Viewing Snapshots

Spector Pro takes full-screen snapshots, very much like a surveillance camera. Use standard playback and browse controls to view a detailed visual history of exactly what was on the screen when the snapshots were taken. Intelligent triggers determine when a snapshot is to be taken: a web site loading, a page scrolling, a program starting, a window title changing, a left / right mouse click and the Enter key being pressed.

Click here for information if you are not currently recording snapshots.

Practical Uses

Screen snapshots help you:

• Save important information when you are using the computer on which Spector Pro is installed. For example, you purchase a stock online and receive an order confirmation number. Save the snapshot in a safe place on your PC.

• Understand the context in which activities were performed. As a surveillance tool, nothing beats Spector Pro screen snapshots that provide a front row seat to exactly what was on a monitored computer screen. You may view emails noting that your child is looking at a web site where the word "sex" has been found, but he may in fact be working hard on a project for health class. The exact nature of the web site visited is revealed.

What Is Recorded?

Screen Snapshots graphically depict all activity that has occurred on the monitored computer. Because it is easy to accumulate a large number of snapshots (each one is a graphic file), there are tools available to help you manage the snapshot files including:

Filtering Snapshots

Deleting Snapshots

Toolbar Shortcuts

The Screen Snapshots event window contains many unique shortcuts.

• Delete All - Use Delete All to remove all snapshots.

• Event Sidebar - Use this to toggle between showing and hiding the event sidebar.

• Size Controls - There are three possible sizes for viewing the snapshots.

Fit to View / Full Size - Use this button to toggle between the two sizes. Click Fit to View to see the entire snapshot in an adjusted window size. If your window is small, the entire snapshot is shrunk down to fit this view. Click Full Size if you want to return to a larger view of the snapshot, without changing the window size. Some of the snapshot may be cut off.

Full Screen - Click to expand the view of a snapshot to fill your entire screen. Once this is selected, the following floating Snapshot Viewer toolbar appears.

To exit the full screen mode and return to the previous mode (Full Size or Fit to View): click Exit Full Screen; press Esc; or click on the X in the upper right corner of the toolbar.

If you click the minimize icon on the Snapshot Viewer toolbar, you receive a message telling you that the toolbar will close and that the keyboard is still available to control the following activities: Press Esc to exit the Full Screen mode; press Enter to start and stop playback; press  left and right arrow keys to navigate through the snapshots one at a time.

• Browse Controls - These buttons allow you to browse through snapshots one at a time. Options include First, Back, Next and Last. They are visible in all three window sizes.

First - Click when the Viewer is "stopped" to move to the first snapshot available.

Back - Click when the Viewer is "stopped" to back up one snapshot.

Next - Click when the Viewer is "stopped" to move to the next snapshot.

Last - Click when the Viewer is "stopped" to move to the last snapshot available.

• Playback Controls  - These standard playback buttons allow you to control what you see in the slide presentation. They are visible in all three window sizes. Options include the green Play button. As soon as you click Play, the red Stop button replaces the Play button, and the Slow and Fast buttons replace the Back and Next buttons that were on either side of Play. Last and First buttons become inactive.

Green Play - Click to begin a slide-show presentation of all snapshots recorded, beginning with whatever snapshot is currently in view. The snapshots are presented one after the other, in sequential order, and stops when the most recent snapshot is reached.

Red Stop - Click to stop the slide-show presentation of snapshots at any time. The Back and Next buttons are reactivated.

Slow - Click during the slide-show presentation to decrease the speed of the presentation.

Fast - Click during the slide-show presentation  to increase the speed of the presentation.

Additional Toolbars

The Screen Snapshots event window contains several unique toolbars:

• Event Sidebar - Shows a hierarchical tree view of the snapshots. The tree may be grouped by Web Sites, Keywords or Programs. When grouped by Web Sites, information can be sorted by Date, Domain, or Order Visited; when grouped by Keywords, information can be sorted by Location Found or Order Found; when grouped by Program, information can be sorted by Date or Program.

• Event Bar - The Spector Pro Event Bar has two separate parts:

Internet - Lists each individual URL that was visited. The Event bar displays the day, date and time, and the actual URL (e.g., http://www.spectorsoft.com). Use the dropdown list to jump to the snapshot taken closest to when the site was first visited.

Keywords -  Lists each instance of a keyword detection. The Event bar displays the day, date and time, the specific keyword detected, and where it was found (e.g., Found in web page, web address, keystrokes). Use the dropdown list to jump to the snapshot taken closest to when the keyword was detected.

• Frame Slider Bar - The slider, which appears below the Event bar, provides a quick way to browse through the series of snapshots that are currently available for viewing. Click to the right or the left of the timeline pointer to view snapshots in increments. Or, drag the slider to the right to move toward the end of the series and drag toward the left to move toward the beginning of the series.

Menu Bar Options

The menu bar is specifically customized for chat /IM activity.

Status Bar

The status bar contains the standard items, as well as the items below, which indicate the action that triggered the snapshot.

Next: Marking Snapshots.