Wow, might as well just delete the comments for this (except for a couple of alternatives). Just a bunch of people who haven't tried this, barely looked at it, or don't understand that they're using crappy anti-virus software. This isn't a keylogger, it's not spyware, it doesn't capture screens, it's not designed to spy on people (and to do so would require using other software to hide it). It captures the titles of windows which have the focus and their applications, tracks activity and disregards non-activity. So yes, if you're using a browser you can tell which sites were visited, for how long, what files were downloaded, etc. You can tell which documents were viewed or edited, and for how long, etc. It's not tracking open windows/applications, only the active ones.

The UI within the program isn't very good. The lists are neither alphabetical nor chronological. I couldn't test the Excel report because it's not generated directly, it calls Excel. I have a legal copy of Office 2007, but haven't installed that bloatware.

It works...BUT...there's no help!

Thank you GAOTD! I am finally able to convert my movies using the Apollo DivX to DVD Converter. About 1/3 of the time i get an error message saying it is unable to complete the conversion plus it takes an average or 4-5 hours to complete. Are there other programs that you could offer that will do a more efficient job. I would seriously appreciate it. Thanks again.

Some smart cookies are really shouting out loud today. LOL. I worked with the first Mc Afee Antivirus products back in '92 when the first Windows systems came into use. “HEUR/Malware” does NOT in any way mean you're on the safe side. It doesn't mean you're defintely infected either. But it does mean that suspicious code has been found. You should have been clear about this. I strongly feel that suggesting people just ignore the warning by your statements is not ok. You can ONLY ignore such a warning if a false positive has been officialy confirmed by either the manufacturer of the antivirus product or the program. {3 days ago WinMount confirmed to me the false positive for their product in an email to me.]
Anyway, I clicked the first link on Google for antivirus heuristics just to show and got this: "Heuristics are designed to detect previously unknown viruses.." So why should people ignore this?
For more go to antivirus.about.com/library/glossary/bldef-heur.htm and read the whole article. So I hope this finally makes this point clear for today.

#25, before you go deleting a program, I would run a second virus checker. So many of these--McAffee included--can come up with false positives. I had that problem with AVG. It would say there was a virus one day and then a couple of days (and updates) later the file didn't have a virus! I finally switched to Avast! which seems to work better.

I agree with those who report this to be spying software, IOW spying on someone else. I was hoping this was a timekeeping program. I've used Project Timer--free, old and VERY basic. Then I've used VeriTime Time Tracker (a free version no longer offered by the company but you may be able to find the free version elsewhere.)

The problem with this software is it isn't measuring time spend on a project--it just seeing how long you've got an application open. Giving you a record like the example:

MSWord – 40 minutes
Internet – 1.5 hours
Thebat! – 20 minutes

That might tell a boss you probably wasted 1.5 hours reading the internet and only about 40-60 mins of actual work. But if you're actually managing a project, it's not going to tell you that you spent 40 minutes drafting project A after researching for 1 hour, .5 hours of research on project B and answering email regarding project C.

When I run the program it asks for a registration. I place the code in, then restart according to the instructions, but it doesn't work. It keeps asking me to register the program. Not much of a giveaway if it simply amounts to a trial. I can get trials anywhere. Love the site so far, but this giveaway is having problems.

Wasn't an almost exact duplicate program offered just yesterday?

I have installed and tried today's Giveaway.

WinLog Assist has a few interesting aspects, although I have not yet decided, if I like it really better - even the name itself of the program, which I don't really like, is influencing me - than the free TimeTracker (which I have installed since yesterday, as my default application):

1) GUI:

- Shows you the actual date of all tracked applications, allows also to check easily all previous days, through a calendar;
- Overall clear presentation.

2) When you restart the program, all data of previously tracked applications is still there (this does not happen with TimeTracker);

3) The datasheet (the recorded information is not saved by default in this format, you have to do it yourself) gives very detailed information, with a chart included.

4) The program, through the .ini languages files (only english & russian appear) could be easily translated into another language (in my own personal case, I would need it in Spanish, as it is my mother tongue). The developpers should offer a free version of their program, to those that have the capability to translate it into other languages.


CONS:

- The "project" section is still very rudimentary (no timer option at all), needs more development. This program could end offering, both application and project tracking;

- The user data, for privacy issues, in this kind of program, should be protected/encrypted with a password.

- The company, Almeza, should provide a very clear warranty to all its customers (in the same manner as the freeware TimeTracker at sourceforge, which makes it very clear), that it has been designed not to do any keylogging.

For this last reason, until I have full 100% assurance that it does not do any keylogging, I have decided to run it always as an "untrusted application", in my personal settings of the excellent DefenseWall HIPS.

