Roomate a suspect?

[aura2]

I am in college right now and I was stuck with a roomate that I dislike (go figure). Anyway when I leave to go to class, I think my roomate gets on my computer, even though he has his own. Everytime I ask him if he has, the of course denies it. I don't want to resort to putting a keylogger on my own box, but I would like to find out if he is using my computer.
My question is how can I make a program that counts everytime my computer is turned on (when i leave i turn my computer off). I assume that everytime I turn my computer on there could be a value that increments by 1, but I dont want this program to be detected. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
P.S. I know the very basics of C++ so I'm not completely new with programming.
Thanks again

[oofki]

Just put a password on it dude. There shouldn't be a reason for doing that. But if its 2k or xp you can right click my computer goto manage and event viewer. A lot of things are logged so you can see if there was any activity since you used your computer last.

[Ghost_25inf]

Key logger is a good way and we know passwords can be cracked. maybe fisical security is key here. Get a case that has a lock on it or get a removable drive bay, and take out the drive when you leave. I know there is a thing that will send you an email when someone logs in with the wrong password, maybe this can be modified so that it will email you if they get the correct password.

[aura2]

Well the reason I want the Counter, is an added level of security. I already have a password and I dont really want to have to buy a new case. I also thought it would be a good learning project.
Thanks for the input so far.

[oofki]

Yer welcome. All I am saying is unless your roomate knows a lot about computer security even just looking at the logs will supply you with the information you need. If not the easiest way to keep em out just change your password to somethin harder.

[Juridian]

Erm, password and a case with a lock.

A password alone is kind of useless if he has physical access to the box.

[migik]

If you has firewall or just add his IP into the host file.
Block his computer by his IP.
Also disable file sharing.

You must add password not only to you account, but also to the accounts, like Administrator and/or disable Guest account too.

You can do it by wrinting (copy/paste) "compmgmt.msc" in run on start-menu. And manage users.
Or also "control userpasswords2" also in run, without "

Buy lock for your computer. May also help.
.......
Simplest way is to create bat file that will contain "date /T >> c:\some_dir\filename.txt"
then you can see when some one used you computer.

[dalek]

There is another way to Lockdown your PC, however if you use this route, be extra careful with the password....also in case you do lose it...I Fogot my BIOS pswd ....be a good idea not to show your roomy...there are ways around that as well, but would the roomy figure it out or think it was worth it....other than that...get a lock..


Edit: Ric-o....got there with 60 seconds to spare......

[ric-o]

Not sure why you want to see when your computer is booted...like Juridan said, just set a password on your account, set the BIOS up so you need a password to boot, lock the case - there you're mostly safe.

If you want to track when your computer is booted just turn on auditing of system events and logon and logoff. In Windows you do this via Local Security Policy and then check the security log for logon, logoff, shutdown, startup events.

Good luck.

[killerbeesateme]

Well, to answer the question exactly how you want it answered, just add a simple batch script to your startup folder for All Users.

In the batch script just specify what you want to happen. I'd have it create a file in a folder that is named with the timestamp and inside have it give the username of who logged on.

If you want to go for the "catch them in the act" approach, create a solution that will send an email to you, or even better an SMS or text message to your cell phone. If your right down the hall, just show up unexpectedly.

Of course, I don't know how to do any of this off the top of my head, but it should be fairly simple.

although, instead of this elaborate setup to catch him, I'd just move toward preventing it in the first place. Stronger passwords and case locks.

If you want to have some fun, and have an extra couple bucks, or can get your hands on a black keyboard, I would swab all the keys with Henna Paste. If you do it right, it'll stain his hands black, and you'd catch him "black handed".

I suggested the henna paste as a way to catch lunch thieves who steal tv dinners. you just make a trojan frozen dinner where the bottom of the microwaveable dish is covered in henna. Unless your expecting a trap, would you really look?