computers.
- Described in another article, Spyrix it’s a program to spy on the computer by recording images and keystrokes during its use.
If you want to try to see how neighbors in the office or at the desk surf the Internet, inside an internal network, without risking being caught and without leaving traces of program installations, you need to use tools from expert hackers to sniff internet traffic in a pc network, so you can spy on what other network users do without leaving your desk!
Conclusions
The tools above provide a complete package for monitoring your PC. You can find out what has been typed, which sites have been visited, which files have been downloaded and which emails have been sent. You can also see what is happening in front of your computer remotely via the webcam (even if, on those integrated in the monitors, the little lamp always lights up).
If we are looking for something simpler to control what our underage children do on PC, smartphone or tablet, we recommend using specific parental control programs, such as those seen in our guides Parental control and family filter on PC and internet: 5 ways to keep children safe is How to limit the use of smartphones and tablets to minors.
If instead we want to spy on an Android device or an iPhone, we refer you to reading our guides Check / spy on another’s phone (Android) is Best Spy Apps on Mobile (Android and iPhone).