@qb7894 (#18): Thanks!

@Figboot, it seems to me a better name would be "BigFeet", and obviously someone stood on them!

If people (with various AV-engines) tell their experiences, it is to warn others that "something might be wrong", perhaps you aren't around here long enough, but there was a program last year that actually had spyware bundled with it. So you better look (and inform yourself) before you leap and post messages like in #41.

To virus alert-spammers: Don't you think GOTD would have removed it if there really was a virus? Learn your anti-virus or install NOD32 damn it.

Also for serious people who needs this kind of software, i recommend Visual TimeAnalyser.

#25 - I use AVG Free Anti-virus and I always scan the folder tha holds my GAOD prograns (I have 19 programs installed so far). I just scanned that folder again (I also have Smart Install Maker installed) and got no virus alerts.

My guess is that the anti-virus makers don't seem to agree on what files look like it MIGHT be a virus, and which ones don''t.

Many anti-virus companies offer a free ONLINE virus scan. I would suggest before you throw a good program out, that you scan it with a different anvi-virus.

(RANT) As for this program today, it appears much like yesterdays SnapLock - (which I tested and it works great! I LIKE SnapLock!) - however I like the idea of a picture versus just a notation of the time I used a certain program.

I have not tested this program, but I'm already seeing the "boo birds" flying with the negative comments from others who have not tested it either. Before you condem a program you should test it. If you can tell from the description that you probably would not use that program, then why bash it? And why all the "blah blah" about so-called "spyware, etc." that's not! If a program TELLS YOU it's going to take a picture of your screen, or it's going to keep track of your program use, and you don't want it to, DON'T USE IT!!!

It's unbelieveable to me that people would rip good programs here because they don't like what they are programed to do. Just DON'T USE THEM. After all, THEY ARE OFFERED FREE!!! For goodness sakes, please stop all the uninformed bashing.(/RANT)

Thanks for all those who take to time to TRY OUT a program and then inform the rest of us the results. Thanks to the others who report on other free software that does similar things. And thanks to GAOD for their efforts. I don't use everything, but I appreciate that they are available.

#28 xsouldeath:

It is the SAME software. What? are they going to steal from their own project? Sourceforge project often have two different pages.

For those not knowing the meaning of "HEUR/Malware":

If you do not know what your anti-virus program is telling you - learn. And, Read. Day after day we have told you what "HEUR" means. It does not mean that you have a virus. It means that according to the to the anti-virus company's product that you are using - you have a suspicious file. It means "might", "could", "may be", etc. It does NOT mean that the file is a virus or any other type of malware.

Like dozens more before me, I have given you more than just a hint at what "HEUR/Malware" means. Look it up!

You might note that not every anti-virus program is flagging this file in any way. Wonder why? You should. Find out what you are dealing with before you brand a developer's file, program, or application as being malware. What a vicious thing to do to someone.

i'm the one in my office that makes sure every computer has up-to-date virus protection, yet i don't install symantec corporate edition anti-virus on my own computer because it won't let me download or install freewack time-tracking program from hackerwacker calling it spyware! an activity monitor program could be used for spying but i use it at the office for my timesheet and at home to keep a record of activity, like when did i last check a website for updates--i even keep all my logs! i guess it's just the bean counter in me. i'll give win log assist a try, and i also downloaded one of the links above, timetracker from sourceforge. i'm satisfied with freewack but the hackerwacker website is down.

First of all, software that can be used for monitoring someone's activity on an individual computer may be used for spying but THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT SPYWARE!!! They're two different things. Get it straight, for crying out loud.
Secondly, this is not for people who are "busy" or "professional". It's for people who are too stupid or senile to remember what they spent their time doing and will let themselves be talked into buying anything that will make them FEEL busy or professional.

Silly people.

It's a keylogger in essence. Of course Avira will flag it.


At least you know Avira is doing it's thing.
lol

#25, is that how you teach Julian? Someone tells you something you obviously don't quite understand and without checking if it makes good sense you start shouting disgrace, blaming a trustworthy site for the 'bad'? I imagine you are a sub at a Kindergarten yes?
#30, making perfect sense. And at #6, I highly appreciate your comments but sometimes it is handy to take a deep breath before starting to type.

Well i dont need hubby to know exactly how i spend the day lmao. I think this is better to spy on ur kids or if ur a lawyer u can have records of what work u might have done, otherwise i cant see this being very useful to the average person. Thanks tho.

For all those complaining about "spyware" and "big brother" software ... this is NOT spyware! Spyware is software that records your actions surruptitiously, without your knowledge. This does not do that!

