Activity Monitor -> Changes History

History of Changes in Activity Monitor - employee monitoring software

• new: recording of Skype instant messages; both sides of conversations
• new: recording of AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) chat; both sides of conversations
• new: collect recordings from Agents by schedule without keeping Activity Monitor running
• new: View Screenshots button that allows to view all screenshots recorded for a selected computer
• new: view Agent screenshots one by one or as a slide show
• improved: no flickering of Agents list when connected to a machine with Activity Monitor via Remote Desktop
• fix: unable to type accented characters in Firefox on Winodws XP/2000 with Agent

• new: added user interface languages:
  • Italian
  • French
  • Russian
  • German
  • Portuguese
  • Spanish
  • Turkish
• improved: added Duration field for visited websites in export to Excel and CSV file
• fix: error message "The parameter is incorrect" when installing/updating Agent from Windows 2000 computer
• fix: minor fixes and improvements

• new: check for updates command in Help menu. Option to automatically check for updates weekly.
• new: automatic update of Agents to the version of Activity Monitor. Agent since version 5.2 will support automatic updates for future versions. Agents still need to be updated to version 5.2 using regular installation method as before
• new: Update/Repair Agent command that reinstalls Agent on the remote computer to fix problems with missing files etc.
• new: monitoring of Guest user accounts in Windows is supported now
• improved: saves network traffic by stopping update of screen view for invisible tabs

• fixed: remote Agent installation was in some cases installing Agent of previous version causing this error in Activity Monitor: Agent of old version is found on the computer XXX
• improved: faster start of Agent service SamSvc
• fixed: on computers with imaged systems Agent ID was not unique resulting in duplicating of computers in Activity Monitor's list
• fixed: sometimes error 0xC000041 appeared on Win XP computers with Agent during system shutdown

• new: secure connection between Monitor and Agents using SSL. All monitoring data is securely encrypted for network transfer
• new: redesigned architecture that makes the software more reliable, secure, scalable, and easier to add new features in future
• new: more than one Monitor can connect to the same Agent computer and simultaneously watch activity in real time
• new: connect to a remote computer when no user is logged on. Screen tab will show a logon screen. You can use such commands as Turn Off, Restart Computer, Transfer Files from Agent, Change password
• new: download logs when no user is logged on to monitored computers. If a user logs off from Windows at the end of a day before leaving, Monitor can still collect logs and screenshots
• new: filter in Agents list view: Show Only Online Agents/Only Offline/Show All
• new: improved reliability of Agent service. If monitoring process stops due to crash it will restart automatically and monitoring continues
• new: full usage of multi-core capabilities of modern CPUs for improved performance and UI responsiveness
• new: Agent uses less memory (RAM) and CPU resources
• new: Agent uses only one TCP port #15163 and one UDP port #15164 for communications. This makes it easier to setup firewall exceptions. In firewall rule for Agent allow all network activity for amsvc.exe process. Such rule is created automatically in Windows Firewall during setup
• new: support of Google Chrome browser for Internet monitoring
• new: collecting recordings in Activity Monitor from remote computers silently in background without popping up Download progress window
• new: uninstall Agent remotely on any OS and not dependant on what user is logged on
• new: support of Windows 7
• new: view user activity in remote desktop (RDP) sessions on the monitored computer. This means you can now monitor even when user logs in to his office computer remotely from home.
• new: monitored users can not see files with recordings. There are no access rights to files with recordings that are temporarily kept on their computers
• new: Licensing change: now the license is required also for computers where monitoring part of the software is installed, i.e. for manager's PC. For example, to monitor 10 employee computers by 2 managers from their computers an organization needs 12 computers license

• fixed: sometimes user actions were not recorded after fast user switching on Windows XP
• fixed: incorrect fields shown in the bottom part on Email tab in Reports Viewer
• fixed: Agent Description field was always getting replaced with computer name
• fixed: Computers could show up as offline in some situations in a network with Windows Domain
• fixed: Agent Log not recording on computers with international versions of Windows containing non-English characters in "Application Data" folder name
• fixed: Agent log not recording if no Agent password is set

