does a pc leave an accessed log or history?

[jontera]

As the title says, and can it be viewed? also is there any log of a file being transfered/copied etc?

Reason I'm asking is because.....

Just had a telephone call from the wife's cousin. Last night she went out with some friends from uni, leaving a couple of housemate's home. Now this morning she's turned on the lappy and in her "recent documents" is a file that contains, well erm some pictures that her & her ex took on holiday a few years back. The personal kind of piccies if you know what i mean. She's deffinate that she hasn't opened said file for ages.

her lappy is password protected, but she has previously let her housemates use it before, so it's possible that they know her password.

What she is worried about is if these photo's have been copied or accessed previously. as she's left her lappy accessable on various occassions.

So she's asked me if there is any way that a history of the file can be viewed, so she can has a little peice of mind. Now I'm more handy with hitting things with a hammer or using a spanner, but not when it comes down the the "black magic" that goes on behind the keyboard of a pc. as someones sig says "if you can't hit it with a hammer, then you've got an electrical problem" So if there is a way of viewing a log/history, can you give me fairly simple instructions. I'm not sure on her operating system it's either vista or xp home.

also can this file be further password protected?

hopefully you can help me and the wifes cousin out here. I don't think that she really wants to take the laptop down to pc world etc to find out, but then i don't blame her.

cheers Jontera

[ghosthunter]

Hi, if you right click on the file in question a window opens. goto properties, then general it will tell you when it was last acessed. You have your ammunition and proof!
You can change the attributes of files by ticking hidden box and the file becomes invisible. To view it you need to go to top of page , tools, folder options and tick show hidden files and folders. Remember to change it back to do not show hidden files and folders when you have finnised.
Its not much of a security option, but its better than nothing. There are virtual safes and other type of programs available on the net to hide stuff you generally dont want people to see.

[Rifleman]

It would be wise also for her to chenge her password and add a guest account.
This way she can allow her mates to use the lappy but not access her own account and files. Thats what I do with mine.

[domino]

Should always, always, always keep private and important files/documents somewhere safe OFF the pc like a USB flash stick or similar

Apart from that ghosthunter has pretty much right on the button.

[jontera]

Cheers everybody, pretty much guessed that would be the case. I was kind of hoping that there would be a history log type of thing that may have helped her out a bit.

I think that she has learnt a lesson about keeping personal stuff private and locked away, innocence of youth and all that. hopefully these piccies have been kept within the confines of her house and not all over campus, time will tell.
Think I know what to buy her for her birthday next month...a big usb flash drive!!

many regards and again thanks
Jon

[Rifleman]

Better with an external hard drive as memory sticks tend to fail, and you lose everything.

[yaki]

Better with an external hard drive as memory sticks tend to fail, and you lose everything.

But unless the hard drive/memory stick has some form of encryption then all data stored on there is vulnerable with nothing to stop anyone helping themselves.

[yaki]

It would be wise also for her to chenge her password and add a guest account.
This way she can allow her mates to use the lappy but not access her own account and files. Thats what I do with mine.

And make sure the guest account you create is not a computer administrator otherwise they can see your files

[Roo]

Hi Jon
not a nice feeling when you think a friend has been routing around your personal business & sticking their nose in...
If I were her, I wouldn't let my friend use my pc again... Ever..

Good luck to her and hope she sorts it out

Cheers
Roo

[Livewire Frontera]

ghosthunter is right in a way but the information you will find is the LAST time it was accessed but if your friend has accessed it themselves then that is the info you will see the only other way to log file access and the like is to download logging software but as everyone else has said the other way is to save to external media or create a non administrator user account

Lee

[Mr Mud]

Get one of these USB Sticks the most secure in the world, this is what I use for sensitive data . https://www.ironkey.com/personal

[Wilberforce]

A trifle expensive too..
I just have mine encrypted with TrueCrypt. Does the job

[Frontycustoms]

Ya need a Jay fix PM Alchamist mate he's the master of pc

[jontera]

Unfortunatly it appears that the damage is done. the Housemate? (I didn't ask if male of female) did copy a couple of them, but insists that they haven't shown them to anyone else. Also they deleted them in front of her, and has promissed to leave the house as soon as possible. Now I and she does know that files are never really deleted, so it's a case of trust I suppose. But that could be hard conciddering what has occured. only time will tell.

Thanks for all your input it's very much appriecated.

oh, just be clear..I've nothing to do or in these pictures just in case you were wondering. hand on heart it's the wife's cousin and her ex, and Andy will tell you that my wife would probably kill me more than once if it was.

[furball]

Something like this might be of use in the future...

http://www.kakasoft.com/freeware.htm

[Alchamist]

Another reason to go Linux ... none of this crappy, poor level security from Microshaft!