And for those who can't understand why anybody would want to use this, some of us need to keep a detailed log of what we do on our computers from hour to hour or even minute to minute in order to bill customers or fill out timesheets. This does that job for us rather than us having to track things manually.

I'm getting so sick and tired of reading comments like "I have no personal use for this, therefore it's crap."

I don't see what the big deal is with everyone hating this software. I'd like to use it... BUT... It doesn't work in vista. So thumbs down. Too bad, though, I wanted it to work to help me waste less time.

This isn't a spyware as far as I can see. There's no option to hide it or make it invisible, so anyone who doesn't want their work to be recorded can simply turn it off.

Personally, I find it extremely useful to be able to measure precisely how much time I've been spending on different projects because it means that my billing is more reliable. I've been looking for a freeware version of software that does something like this for some time now, and haven't ever seen one.

As far as the malware complaints go: I'm running NOD32, SuperAntiSpyware, AVG AntiSpyware, and Comodo BOClean. All of them regularly rate among the highest in their class, and none of them gave me even the faintest peep of complaint about potential malware.

you all call this spyware?
it doesnt realy hide.
DOn't think of it in terms of people spying on you, if its your own computer at home... well consider how much you waste time.

using rescuetime.com's free tracker, I realized I spent 4 hours on msn mesenger in a week. I was shocked..but its true

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/6723/trackru4.jpg
pretty useful. I will try timetracker and uninstall this log thing.

that time tracker sourcefoge.net lags
it looks quite similar to this timetracker
http://sourceforge.net/project/screenshots.php?group_id=191069

maybe they stole the code... anyways...
this thing cannot categorize the subcategorize by time

for example... iexplore.exe I want to see which website I was on the most. the categorizing does NOT work for this.

For a free and open source version of this software, one which actually records something about what's open in the application (it records the text of the titlebar) there's Time Tracker.

http://ttracker.sourceforge.net/

It may be a little less intuitive and a little less flashy (ie. there are a couple of poor choices for the interface), but it performs well.

@Julian: Many virus scanners will flag programs that seem to act like spyware (like this one) or are designed to do other things that viruses do (like install programs in certain ways). If you get a positive result from your particular antivirus software (especially on a program that would probably do suspicious things as a part of its main purpose), I suggest you submit the file to one of the online virus-scanning services that subject the file to testing with several different scanners. If more than one or two of them raises red flags, then it probably is a virus. If only one of them does (especially if it's not Avast! or Kaspersky), you can feel pretty safe.

Not BAD.
I can use this to see what programs I use, and then uninstall anything I never use. Thanks GAOTD!

Regarding #9's post on finding viruses/malware in GiveAwayOfTheDay downloads...

Yesterday I ran McAffee VirusScan on both of my PC's where I have several GAOTD downloads installed, and it found a virus (trojan) on both PCs for Smart Install Maker, which was a title offered on GAOTD this past week. And it was a title that I really liked and found useful in my work (teaching), but I had to delete the title on each pc as per the recommendation of my virus scanning program.

I think this situation is absolutely DISGRACEFUL !

As a courtesy to its users, I would like to suggest that GAOTD carefully run each offered software title through a virus scanning and spyware scanning program, and refuse to offer to its readers any contributed title containing viruses or spyware.

cmon again with the spyware?

YAY!!!!!!!!! another slimy spy on your spouse program from "wewannaseewhatyouredoingto.net"

Skynet was born on Dec. 01 2007


Please no more paranoid control freak software?

thanks for being here though

Avira Antivirus gives out an warning. I can confirm this, so the installer is still sitting untouched in its folder. #9 also had a problem with another Almeza product ("...continue the activation process, but then Windows Explorer crashed."), so what's wrong here? Maybe the warning: “contains suspicious code: HEUR/Malware” does make sense. Well anyway, I can't find more info on this program on the company's homepage: www.almeza.com or it seems to be very well hidden or even discontinued. I fail to see what the rating of +35 (38%) -56 (62%) for this program is really based on since no one here seems to REALLY have used this for MORE than 5 minutes. And why can you rate without having to post a comment? This isn't in the least helpful to others. So just by looking at the figures you could easily get the impression that this is not even worth the download. Thanks for your attention.

"# Strictly personal usage"

Could be a very usefull tool. Much better than yesterdays. With the program you can easily log your working hours... But that's not allowed by the rules.

My apologies to Almeza Co. It did detect Diskeeper Pro Premier Version: 10.0.593.0 but was listed as sub folder under MMC.EXE (Microsoft Management Console).

