Index.dat Viewer sites I can't really speak for any of them, but I will certainly take the neta1o's word that this is one way to go. Since I don't know any of the programs from the Google search, I'm just a little wary of installing, since many times "snoopware" such as this often contains its own nefarious malware. If neta1o has a recommendation I'd love to hear it.

Something that doesn't require any download is to check the cookies. Now, this won't tell you when a site has been visited, but it will definitely give you an indication as to which sites have, since many install cookies. In Firefox the route to see them is:
Tools-- Privacy-- Cookies-- View Cookies

It's true that a user could go in and delete all (which would be a giveaway) or individually. It's just another thing a user would have to do to cover their tracks.

Still... my own feeling is that if you really have to snoop on what your kid is doing, you really should have a talk with them! Snooping should be the last step, and not the first.

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Edited by jbcoops at 07/23/2006 9:31 PM

Most teens who are tech savvy enough to erase history would be selective and only remove history of sites that they don't want their parents to see, leaving the "good" sites up. Of course, if they were in a hurry they very well might erase an entire day or several, and yes, Anne is definitely correct that this would be a tell-tale sign that your kid is visiting sites they shouldn't.

How often are your kids home alone? How much monitoring (online and offline) do they need and/or get? My oldest (now twelve) knows that I'm about as savvy as they get, and he tried *once* to go where he didn't belong. So far, the consequences I gave him were sufficient to make him not try again... but heck... he's only 12!

I also do things online with him and on the computer. We have a fun time making up joke avatars in Photoshop (I'm teaching him) for his MSN buddies (and yes, I pretty much always ask him who his buddies are, and they are indeed his real life friends). He also knows that although I really don't like him swearing, it's part of his relationship with some of his friends (online and off). So yeah... there's latitude... there's a degree of monitoring... and there's support,trust and love... which are probably the most importants thing you can develop with your kid.

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Edited by jbcoops at 07/18/2006 11:27 AM

"risk" gave you the correct information, you may view your browser history (usually) with Ctrl H. S/he is also correct in telling you that savvy users may delete this history.

I really wonder why Internet Explorer and especially Firefox hasn't installed a password protection feature for history. Surely they are aware that this tool could really help parents monitor their child's surfing, and they know that it's also possible to easily delete. If History Deletion could be password protected by the parent, they really wouldn't need to contemplate (expensive) monitoring software for the most part.

how can i look up the last sites that my child has viewed. I once heard that there was a button that you can push and it displays the last 20 viewed web sites. Does such a thing exist.