Thank you for any replies here...it is so appreciated.
SO...I hit "start" , hit "search" and now what??
Are there some specific file names I should be looking for??
I had help today by another poster saying to type in .ra for real player files...did that...I had NO idea about this file until the person told me about it; thank you.
Are there any other key file names I need to know about?
Done jpeg....but am stumped beyond that...
I have typed in words, such as porn, webcam, chat...but, it is not revealing too much....
I found the real player porn by typing in "India" or something like that...that is how I discovered that...
I feel sooo stupid...
Thank you for your help everyone.
Thank you for not berating me for the need to spy....I have been to other support groups and they blast you for spying..but, I agree with this site...it is essential to uncover what the ****** is going on behind our backs.
Thank you for your help! Please be patient with me while I learn.
Emma

Emma,

You can do searches for specific words.

Click on Search; click where it says all files or folders;
then you can type in a word where it says "A word or phrase in the file".

For words to search on, use words that your H might use in a chat or email: love, I love you, sexy, wife, meet, etc.

You should get a list of any/all files that have these words in them. Some might be innocent, such as a webpage that just happens to have these words in them, but unless he's deleted his activity off the computer, it should bring up any file that has these words in them.

Easiest way to do this is to put a key-logger program on your computer. You will need to buy the key-logger, because you usually can't hide the trial version. You can get a keylogger that will email the results to you. I recommend setting up another free email address for this purpose.

If your H has your computer passworded so he is the administrator, you won't be able to install the keylogger, though.

Anyway, I understand that you're frustrated with this, so I think the keylogger would be the best way to go. If you're not sure about getting it set up properly, is there a computer-savvy trusted friend/relative who could help you?

OK, so doing a key word search for infidelity:

1. Search for "love".- Some harmless files come up with either that word in it or part of the file name...you'll need to open each to see if its something or not. You might refine the search with "I love you" or something like that too.

2. Search for names of the OP or possible OP's.

3. Search for keywords of a sexual nature that your spouse might use. (I won't get graphic here...but think of acts, comments, etc...just think about it)

4. Search for other key words or phrases that might make sense in an affair: motel, hotel, together, "doesn't know", "miss you", etc...

If you're looking for porn or picture files and you're sorting through too much stuff, do a search for files CREATED within the last 24 hours (or appropriate timeframe that your spouse could have used the computer). You'll have a good sized list to search through, but it's not every file on the computer and you can quickly learn what kind of files to look for. For pictures, look for any files that end in .jpg, .bmp . For movies, .ram, .mpg . Also look for cookies that would be suspect...words of a sexual nature, XXX, etc...

This might help some.

Thank you all for the feedback so far...it is appreciated <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Emmawtrs,

There are two things I might be able to help you with:

1. If your husband has the Administrator password to your computer, a "hardware" keylogger (connects the keyboard cord to the computer) can get it for you. Then you can login as the Administrator to install the "software" keylogger.

2. Remember that your husband can "see" the words you are searching for if he does a search himself, because all search terms show up from the drop down list. To REMOVE the words you search for, just type in the first letter of your search term, select the term from the drop down list and then press "delete".

Hope this helps.

any way to remove all search history at once - this method might be tedious and error prone.

At bit more complicated, but not always thought about is the cookies directory.

Assuming you have a standard configuration for your system and are running WindowsXP and use Internet Explorer, you can go to C:\\Documents and Settings\<his user name>\cookies

In that directory, each file will represent a "cookie" set by a web site that has been visited.

If these haven't been cleared out (by the user), then you can see the web sites visited. The files will be in the format of <user name>@<websitedomain>

Don't worry about the content of the files -- they may or may not be user-interpretible.

At least you'll know if porn sites are on the list.

You can then clear this (in Internet Explorer got to Tools->Internet Options->Delete Cookies. It's a button in the middle of the dialog box.

Of course, deleting the cookies is not an "undetectable" thing, but it would let you see if he's still visiting the sites. You can also sort the cookie files by date and see when they were last accessed. This will tell you when he last visited the site.

If he's smart, when he clears the "Browser History" he also clears the cookies, but if not, it's a good trail to check.

emmawtrs- I'm clueless as well! I just did a search on my computer under this OW nickname. I did find a file. I think it's a yahoo account. Anyone have any suggestions? Do computers save passwords?

1heartbroken--

What kind of "file" did you find? What was the extension (last three characters)? What was the date on the file (last modified date)?

Computers only save passwords if you explicitly tell them to do so and the website or program allow the passwords to be saved.

If the file is a cookie file and it is recent, then it implies activity. If it is a cookie from a mail server (yahoo, hotmail, gmail, etc) and you didn't know about the account's existence, then you have sufficient cause for increased monitoring with either a hardware or software keylogger.

Good Luck.