Roomate a suspect?

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Erm, password and a case with a lock.

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

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.

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...... :p

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.

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?

Thanks guys, This was a ton of help

You could always put a key switch in line with your power button, or replace your power button with a momentary key switch, so you need the key to start the machine up. Not exactly a fool proof solution if they have access to the inside of the case, but I'm gonna put money on the fact that he wont want to open it up, short out the key lock, and close it back up just to get on your computer. Then again, maybe I underestimate the willpower of your roomie

if you want to be less technical but sneaky, create a batch file. have it time stamp a log file on boot, create a short cut to that batch file, change its properties to a hidden file and drop it in startup menu. an alternate to the start up menu, use the reqisrty to run on boot up and shut down... you can have it log all kinds of nifty stuff.

Now thats assuming your using a windows box, if your using linux: man cron.

Well if you just want to prevent him from using it, assuming he knows little or nothing about computers, remove the pin connected to the power button on the mobo.

If you want to catch him in the act, make sure he knows you're leaving for a long time (leave the comp off) and 30 minutes later pop back in, there won't be any time to shut down the computer before you see it on or see him running from it :p

Another alternative would be to just hide the power cable in somebody else's dorm or in your own dorm...he'd have to be real desperate to go out of his way to buy a new one..

or if your too lazy for all the above, the batch file idea(s) sound nice :)


EDIT: and if you're that serious about it....do what my brother did..buy a couple of survalence cameras trained on your computer constantly monitoring who touches it.

Indeed, a roommate would never see you fiddling with your motherboard every time you try to use your computer or as you come and go.

Brilliant!

The power button can be a real hoot, removing the pin is a great idea. But how about simply buying a horn or a buzzer from Rad Shack and hook that up to the power button. When he goes to turn it on it makes a loud noise, siren or whatever...lol. That'll give him Charmin Moment!

cheers

Just take the cord with you.

Haha Thanks guys, i think I'm gonna do either the buzzer or the batch file.

Buy a webcam, use Motion (motion.sf.net, if your on linux, otherwise bit of python and the video capture module) and have the images shipped to a server so that you can see if he's been on your computer - its a good laugh.

Or just electrocute the Keyboard with 110vac, that should stop him..

i2c

(although spamdies beat me to it)

make an autoexec.bat file.

in it put:

----------------------------------
echo time /t >>someoddname.dll
----------------------------------

open it in notepad to read it

Buy a second mouse and keyboard which have exposed metal or another conductive surface. Run their cabling so they look like they're connecting to the computer, instead you are connecting the exposed parts of the mouse and keyboard across the terminals of a very large charged capacitor.

This will knock the living s__t out of your roomie as it will turn his arms, chest, heart etc into an LC circuit.

Quote:

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Originally posted here by Tedob1
(although spamdies beat me to it)

make an autoexec.bat file.

in it put:

----------------------------------
echo time /t >>someoddname.dll
----------------------------------

open it in notepad to read it

---

You mean:

::----------------
echo %username% >> file.txt
date /t >> file.txt
time /t >> file.txt
::----------------

Cuz "echo" cannot show time.....

I think we have it all figured out for you. The batch file is a must, the 110v to the keyboard, the video camera so you can have years of viewing pleasure, and of course the buzzer to let you know when it happened so you will know when to return.

:D

Put your hard drive in a caddy mount and take it with you when you go out.

If the person has pyhsical access to your system when you are out it's the only way to ensure your data is safe.

Locks on cases take about 15s to get into & then your hard drive is compromised.

Get a new room mate?

Steve

Wow! this thread turned out to be much more than I expected. I am off to college this fall and the information in here will definitely help me take preventitive action if it is needed. This will be most helpful.

VERY simple soultion......you don't want roomate to have access to your box?????????
Set BIOS password.

Be done with it. There are very few ways to get around a BIOS pswd and if your roomate is not tech savy then that is your fix.

Hmmm,

You don't say what OS and BIOS versions you are using. You also don't give any idea of why your room mate would want to use your computer, rather than his own.

The BIOS password is a good idea, but can sometimes be bypassed using a default "back door" value. Similarly it is generally possible to reset the password if you have physical access. Obviously this is pretty blatant and easily detected.

You might like to disable the guest account and rename the administrator one to make the machine more difficult to use.

Also, how secure do you want your data to be? in the Defence Sector we use removable hard drive mountings like steve.milner suggested. If there is no HDD and no operating system and applications it makes the machine pretty useless. Sure you could use a CD, but why?

Just a few thoughts.................

Just take your roommate "out". I know places up here in the hills they'd never find the body. :)

Doesn't that give you straight A's as well? Come on... I say that's a foolproof solution. To the hills!

Quote:

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Originally posted here by aura2

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.

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If it's a Windows system just look under the Event Viewer and the System Logs. I doubt he's touching those.

Look for a sequence of these three event IDs.... 6006, 6009, 6005. The first one (6006) indicates when you turned your PC off, and 6009 followed by 6005 show when it was booted up.

Or you can use a simple vbscript that goes something like this... Copy it to notepad and save it with the .vbs file extension.

strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" _
& "{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colLoggedEvents = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
("Select * from Win32_NTLogEvent Where Logfile = 'System' and " _
& "EventCode = '6009'")
Wscript.Echo "PC Boot Ups: " & colLoggedEvents.Count

Run that script before you leave, and when you get back. If the number incremented by two or more, you will know someone is monkeying with your PC while you were gone. You might want to clear your system log before you put that script into real use to reset everything to zero. And make sure it's not put in an obvious location or your roommate will know you are tracking him.

If you're willing to spend some money, theres this wireless thing (no idea what you call it) which you attach to yourself. When you are within range of the computer, it will unlock itself, otherwise, it will stay locked.