• new: Log Viewer: Top Websites report that shows a list of most visited websites per user
• new: Log Viewer: Search reports on current tab and all tabs
• new: Log Viewer: Filter by date range: today, yesterday, custom range, etc.
• new: Log Viewer: Report tables are divided by days
• new: improved security - password protected and encrypted Central Log Database (strong AES encryption) Set strong Activity Monitor password to have database securely encrypted
• new: improved security - logs stored on monitored computers are strongly encrypted
• new: improved security - list of Agents is stored in encrypted format, icnluding remembered Agents passwords
• improved: improved security - password protected login to Activity Monitor
• new: IntelliSnap™ technology for Screenshots. Activity Monitor takes screenshots based on user actions and not just every few seconds, like in previous versions. This advanced technology allows you to view remote screen in near live mode without using much network traffic
• new: export/import of Agents list. Copy a list with all Agent settigs to Activity Monitor on other user account or computer
• new: view list of open Applications or all Processes in monitoring window similar to Tasks Manager
• new: Applications tab shows program icons
• new: wizard to manage Central Log Database. Move database or select new file
• new: recording of web pages visit duration
• new: Agent works as Windows service now for improved security and reliability
• new: support of Windows Server 2008 added
• improved: select what data to export in Log Viewer (web pages, emails, etc.)
• improved: Agent List tooltips have an updated look
• fixed: unreadable characters in e-mails with different encodings
• fixed: unreadable characters in AIM and ICQ chat clients in some languages
• fixed: mouse pointer disapearing in Monitor when users type text on the remote computers
• available only in English language. For multi-language user intface of Activity Monitor download previous version 4.3. Next version will be multi-lingual.

• new: User interface in 11 Languages:
  • English
  • German
  • Spanish
  • Italian
  • French
  • Portuguese
  • Russian
  • Chinese Simplified
  • Chinese Traditional
  • Japanese
  • Korean
• new: support for 64-bit editions of Windows XP/Vista
• new: copy email to clipboard in HTML format
• new: ability to deploy Agent in your domain via Active Directory

• new: Activity Monitor keylogger supports most international keyboard layouts now! Our keylogger records, in addition to English keystrokes, any characters in Asian languages, such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean and recognizes accented characters in such languages as German, Spanish and Portuguese, for example.
• new: Keystrokes tab in real time monitoring shows program and window name where text has been typed.
• new: saving of keystrokes tab in .rtf format with preserved colors and fonts
• improved: update of large Agents list does not take much CPU and does not freeze Activity Monitor. This allows to work with lists of computers as large as several hundreds.
• improved: naming of computers in list. Agent name in list renamed into Description. Computer name, host name or IP address is shown in list instead. To view description, switch to Details mode and enable this column. User can change only Description, and not Name.
• new: "Don't resolve host names to IP addresses" setting in Activity Monitor Options. Allows to turn off resolving for the network setups where it resolves incorrectly. For example, in some types of VPN, all hostnames are resolved to the same IP address according to user reports
• new: Quick Start tutorial has been included. Opens when Activity Monitor is started first time
• new: support of different international encodings in emails. Activity Monitor will correctly display emails that use any international encoding
• fixed: computers sometimes duplicated in list
• fixed: Enter Agent Password command is not available for the remote computers in offline state
• improved: scheduled collection of logs. Download windows do not pop up if Activity Monitor is minimized
• fixed: users list in Log Viewer was empty in some cases
• fixed: work time in applications was recorded incorrectly after system time change
• improved: shows when active program opens new window or window caption changes. For example, it now records when programs open "Save As...", "Enter Password" window or web browser's title changes for different websites
• fixed: Log Viewer correctly shows activity for users/computer with names containing non-English characters

• improved Get Agent Log functionality;
• formatting code removed from text messages in AIM and Yahoo messenger;
• copy to clipboard From/To/Subject fields for emails;
• password field in Activity Monitor Options shows as empty if no password is set;
• other improvements and bugfixes;

