Review of SpyAgent Software & How it Monitors and Records User Activities

What's Hot: 

I have to say that customer support for this product appears to be outstanding. After I finished installing SpyAgent I received an error message about a missing DLL. I tried to un-install and re-install the software but I kept getting the same error. Since I couldn’t get the program to run on my PC I went out to the SpyAgent web site and filled in the support form on their site. The web site says they offer 24/7 support but I really didn’t expect to hear back from them anytime soon. To my surprise, I received an email response to my problem within five minutes and when I checked their web site I found that the support technician had posted the missing DLL that I could download. That is the fastest service I’ve ever received. After that I was able to start the product.

SpyAgent also comes with an extensive help file as well as a number of online resources you can use.

What's Hot: 

A single license of SpyAgent is $69.95, which may seem a little steep for most people since there are a number of  cheaper parental control programs, such as Net Nanny at half that cost. However, the difference in cost is due to the larger array of features and tools that SpyAgent offers. If you’re looking for a complete monitoring system for your PC, SpyAgent is well worth the price.

There is a free trial version of SpyAgent available but the software trials are limited to 30-minute monitoring sessions.

What's Hot: 

 SpyAgent offers two different modes upon installation. You can choose to install it as an Administrator/Tester or use Stealth Installation. Choosing to setup the product as an Administrator/Tester will install all of the software options, including the help files, and place shortcuts in your Windows start menu.

Stealth Installation is a little trickier. This option is designed to allow you to set up SpyAgent on a PC where you don’t want the user to know that it’s installed. The Stealth Installation installs the minimum required options, no help files and no Windows shortcuts. If you choose this type of installation you’ll also need to take a few extra manual steps to ensure that it’s installed undetected. You’ll need to run a configuration utility to display the program files. Once the files are displayed you’ll be asked to rename the sysdiag.exe file to something that conceals its true identity from the user. Finally, you’ll need to configure a password, configure your logging options, and set SpyAgent to run in Stealth-mode.

The first time you run SpyAgent you need choose a password to restrict other users from changing any of your settings. After you’ve selected a password the Easy Configuration Wizard will start. This wizard allows you to quickly configure SpyAgent’s most frequently used features. Once you’ve selected all of your options from the configuration wizard SpyAgent will display the user interface where you can choose more advanced options to configure.

What's Not: 

Installing the program in Stealth-mode may be a little bit confusing for the average user who isn’t confident with running command prompts and renaming files.

I was unable to install SpyAgent on either of my PCs that are running Norton 360 until I disabled all of it’s protection options. Once Norton was disabled SpyAgent worked just fine. However, as soon as I re-enabled Norton it identified SpyAgent as a threat and completely removed the program. This is a serious flaw that needs to be worked out unless you like leaving your PC unprotected from other threats.