For those getting Anti-Virus warnings...thats is because this actually IS a program that can be used for malicious purposes. Perhaps the author did not intend it to be used this way, but if it has the potential to work as "spyware" someone will use it as such.

Is ok Mr Richard Am old lady with sometimers.....sometimes I remember.....some times I don"t....lol

Same as #9 here.

I'm getting quite fed up with this.
If GAOTD sw is giving virus warnings, THEY will have to do something about it. Also if FALSE positives: change the code to not mimick malware (or is it in fact...?)

It can't monitor Diskeeper Pro Premier Version: 10.0.593.0

Oops, my bad:

qb7894 didn't mention Avira, CMMReyes. Apologies

@Increase and qb7894:

If Avira offers you the possibility to turn off HEURISTIC scanning of files (and this should include your resident file checker) AND you trust this program, then do so.

Also I would inform the folks at Avira, 1st because this looks like a false positive (you probably will have to send them the activation program for analysis); 2nd Also they should make their "reports" a bit more informative... just telling something is malware, and based on heuristics doesn't tell a bit, what "malware" (which one of the 154,831...) and is it really malware, or riskware (no immediate danger, but risky)???

Or you could just at the clock and see how long you have been working on your computer.

AVIRA won't let me install Win LOG Assist. It prevented setup from executing. Is this a false positive or what? Anyway I have installed it by disabling AVIRA. After its installation I activated AVIRA without any trouble.Its working fine at the moment.

This appears to be a better app than yesterdays giveaway but sorry I can not use.

Very simple functionality ; this program is more better if it was given as freeware

Again, for the 3rd time, no way to check this software out.
I can't activate it because my anti-virus program, Avira would not allow me to open the Setup.exe file, giving this notification:
"contains suspicious code: HEUR/Malware"

I tried ignoring it to continue the activation process, but then Windows Explorer crashed and I was unable to recover my logging session.
I had to reboot and simply delete the full download.

So far, in the last 3 days, I have had this problem with:

Captain Tray
SnaLogger
and now, Win Log Assist

My first post about this was in relation to Captain Tray and was at first not published.
I had to post it 3 times, and then finally it was put at the end.
On the next day, when I checked, it had been deleted.

I am beginning to wonder if this has to do with the programs setup files or with the GOTD Wrapper.

Hopefully this post makes it, at the right time and at its rightfull position, because I need to hear about other users experiencing the same problem.

Thank you.

Another day.... another resource hogger. It's hard to imagine anyone needing this, not even businesses.It would be nice to hear from someone who can tell me I am wrong.

--- deleted ---

Utterly useless unless you want to have to spy on some easily mislead individual. Don't believe me?

Think about it.
If you are using it on your own computer then what will it show exactly?
For instance it will show that you used the following programs :
- Email program (which could be to read/write to your friends and family or to exchange data with a client, boss, sub-ordinate)
- Internet browser (which could be to browse for games, porn, lolcatz, news etc... or to visit sites of clients or companies you do business with)
- Wordprocessor (writing love letters or writing a tender)
- Spreadsheet (playing Sudoka, balancing personal budget or doing some work)
- Using Irfanview (looking at snapshots or looking at pictures that were taking of the place where the work needs to be done)

So what if the program logs which programs and for how long you have been using it. It doesn't keep track of which project you have actually been working on. It doesn't show what work, if any, you actually did. All it can do is tattle-tale what programs you used and for what period of time.

If you install it at home for instance then it can show you that the user has used an internet browser. It doesn't show if your child was using it to look up stuff for school, or stuff on some toy, or looking at freaky fetish hardcore.

Unless you have prohibited your child or spouse or employee to use certain programs and want to check up on them (a.k.a. spy on them), this is useless.
If you do feel the need to log there behaviour with the computer then :
-you should either not leave them along so that they won't stray
-password protect the computer so as to make sure they can't do what it is you don't want them to do
-give them only limited accessibility to what programs and data they can use
-you are having issues and you are the one who should seek help
-are a very nosey parker and should learn to matter to your own business

I do have to wonder if the Almeza will truly ever make something that is worth having let alone something that is worth it's money.

--- deleted ---

it has projects..but doesnt tell users what a project is.
A project would be nice say..
if i have microsoft word open during a time period.. it would show that i am working..

but maybe writer's block measurements.. such as how long I am idle in microsoft word...
it keeps saying unregistered copy even when i register.

Blimey, there are a lot of these big brother applications of late. To be quite frank, I am not at all enamoured. Good day!

Same sort of program as yesterday, this is even more of a spyware program.. Or for your boss.

Even so, this IS a great program if you use it correctly (that means, use it on yourself)