• works on Windows Vista now; does not support Windows 98 anymore.
• record email sent and received by users. Includes POP3/SMTP mail using email client software
• record chat conversations in instant messengers. Supports MSN Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo messenger, ICQ, IRC. Both sides of all conversations are recorded;
• new format of log files
• SoftActivity Log Viewer for viewing recorded logs
• Central Log Database for keeping recordings from all computers in one location
• Automatic collecting of logs and screenshots from all computers. Collection schedule can be adjusted.
• Refreshed program look
• improved support of international characters

• Support for multi-monitor computers. Activity Monitor now shows whole virtual screen for such computers on screenshots and in monitoring window.
• Fixed: Option "Offline Logging - Delete log file and start new one" did not save properly
• Fixed: Rare problems when working under or monitoring Windows users with limited access rights

• Fixed: rare crash in Agent that caused loss of connection with Activity Monitor

• Activity Monitor now records websites visited in all browsers. Previously worked only with IE
• Minimize to system tray option. Allows you to keep Activity Monitor open for a long time without having its button in task pane
• Improved: If screenshots from remote systems are copied by schedule, no file-overwrite or file-not-found prompts appear
• Remote installation of Agent improved. If a non-administrator user is logged on the remote computer, no message is displayed to him and Agent installation succeeds. Monitoring of this user can start right away
• Improved support of Fast User Switching on Windows XP. If the user has switched to other account Activity Monitor switches to monitoring of this active account
• Fixed: Sometimes offline screenshots were taken even if computers was not used, creating a lot pictures of screensaver, for example
• Improved: when Activity Monitor reopens monitoring windows on startup it also restores screen zoom and autorefresh state. Basically, if you were monitoring several computers and then closed Activity Monitor you will continue from same place when you open Activity Monitor next day.
• New: "Delete log file and start the new one when size limit reached" option in Offline Logging settings
• New: Actions on multiple computers. Send instant message, restart, shut down, run command, etc. on all selected computers at once.

• Process/program description is shown on Applications and Foreground tabs and in offline log files. It makes it easy to identify what program user works with. Program description also appears in logs exported to HTML and Excel.
• Agent installation now requires Administrator rights
• Compatibility issues of Activity Monitor Agent on Windows XP Service Pack 2 with Windows firewall have been resolved
• Improved design of offline log exported to HTML
• Activity Monitor works with Agent of only version 3.8. You should reinstall older versions of Agent on the remote computers.
• Activity Monitor will let you know if it finds Agents of older versions on computers in LAN or in list
• Multiple minor improvements

• Agent works now with Windows XP Service Pack 2 firewall. When you install Agent it will create a firewall rule that allows to monitor this computer. You must install it when logged on as the user with local Administrator permissions for this purpose. This will also work when you install Agent remotely.
• Fixed the bug when Offline Logging Options did not change on the remote computer if user with less then Power User permissions was logged on
• Fixed the bug when computers from other subnet appeared offline in Activity Monitor if another Monitor was running on that subnet
• Minor improvements

• Windows Server 2003 compatibility issue has been solved
• Fixed problem with some computers going offline in list on large number of computers
• Activity Monitor will show network user name in addition to Windows username if it's different, for example on Novell network.
• Minor improvements and fixes

• Completely new modern user interface. View screenshots
• Windows XP or Office 2003 like application look. Change look on the fly
• Tasks Pane for quick access to main commands
• Fully user-customizable toolbars, menus, panels
• Full screen mode
• Offline screenshots now work when you set to resize them

