Is there any way other than a keylogger, to find another email account on husbands laptop. I am not sure I will have the time to install keylogger. I usually have only about 15mins to check his computer in the morning while he showers. He takes it to work. thanks

That may be all the time you need.

Is he a good sleeper? I would get up in the middle of the night and take the laptop into another room and just to it then.

If the laptop is running Windows XP or 2000, start "My Computer".

Double-click on the C: drive.

Go to "Documents and Settings" and then select the folder that is the same as his logon ID.

Under that folder, you'll see a folder named "Cookies".

Open that folder.

The files in that folder will be "cookies" that are set by the various sites he's visited.

Even if he cleans out the Internet Explorer History, the cookies may still be around.

View the details listing and sort by date. The most recently accessed cookies will be at the top. If you see cookies from "Hotmail" or "Yahoo" or "gmail" etc, you'll know he's been to those sites recently (the date of access should be the date on the file).

Won't tell you for sure if there is an account, but it may help narrow down your places to search.

Good Luck

tryingtobelieve, install it first on your own computer so you can PRACTICE. Have the program copied to disc so you can install it very quickly on his.

I would install one like eblaster, which takes no time at all, and will EMAIL you the reports. You won't have to touch his computer again. It will tell you that you have to restart the computer for it take effect, but you don't have to restart it yourself. The next time your WS reatarts it, it will automatically start sending you reports.

I highly recommend e-blaster from Spectorsoft. Set up an anon. hotmail account so you can access the reports from any computer. It takes about 5 mins to set up. Get the software on a USB key so you can just plug it into his laptop and run it quickly.

Anti-virus and firewall doesn't pick this up. I'm using it and it really is very good.

Caution: If you don't want to know the answer, don't ask the question!

Artor's post is probably the fastest and most non evasive way to check up on it. Cookies can tell a story really quickly.

Keyloggers can really cause a lot of trouble if they know a bit about computers... be careful with them.

AMEN AMEN AMEN Once you learn something bad is afoot, there is no unlearning it.

keyloggers are a great resource, Kuky! Especially for a laptop that the BS does not have regular access to. Cookies can't record emails, chats or log passwords. A keylogger can do that and more. Invasive is the GOAL!

Thanks for the ideas. will try the cookies first. and then get the keylogger on flash drive. Sounds doable.

I was stressing the fact that she only had 15 minutes. Keyloggers are tricky, if not set up right, could be stumbled on pretty quickly. I am no idiot when it comes to computers, and if not installed properly, and you don't know what you are doing, could leave traces of it being there for the user to find. With only 15 minutes, cookies are a good place to start. Then if you find something fishy, then try to the keylogger.

Sometimes not getting caught when trying to find information is more important than being invasive.

But looking at cookies will not give her what she needs to see. They cannot record emails, chats, passwords, etc. Keyloggers are INVISIBLE and leave no trace so they not easy to find at all. Nor does she have the luxury or access to search his computer EVERY DAY for cookies that will likely tell her nothing. That is just an INVITATION to get caught, which will leave you empty handed.

It you are going to do this, tryingtobelieve, do it right so you can get the information you need and move forward. You don't have the time or luxury to search his computer for cookies every morning that will give you little or nothing.

ttb, try eblaster as we suggested. It is easy to install and will leave no trace. You can download it on your own computer and copy it to a disc or a USB key as CEG_UK suggested. It will take you all of 3 minutes to install it and you will never have to get on his computer again. It will send you reports and copies of every email going in and out.

Install it on your computer first so you can practice.

I have to apologize... I thought she wanted to find email accounts... not find out absolutely everything he does on his laptop. I guess I missed that part in the thread.

I assumed that when she was asking about finding email accounts, she wanted a way to look at his laptop and determine if he was using something like that or not.

Keyloggers work very well, in many cases, too well. I confirmed a lot of crap with my STBX, learned a lot of stuff I just wish I hadn't pried into. Be careful when installing one, make sure you have adequate permissions to install something like that. If you can, reboot at least one time, and make sure, like mine, you check the program settings and ensure it is hidden from both the task bar, and the program menu... the one I use also hid the entry in the task manager.

Careful with them, especially if it is used at his work... Things like that, IT guys can find them faster than you think.

Kuky, I think her goal is to find out if he has other email accounts, and looking at cookies won't help her there. She will have to install a keylogger to find that out.

Oddly, its usually not the IT guys who find the keyloggers, but the novices. My H is an IT guy and he never found it. They don't show up in the task bar or the program menu so they are very undetectable. One has to KNOW what to look for to find one. Its pretty rare around here that one is discovered, but it is usually worth the risk.

I give my vote also to e-blaster. It worked for me.

