Member Avatar for Slave2society7

Hello guys, I have a question about connecting to my sons computer. He's in his teens and I want to monitor what he is downloading and getting into on there without him knowing it. He spends too much time on there so I am a bit concerned.

So my question is.. do you know what would be a good program (With the most features) I can use to get access to his computer without something sitting in his task bar or somewhere like in his program files where he would notice it. He's not dumb when is comes to modern day technology. Also I would like it to be a startup deal so that after he does a restart I can still monitor what is going on. Everyone in the family has McAfee Anti-Virus, SpyBot S&D, and Uniblue SpyEraser running on our machines so I would like this program not to be picked up by them.

If anyone has any ideas it would be greatly appreciated! I just need to know what part I put on my wife and I's computer and what I put on his. Thank you all so much!

Sincerely,
Colin

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by chizy2

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The OP asked about covertly gaining persistent access to a teenager's Windows XP machine. That idea raises two immediate points raised in the thread: correctly flags the human side (talking and supervision), and / note technical routes (remote-access and commercial monitoring). Hiding software or deliberately evading antivirus is risky for security, legality, and family trust; consider transparent, supported controls first.

Practical, non-covert steps that actually work long-term: use a separate Administrator account and make the teen an unprivileged (limited) user so they cannot install software or change system settings. On XP Professional enable auditing of logons (Control Panel → Administrative Tools → Local Security Policy → Local Policies → Audit Policy → Audit logon events) and review the Security log in Event Viewer for sign‑ins. Disable autorun for removable media to reduce easy installs. Keep admin credentials private and document changes so an upgrade path is available later.

Network- and gateway-level control is more robust than trying to hide a program on the PC. Many home routers offer access logs and basic parental controls; DNS-based filtering services can block categories and keep query logs (they work until a VPN or alternate DNS is used). Commercial parental-control suites can email reports and alerts, but read their privacy statements and check compatibility with the security software on the machines before deploying.

Stealth techniques like renaming folders, hiding icons, or trying to defeat AV are fragile, ethically dubious, and may be illegal. Combine clear rules, limited accounts, router/DNS controls, and open conversation as suggested. Also note Windows XP reached end of support years ago; keeping an internet-facing XP system increases risk — upgrading or isolating that machine from the internet is advisable.

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Member Avatar for gerbil

Hello, Colin... naturally enough, there is lots of software out there that will do just what you want. It's where our society is at. Mostly, though, it is not freeware because it is more levelled at businesses. But you know, I'd just rather you involved him more in other parts of life..... wander in and say let's do stuff... there's a whole world out there. PC games can be fun, and very involving... yep, and you know, he might actuallly be interested in researching worthwhile stuff. But as for aimless "web surfing", well, to me that indicates a temporary deadend in life. Just go in and chat.

Member Avatar for gdrori

The best I know is UltraVNC. Just install it and configure it to not show a toolbar icon.

P.S. Install it in a directory like 3bdb534563646 so it cant be spotted

Member Avatar for gdrori

Sorry that I double post but I got another idea.

After Installing mark the folder as hidden

Member Avatar for chizy2

This is what I used, worked great. Kids never knew it was there. It gave me more information than I knew what to do with. Takes some getting used to reading the reports, but I had it email me in real time what they were doing.

Disclaimer: I do not work for them, I just loved the product and what it could do for me.

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