How can I see if someone else is using my computer? How do I lock my computer?

Question

I have a computer that might not be as private as I thought so I would like to see if it has been turned on while I'm gone. Is there a log I view showing time and date my computer was turned on?

Also, what is the best way to lock down my computer? I am using Win XP and have 4 usb ports which I understand make the machine vulnerable.

I hope there is a way to totally stop access to the machine as the computer expert in the family will take it as a challenge to get in.

thanks for the hepl!

Answer 1

It is impossible to completely lock down a computer, there are easy ways to get into it. Of course if you have your computer protected with a password, that does help (just don't depend on it). You should have user logon passwords. You do this by setting a password in the Users section of Control Panel.

You could also set a System Password. When your computer first starts up you might see a message that says: Press F1 to enter Setup. The key to press might be different depending what type of computer you have. Other common keys are F2, F10, Del, etc. One you can get into the Setup program you can enter a system password. This will stop anyone from starting up the computer without that password.

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To find out if anyone has been on your computer, the best way is to Search (in the start menu). Select All Files. Search all local Hard Drives. Do not bother filling anything in for the filename. For "When was it modified" choose a date (or if it is in the middle of night two days to include both evening and morning).

Once it is done searching everything, you will have a large list of files. At the top it will have different sections (such as Name, In Folder, Size, etc.). One of these sections will say "Date Modified", click on this to sort by date. This will sort it so you can simply go down to the time frame that you are looking for. If "Date Modified" is not there, right-click on one of the other sections and select it from the list.

Hope this helps :)

Answer 2

If you are talking about family members being "computer experts" there is truly no way to lock the computer down. It's fairly easy to hack into a system when you have direct access.

If you want to make it completely unhackable you would need to remove all bootable media options (excluding the harddrive)
For example, the usb ports, floppy drives, cd-rom drives.

The computer case would have to be lockable, and you would need to take your keyboard with you.

without all these things - then it would be a challenge.

Otherwise I don't see how you could keep someone out. With any of those pieces available I know I could easily get in.... In fact a quick google search on the right terms will give you the sites you need to know how to hack in yourself. It's all out there nice and pretty.

Answer 3

Get Computer Lock Help http://www.windows-techsupport.com/

Answer 4

I have like that before, but probably hacker wouldn't just boot normally if they want to get something WITHOUT noticing.

Best ways to make your hacker HARDER to break in:
1. Put bios passwords - setup and bootup. Setup in bios that you boot directly to IDE only and disable: floppy, cdroom, and usb.
2. Put windows login password, when it asked you, make it PRIVATE your folder files. This will ask you ONCE, if you're not sure, go back to User Account in Control Panel, remove your password and put it again. Remember that your Windows login password is very important!
3. Hopefully, your boot drive is NTFS file. They can't see NTFS drive if they are just using like fat,fat32 drives.
4. When you go out for a while, just press WIN+L (two keys only!). This is better than having a screensaver with password.
5. If possible have your pc base with a kind of padlock. See link how they break by brute force.
6. Right-click My Computer -> properties. In REMOTE tab, uncheck 'Allow users to connect remotely to this computer'. As I said your Windows login password is important. If they know your password they can get in if this is enable.
7. Don't allow anybody to put a file (even a single executable file) to your computer, as that might be a spy/keylogger. So (4) is very important! If you're not sure, then install a firewall like ZoneAlarm. With ZoneAlarm, you will see which programs are going out and going in. So, just allow which seems not spy programs.
8. If you want REALLY to secure your PRIVATE/CONFIDENTIAL files, then use CRYPTAINER LE. This is one beautiful piece to secure your important files. It will create a virtual drive, then just drag there all your files. Once close, the drive will disappear and it can't be undeleted (by active@undelete). But be sure not to forget the password!

Another one is folder lock but I think cryptainer is much better and the one I'm using (folderlock has conflict with active@undelete). Cryptainer LE is free for up to 25Mb to encrypt. I think this is fair enough but if not then consider using at least 2Gb USB Flash or even a 2.5" hard disk which has no external power (it's just using USB power) and fit to a pocket. Put all your files there and may even serve as your backup!

Answer 5

one word - removable hd. Everything else can be bypassed (any computer expert prolly knows what erd is.)

re the remark to unplug the pc - I guess most people can figure out a way to plug it back :) and that's not even a hack.

Answer 6

Unplug the power supply or turn off the power strip when you power off. Disconnect the modem's power if you want to leave the computer on.

Answer 7

you could buy a flash disk that has a software to lock the computer and when you plug the flash disk back in the computer will unlock itself automatically. don't know any specifics, try lookingat computer stores.