How to Determine If There Is a Keystroke-Recording Program on Your PC

Keystroke-recording programs, called keyloggers for short, do exactly what their name implies---make a record of every keystroke you make, from an inane chat message to grandma to the entering of personal information. Popular among thieves trying to steal your identity, as well as suspicious girlfriends or boyfriends, keystroke-recording programs are an invasion of privacy and can affect PC performance.

Instructions

1. Download and install Snoopfree, a free anti-keylogging software tool (see Resources for link).

2. Run Snoopfree and restart your computer. Snoopfree will load and monitor other applications to check for keystroke-recording programs.

3. If a keylogging program is detected, Snoopfree will alert you. You can then decide to deny it access to your system and therefore disable it.

4. Once you have the name and identity of the keystroke-recording program, you can take steps to remove it, such as removing the system files from the start-up menu.

References

• CNET Article on Keyloggers
• Download.com Snoopfree
• "I Hate Keyloggers"

Resources

• SnoopFree
• KL-Detector