Total Spy Review

2016-01-28

Total Spy Review

Installation:

The first step is to download the installation file of Total Spy and double click the icon. The program will request your permission to make changes to the PC. Once you choose “Yes,” the setup will launch.

This installation is a simple process. You should follow the simple procedure. As usual, the first step is the Welcome part followed by EULA. You have to proceed to ‘Installation’. The system recommends for uninstalling other keyloggers and turning of all security software. You then have to select the destination folder and select start. It will prompt you with a ‘Ready to Install’ option. Go ahead and complete the job.

On clicking the “Finish” option, you will see a message stating that you can run the unregistered version up to twelve times. You will have to register the program to remove the limitations. You have to click on the tray icon and choose Settings. Click “OK” followed by double clicking the Total Spy Keylogger icon. You will see another message flash at you stating that the settings are valid for current user account only. In case you wish to use the program for other users, you have to do the process individually. At the end, you can click “OK” and the interface of Total Spy Keylogger will appear.

Interface:

  • The developers of this software, IwantSoft Inc, take pride in the simplicity of their interface. The interface of this product is in full consonance with this idea.

  • There are two sections. The left section is useful for accessing the logged information. The right side has use for configuring the keylogger.

  • The left section has a calendar in addition to the column with buttons to view any one of the five types of logged events. It has a dropdown menu to perform actions with the log-files.

  • The right side contains the keylogger’s settings. There are four groups. These are the Start Up settings followed by the Invisibility settings. The Monitoring Tasks comes next closely followed by the Remote Reporting option.

  • There are three more buttons allowing you to close the keylogger, enabling registration, applying, and saving the changes.

  • The interface is actually simple to use.

  • It does not have a log viewer. It makes use of the built-in applications in Windows such as notepad etc to view the intercepted information.


Operating System aspects:

This keylogger supports Windows 7, Vista, 2000, and XP. It can run on Windows 8 too. However, it does not support this OS officially.

Security Aspects:

  • Security is not a strong aspect of this software.

  • This is hidden software. The average user of a PC cannot find it easily.

  • You can access this software by using a hot key combination.


Other security aspects are absent. We shall enumerate them in brief.

  • There is no password protection.

  • You cannot access by typing a keyword.

  • You cannot configure automatic removal of the software on a pre-specified date.

  • It does not show any warning messages.

  • The task manager does not hide its processes as well as startup entries.

  • You cannot pre-configure it before installation.

  • Thus, it cannot use SSL-protected servers to send log-files by emails.


Monitoring aspects:

  • The software logs all the pressed keys, both typewriters as well as system keys.

  • It is able to log the clipboard content and started applications as well.

  • It can take screenshots and allows you to adjust the period.


It does not detect file-activity operations. It does not log the documents printed as well as system log on/off times. It does not take into account the idle time too. It cannot record sounds as well as mouse clicks. It also does not have the option of setting the quality of screenshots. It is not able to take screenshots at every click of the mouse. It does not have the option to choose between taking screenshots of desktop and active window.

Online Monitoring Aspects:

  • It can log all the visited websites on all browsers except Safari.

  • It should not affect users much as Safari is not a popular browser at all.


It is not able to log both sides of the chat conversations. It cannot intercept incoming or outgoing emails as well. You cannot configure it to make screenshots of visited websites.

Reports Aspects:

The Total Spy software is available in Standard and Remote editions. There is one basic difference in both the editions. The difference is in sending log files by email. This entails a cost factor of an additional $20 for the Remote edition at $49.95, as compared to $29.95 for the Standard edition. Other aspects remain the same.

You have an option of searching by keywords.

The system does not allow for configuring the keylogger to monitor pre-specified users or applications. It can only indicate the start times of events rather than the duration times. You do not have the option to choose between custom periods of dates to exhibit the logs. You cannot configure to limit the size of the log files. You cannot clear the files automatically. The program does not deliver any file remotely by any method.

Other Aspects:

It is unable react to pre-specified keywords. It cannot maintain work schedule. It can work only in English language. It has not much use as parental control. It cannot block programs as well as websites.