• Install Agent remotely from Activity Monitor on all computers in network (Windows NT/2000/XP only. Administrator rights required)
• Install Agent in silent mode, e.g. from log on script
• Schedule log file periodical download from all remote computers and automatic export to get periodical computer usage reports for time saving
• Control remote computers:
  • Run program or command
  • Open web page for remote user to view
  • Open document for remote user to view
  • Turn Off or Restart remote computer
  • Log Off remote users
  • Turn On screensaver
  • Terminate processes/close programs remotely
• Includes all new dpexec.exe utility that allows to start processes on remote computer without having Agent installed there. It can copy programs to remote computer for execution and show results back just like telnet. It works on Widows NT/2000/XP. Start dpexec /? to get help on usage.
• Send instant message to remote computers
• Advanced computers list management:
  • choose between 3 different list views
  • sort list by any column
  • customize columns visibility and width
  • monitoring windows activate as you click on computers in list
  • automatically set columns width for better view
  • easily tile or cascade monitoring windows to see them all
• Monitoring Session Recording. You may record swl-log file locally on Activity Monitor computer instead of remote Agent computers. It contains all data from monitoring window.
• If your computer is connected to several networks (has several NICs) you can choose which network you want Activity Monitor to bind to
• Restore opened monitoring windows at startup is a great time saving feature that will completely restore Activity Monitor view when you restart it
• Set default directories for log files and exported files
• Log file export. New csv-file export appeared instead of txt-file export. CSV files can be easily imported into database or spreadsheet programs
• Automatically export log file after downloading it
• Better and faster screenshot resize (on Windows NT/2000/XP) and scrolling
• Remotely configurable Agent startup warning message. You can tell employees that their actions are recorded
• More reliable remote files downloading. Now it does not stop or freezes.
• More reliable detection of remote computers presence. Now they don't go offline in list without objective reason
• Close all monitoring windows at once
• Password is now required (if you set it) to uninstall or reinstall Agent and Activity Monitor.
• Improved installation programs for both Agent and Activity Monitor
• New modern look of icons and toolbar images
• Added support for recording visited Internet sites in AOL
• New HTML based help
• Duration column on Foreground tab in monitoring window
• Lots of minor improvements and bugfixes

• New option: Do not make offline screenshots when computer is idle
• It is possible now to use system variables in path to offline log file and offline screenshots. By default %WINDIR%\SYSTEM32 directory is used.
• Few minor bugs have been fixed

• Offline screenshots feature was fixed

• Internet surfing monitoring in real time and offline
• Now works correctly in DHCP environment, when IP addresses can change frequently
• Agent can run in "Aware" mode, informing user that he is being monitored
• Autoreconnect to the remote PC after connection has been dropped
• Clipboard operation on all tabs in monitoring window
• Save the content of any monitoring window tab to the local file
• Few minor bugs are fixed and some minor improvements are implemented

• Fixed bug when computers with autorefresh turned on were disconnecting sometimes.

• Security improved. Passwords may be used for monitoring computers and to start Activity Monitor. Everyone who wants to monitor some computer has to know it's access password.
• Few bugs fixed.

• Offline logging. Logging engine runs on the remote computers all the time, even if you are not connected to it. It logs all keystrokes and programs activations with time stamps. Also it takes screenshots in specified period of time and saves them to the local or shared location. When you connect to this remote computer with Activity Monitor, you may download those logs and screenshots to the local workstation.
• Log export. It is available to export downloaded log files to MS Excel for detailed analysis, to HTML files with embedded screenshots, to delimited text file for further import to any database. All exports are based on templates, so you can easily customize the look of resulting files.
• Download files. Download any files from the remote workstation.
• Foreground application tab added. When user on the remote workstation activates one or another application, it is added to the list with time stamp. So you may see user's activity history.
• Active application name is added to the Keystrokes tab, so you can see where user types a text now.
• Program has received new name Activity Monitor 2001

• StealthWatcher 2000 is now works with most European languages. The bug, when user could not type accented characters on computer with StealthWatcher Agent installed, has been fixed.
• In previous version StealthWatcher could not detect or connect to some computers on LAN, when TCP IP routing has been used. Now this bug is fixed. StealthWatcher 2000 should work in most networks.

• Auto refreshing screenshot and applications list in specified period of time.
• Scaling of the screenshot from 1/1 to 1/8 scale with good quality. Decreasing screenshot dimensions reduces loading of the remote and local computer and reduces network traffic.
• Help system designed.
• Applications list feature now works on Win NT/2000 client computers.
• Hotkeys added to the frequent commands.
• Some toolbar icons changed.