ML and Kuky --

I agree that cookies won't give you the content of email or chat, etc.

What it may tell you is that he is going to other email sites which would indicate he has an account active.

The keylogger is the absolute positively best way to go, but it can be tricky and dangerous to install if "stealth" is part of your objective.

-----------------------

ttb's husband steps into shower.

ttb pulls out laptop, turns it on.

all is well, booting up, shower still going .....

ttb's heart is racing -- she can feel it in her chest....

The MS-Windows "welcome" music plays loudly through the speakers her husband left set too high. Make sure you have it in a well-removed room when doing this.

Plugs USB drive with keylogger into the 'puter.

Install starts -- asks for registration key -- where is that ? -- oh yeah, in the email I got! -- crap....

Finds registration key -- enters -- installs....

Reboots computer ..... Anti-Virus finds the keylogger . . .

Tells AV to ignore keylogger . . .

ttb shuts down computer, puts in case, puts on thickest robe so husband won't see her heart thumping against her chest wall....

Mission accomplished.

------------------------------

My Point?

Do as was suggested -- practice on your own system or a friends system first. You'll know if it needs a registration key you have to enter. I would put the registration key in a text file along with the keylogger on your memory stick so you can copy/paste it into the install dialog and not mis-type the 16-24 digit number.

Figure out what anti-virus, spyware software he has (i.e., Norton, Windows Defender, McAfee) so you know how to tell it to ignore your spyware should it be detected.

TTB--

Does your husband ever go out at night and leave his laptop at home? Is there anyway you can get MORE than 15 minutes of access?

Good luck. You can do this.

Artor, it really is much easier than you describe. For example, with eblaster, she won't have to restart it because it is not detected by anti-virus or anti-spyware. It DOES need the registration key, but she would already known this when she bought it and brought it with her.

It would be much faster to install a keylogger than it would be to launch a fruitless search for cookies that will tell her nothing in the end. Her efforts will be for naught. If she is going to take a risk, she might as well do it for GAIN, after all.

The key will be to practice on her own computer so she will be prepared. It should take no longer than 3 minutes.

ML--

Eblaster's current version may not be detected by anti-virus or anti-spyware, but I GUARANTEE you that an update will be released to these applications that will find it.

Not a maybe, not a possibly, but a definite guarantee. Put a two year old version on a machine with a currently patched competent anti-virus/anti-spyware package and it will be found.

It's a cat-and-mouse game between the spyware producers and the anti-spyware manufacturers.

The best she could do, off hand, would be to configure his anti-virus to ignore spyware (you can do this in Norton and McAfee).

I have actually installed three or four spyware/keylogger packages in my time on various systems under various conditions.

I'm certainly not claiming to be an expert. I'm just offering caution to think it through, prepare for the unexpected and practice, practice, practice. Add in the "nervous" factor when doing it on a tight timeline -- who knows when he'll step out of the shower -- and all due precaution is advised.

Cookies are not a waste of time, but it doesn't have to be the only route taken since it appears she has regular, albeit short, access to his laptop whenever he's in the shower.

If he's not "computer savvy" you could also check the Internet History (be sure to close the sidebar when done) to see if he's visiting other mail sites. If the history is missing or freshly deleted, you'll also know that he's possibly hiding something.

Checking his activity with non-intrusive methods is always the best.

tryingtobelieve-- How are you going to purchase the spyware? Do you have a credit card he doesn't check or have access to?

MelodyLane is righton in the advice to practice this first. You don't want to mess it up and lose the opportunity in the future.

You CAN do this -- practice.

Artor, I agree that the spyware applications may be configured some day to catch it, but it is still worth the risk, IMO. There is no spying method that is 100% guaranteed to not get caught. NONE. She would more likely get caught checking cookies if she has to access his computer over and over again to search through endless cookies every morning. With a keylogger, she only has to get on the computer ONCE, lessening the odds she will get caught. Not to mention that cookies will not give her what she needs to find and break into a secret email account so it would be all for naught.

As with all spying, we still take the risk because the payoff is usually well worth the risk.

Spying, by its nature is INHERENTLY "intrusive" or it wouldn't be spying. That is a TRAIT of spying. There is no such thing as UN-intrusive spying. So, when someone takes the time to do it, they should make sure there will be a payoff, because if the goal is to find out the truth, the standard must be EFFECTIVENESS. Checking cookies will not lead her to a secret email account. A keylogger will not only lead her to the email account but will give her the PASSWORD so she can break in and read the emails. Checking cookies never told me anything, the keylogger told me EVERYTHING.

p.s. but until that happens, she will have a window of opportunity to get the information she needs. She can probably find out in a weeks time exactly what he is doing because she will have passwords, etc. That is all the time she needs.