A little help

[dman762000]

I need something that can allow me to track my wifes activities online without her knowing, I am not worried about where she is going so much as how long she is spending there, if you are wondering this is to prove to her that she is spending too much time on the internet and not enough time doing the things she needs to do, any suggestions?

[Limewater]

I need something that can allow me to track my wifes activities online without her knowing,
....
if you are wondering this is to prove to her that she is spending too much time on the internet

So, you want to spy on your wife without her knowing it, and then reveal to her that you were spying on her?

From one married guy to another, I would be shocked if this made anything at all in your life better. I would also be very shocked if this didn't result in your wife castrating you in the middle of the night, but your mileage may vary.



But if you are just trying to look at the amount of time she spends on the computer, your best bet would be to just set up a webcam pointed at the computer desk. It's pretty easy to find programs online that will set the camera to record based upon motion detection.

However, if you plan on something like this, I strongly suggest you tell your wife what you are doing and then just let it run a week so that she gets back to her normal schedule. That way, at least you aren't directly spying on her eating disorder support group or her personal counseling to her sister who is going through an emotional crisis or whatever.

But if you tell her beforehand, you'll likely only suffer testicular trauma with a blunt object, rather than complete removal. Oh, and you'll likely wind up living along for an unspecified period of time. It's not worth it, man.

[dman762000]

You don't understand, I don't care WHERE she is going online, only HOW LONG she is online every day, I am trying to prove to her that she is an internet addict, as in my estimation she spends 12-16 hours a day online, all the while she is doing nothing to help me keep the house clean and she is ignoring the kids, Like I said i could care less what she is doing online thats her business, and if I wanted to know that I could always do a history file and cookie check, I just wanna know how long

[Kurt_]

Not exactly what you want, but this program blocks access to programs, windows itself, etc. for a predetermined time space.

http://www.sharewareconnection.com/soft ... e-lock.htm

This seems to be what you need:

http://www.track4win.com/Track_Internet_Usage.asp

Here's the google search:
http://www.google.ca/search?num=30&hl=e ... arch&meta=

Keep in mind I've never used these programs, and the free trials may have nasty catches like "only operates from 2:30-2:31 AM". You know the catches I speak of.

[Limewater]

You don't understand, I don't care WHERE she is going online, only HOW LONG she is online every day,

Oh, I understand completely. That just that my understanding doesn't matter.

What matters is how your wife would react, and you can't expect that reaction to be reasonable just because you explain to her that you don't care where she went and only how long she spent on the computer.

For most women, if you say something like, "I spied on your computer usage today but...," then you're already screwed. It doesn't matter what comes after the "but."

However, if you want to go through with it, I still think that in your situation setting up a webcam set with motion-detection, or just operating at only about one frame every few seconds is your best bet.

With software, she could just claim that she started something running, left, and came back to it later, making it look like she spent more time online than she had.
If you have video, there's not a lot of argument.

[Kurt_]

Just putting this out there: Tried talking to her about it yet?

[project_failure]

Just putting this out there: Tried talking to her about it yet?

It's so crazy it might just work!

[gamemasterAS]

Just putting this out there: Tried talking to her about it yet?

Don't you know most geeks aren't good at conversations ?

[bacteria]

Here's a thought, if she isn't too PC conversant, how about making out the computer needs maintenance/updates and PC needs to be off for a day; or removing the IDE/SCSI cable from the hard disk so it doesn't boot; or removing a file to stop the internet working?

Devious I know, but would mean if she can't use the computer she does other things!

[gamemasterAS]

You could use pcanyware, it lets you control or record everything the pc does. I use it for my server its great.

[dman762000]

Just putting this out there: Tried talking to her about it yet?

just starts a yelling match and she says that she doesn't spend as much time on the pc as I do, yeah right, then why isn't anything getting done? nevermind , im just gonna kick her out

[Limewater]

In all seriousness, if it's really come to this perhaps the two of you should consider seeing a counselor.

[khaag]

Wow this "technical question & answer" has elevated to something quite unrelated to anything technical...

[bicostp]

just starts a yelling match and she says that she doesn't spend as much time on the pc as I do

Classic addict behavior. You should definitely look into some sort of counseling, and use an uptime counter utility to log how long her account is active. If web use is taking over time that's needed for essential tasks, then it's intervention time. Favoring the web over taking care of the kids is serious.

[vskid]

How about you tell her that you'll both go without the computer for a week or two, except for necessary stuff like bills and work (email isn't necessary). Then you can show her how much extra time she has and how much better life goes because she isn't on the computer. Then maybe make a usage chart for both of you and you only get 2 hours a day each or something. Just make sure its for both of you and that you don't cheat, that'll likely make her extremely mad at you for making the rules and then breaking them. If she won't go for the no computer for both of you, get outside help.