Can anyone tell me if I can un-delete the history on Internet
Explorer.  I am trying to track what my 14yr boy is viewing on the
internet and unfortunately his friends have showed him how to delete
the history and cookies in the options tool?

Dear Trace

Have you thought of something like Net Nanny? 

Keep an Eye on Your Child's Net Habits
<http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,37382,00.asp>

You didn't say what OS you have, but start by giving him only general
user privs and changing the admin password. Then...

If you go to the group policy editor (start/run gpedit.msc) and drill down to:
user configuration.  Running this from the command prompt might be
better as it won't be in the run history for him to see.

  administrative templates
    windows components
      internet explorer
        internet control panel

Then just disable the general tab in explorer.  He won't have access
to anything there including deleting files or clearing history.  I
don't think he'll find that too quickly.  Or move his computer into
the kitchen where everybody else is...;+)

Hello Politicalguru....your suggestion was great and worked very well
on my PC, however, the PC that my son uses with OS win XP S1 does not
recognize the file gpedit.msc when I type it in the "run" window!  Do
you know why it worked on my coputer and not the other with the same
OS?

Net Nanny may work for you but it's also easily broken into. The
average computer savvy kid has already figured out how to do this (in
most cases its as simple as using a universal password).

If the boy is surfing up questionable sites and getting away with it
then he may very well do it again. Consider this time a red flag and
prepare yourself for next time (which probably won't be long if he's
doing this habitually). Consider something like this and let me know
if this provides an acceptable solution:

ACTIVE UNDELETE
http://www.active-undelete.com/

In the meantime go to his folder in Documents and Settings on the c
drive, open the cookies folder, and then open the index file using
notepad. You might be surprised at what you find in there.

In addition you might want to pull a fast one and simply change the
folder the temporary files are stored in. This will keep them from
being deleted using the traidional methods (which is probably how he's
clearing them). To change it, click on tools in Internet Explorer,
Internet options. Click the settings button, then the move folder.
Here you can specify what folder you want the temporary files saved
to. In a few days - or whenever - go back to that folder, and you can
see the pictures and the address the pictures came from. Viola!

Let me know if I've provided a solution in lieu of an answer to your
original question.

tutuzdad-ga

In addition, unless SOMEONE ELSE has also surfed up some bad sites,
you can go to this registry key and see latent traces of many sites
visited:

HKEY_USERS\Software\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet
Settings\ZoneMap\Domains

You may not recognize all the folders by name as a questionable site
but some of them (like many porn sites do - assuming that is what
we're looking for here) will have vulgar words or phrases in their
names and will unmistakably be precisely what they appear to be.

Helpful?

tutuzdad-ga

One thing that has not been mentioned.  If you are using a high speed
connection at home with a router, you should be able to access the
routers log by logging into it.  Type 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.15.1 into
your browsers address bar.  The usual password is admin.  If they
don't check the manual that came with your router.
If you are using a newer linksys, you should be able to open up an
incomming/outgoing log and see exactly which sites have been accessed.
If you find this helpful, change the password thru the administration
tab so you son does not catch on.

Another thing to do is check with your ISP.  ISPs in my area offer
online parental controls.

hi,
i think if your kid has deleted the history from internet options
bar...you can see what all websites he has accessed in last few months
through..
c:\Document and Setting\Administrator\Local Setting\Temproary Internet Files\
you can't find this folder in search criteria.....do one thing...
click on tools menu from internet explorer menu bar and select
internet options,  select settings from temproary internet files...a
window will apeear there click on view files....it will show you the
detail list of previously viewed internet files....hope you will get
success.
shruti

Personally, I'd say that if he deletes his history and cookies in a
deliberate attempt to hide where he has been, he should receive
whatever disciplinary action you would have taken had you discovered
him going to sites he is not allowed to be. Lost ticket pays fare from
furthest point.

- Hammer

trace100,

If a kid of mine was covering his/her computer tracks, and a simple
request not to do so was ineffective, I would take away the computer.

Barring that, I would go for the keylogger method of surveillance.
This one is extremely powerful and can be hidden from the user, and
even remotely installed, although I assume you have access to his
computer. I've used it, it's simple and very powerful.

SC-KeyLog PRO
http://www.soft-central.net/keylogger/pro.php
..."SC-KeyLog PRO is a powerful digital surveillance monitor that logs
computer activity for later review. The PRO edition of SC-KeyLog
captures full window titles (including window titles of any parent
windows), all keystrokes, visited web pages, clipboard usage, system
logon passwords and more. Because of its user-friendly interface, the
hi-tech keylogger is very easy to use, even for beginners.

The captured information is displayed in a beautiful built-in logfile
viewer. The full colored logfile viewer provides a sophisticated view
of the captured information. In the PRO edition, it is also possible
to export captured activity to HTML files. Apply filters to view only
the captured information that you are interested in..."

I paid $50 bucks for the pro version and never regretted it. There's a
free version that is not be invisible to the user.


Let us know which solution you select. If you select keylogging, let
me know and I'll post my suggestion in the Answer box...

~~Cynthia

One problem here you should consider is that your kid could start
using an alternate browser to browse sites they shouldn't be looking
at.  For example they could do their homework using IE and surf
inappropriate sites using Firefox or Opera.

Alternatively they could use a linux livecd where nothing is stored on
the hard drive and absolutely no traces would be left.

This sort of thing is, in my opinion, pretty difficult to stop.  If
your kid is inventive enough, they will be able to circumvent any
controls you would put into place.

You may be better off doing what someone else suggested and put the
computer in the kitchen.