Guardian Monitor Pro - Like Strapping a Hidden Camera to Your Browser

Pornography and sex-oriented content is pervasive on the Internet. That is no surprise for anyone who has spent any amount of time surfing the Web. We are blasted with emails, pop-ups, videos, and images every time we venture out onto the Internet. This $13 billion per year industry (http://internet-filter-review.toptenreviews.com/internet-pornography-statistics.html#anchor1) has your child in mind. The average age of a person who is first exposed to Internet pornography is only 11 years old. There are those of us who don't mind this. But, there are others of us who do not want our kids running rampant through pornographic and violent playgrounds. Do you wonder what your own kids are looking at? What about your spouse?

There are software applications that  monitor and record movement on the Internet, everything from keystrokes to websites to video "snapshots." One of these applications is Guardian Monitor Professional. It runs silently and invisibly on the computer of your choice. It is literally like standing over the shoulder of the person surfing the Internet. It lets you know exactly where and when the user went on the Internet.

Some of the features available on Guardian Monitor Professional include easy installation and setup, stealth mode, email reports, and an easy-to-use configuration wizard. You can even watch over your child's "chat" habits. Guardian Monitor offers a password-protected installation so that you, and only you, can configure this program or look at the reports. For about $40, Guardian Monitor gives you full Internet monitoring.

In a Windows XP environment, Guardian Monitor Pro loaded quickly and without any problems. [see image 1] Like many software products, it does require a reboot of your computer. [see image 6]  After the computer restarts, the program takes you through an easy configuration wizard. [see images 2 through 5]  In this wizard, you can configure whether or not the program runs in stealth mode, how often the application takes "snapshots" of the computer, what you want the software to monitor, and what email address you want the reports sent to. Guardian Monitor is easily configurable, so that even a now this would be

Once Guardian Monitor is installed and running, it takes very little memory (only about 25MB) and seems to run seamlessly with Internet Explorer. Once it is configured, there is very little else that a person needs to do to maintain this program. It runs on its own.

Internet access was slow occasionally. I think this may be when Guardian Monitor Professional is taking snapshots of the computer. It seems that when it is actually recording keystrokes and websites, for example, that it slows the computer's ability to browse the Internet momentarily. It doesn't happen all the time, but I've noticed a few performance lags when using this program.

Every once in awhile, Guardian Monitor's reports came out as jibberish (that is the technical term). I have no idea why this happens. It seems that the snapshot gets messed up somehow. [see image 13]  The program seems to still be recording the other facets of Internet usage, but it reports out this large amount of unreadable text as well. During my tests of the software, I don't remember typing the letters and characters that came out on the report, probably because I didn't.

Because I had trouble installing Guardian Monitor Pro on Windows Vista, I searched the Internet for a support number to call. There is not one to be found. I wrote an email to the company explaining that my Internet Explorer stopped working immediately after I installed its software. Nearly four days later this was the response:

Hello Glen!

We apologize for not being able to respond to your inquiry right away as we need to sort out some emails recently.

We apologize but we believe you have to contact the Customer Support of the Company you purchased the software with to better assist you with your issues.

Let us know then if you have further questions.

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That simply made me laugh (sort of) because the company that sold the software said I needed to reach this company. My legs were tired from all the runaround. If you're into buying software that no one supports, this would be a good purchase for you. If you're not, buyer beware.

The only lesson I learned from this was that I cannot install this program on a Windows Vista machine and still expect support for Guardian Monitor Pro.

If you want to do so, Guardian Monitor Pro has the ability to run in stealth mode. You can set it up so that anyone surfing the Internet on a particular computer has no idea their keystrokes and websites are being recorded. This is easily configurable when you install the software. [see image 7]  And it is particularly handy if you are trying to find out a true history of where someone is surfing on the Web.

Guardian Monitor Pro also has the ability to send reports to you at intervals you choose. It will send these reports to the email account you set.  There are a number of different reports available.  [see images 11 and 12]  Guardian Monitor has the ability for you, and only you, to configure the program and/or look at the reports.  This is done through a password-protection feature. [see image 9]  Overall, Guardian Monitor has some very handy features.

Some other Internet monitoring software packages include the ability to install the program onto a computer without the person knowing it. This feature might be particularly helpful in a work situation.The person you want to monitor can be on the computer when you install the software and they wouldn't know you are doing it. Guardian Monitor Pro lacks this feature, however.

As stated before, it would be great to have the ability to remotely install Guardian Monitor Pro on a computer without anyone knowing you are doing it. As it is now, you have to log onto the computer that you want to monitor, install the program, reboot, and make sure that it is running in stealth mode. There is no remote way to install it on the computer you are trying to monitor. If Guardian Monitor Pro had the capability to be installed remotely, it would probably be seen as a viable option in the workplace.

Another feature that might be nice would be a phone number to call for support. Creating a web-based support center would also help immensely. Current support for this program is lacking.

Guardian Monitor Professional is an entry-level computer software program to monitor and record Internet usage on any given Windows-based computer. The operative word here is "entry-level."  It is easy to install (in an XP environment) and easy to configure. The "snapshot" reports are easy to read and give great information to someone who is trying to monitor a certain computer or computers.

The downsides to this program are much more visible though. Guardian Monitor Pro did not work in a Windows Vista environment and there is little (if any) technical support available. The program did work in a Windows XP environment, though not without its share of problems. The reports randomly contained unintelligible letters, and randomly slowed the computer down.

The idea of being able to monitor a computer while surfing the Internet is a huge step toward safety and accountability for our loved ones. There are times when quality monitoring software is needed. If it were up to me though, I would pass on Guardian Monitor Professional. There are other programs available that, at the very least, have solid technical support if needed. Other programs may perform better as well. Guardian Monitor Professional is a good solid program but is not a top contender in this field.