14 DAY TRIAL // Everybody is afraid of keyloggers like they were the ultimate privacy invading monsters. But what about willingly installing a keylogger on your computer, just to see what everyone else is doing. Or just to have proof that something fishy is going on and it is not you. How about installing a keylogger on your kid's computer to monitor unattended activity?
These are all perfectly justifiable uses and very good reasons for such an instrument. So, if you go with a keylogger for such purposes, I advise using a stealthy one that cannot be detected by antivirus software and does not leave an obvious trace in the registry.
At first glance, MySuperSpy KeyLogger seems to meet the requirements above and the interface is not complicated; on the contrary, it is straightforward and features only useful options. It sports both key logging capabilities and screen snapshotting from time to time. All's good, but while evaluating, you are restricted to taking more than three fullscreen pictures and limited to 500 bytes of keystrokes each time you use it. Not too much but at least you can test the little snooper. If you decide to buy it, there's $27.95 written on the label, a tad off my price range.
Looks are left aside, as MySuperSpy KeyLogger does not aim at being eye-candy to the user, but rather inconspicuous and easy to manage. That's why it sticks to the point, providing you only the necessary options. From the main screen, you get to set the storage location for the screenshots and the keystroke logs (these can be two separate locations if you like).
A very useful option is shrouding screenshot and keystroke logs location for the secret application to remain undetected. Even the installation folder is inconspicuous as its name is Myss, but you can change it to whatever seems more trivial and unworthy to check out. Unfortunately, storage location hiding is reserved for the registered version.
Next follows the options for snapshotting the screen. You can choose to capture only the active window or the entire screen if you want (I would leave the “active window” option unchecked for a more comprehensive view of the activity). There is also the screenshot interval that goes to up to 18000 seconds, which translates into 300 minutes, or five hours. The lowest value you can set is one second, but mind that the screenshot storage location has enough free space available for all the pictures to fit.
The application proves to be flexible enough to let you choose between two image formats: JPG and BMP. The difference between them is that the latter is larger in size and of better quality, while the former offers less quality and a smaller size (unless you want a full quality image that can give you a good peek at the details).
Additional options can be found in the upper part of the application window, where you can choose to enable taking screen snapshots, keystroke logging or both, as well as set the program to start with Windows.
With all the settings made, all that remains to do is apply them and the application will start doing its job inconspicuous to an untrained eye.
Reading the keyboard logs is a cinch. The plain text file saved provides the time and application that received the typing. This way, you will know exactly what was typed and the program used. The only thing you should be prepared for are keyboard shortcuts that are not captured.
It all sounds good up to now, but there is a downside. The overpriced MySuperSpy KeyLogger does not support password protection, and there is no option for email sending. The password protection would come in useful for starting the program or for uninstalling it; I would not mind if a password was required to stop the process. For $27.95, it should definitely provide these two options.
In case you are trying to disable the spy, all you have to do is to navigate to the installation folder (by default, the program installs in /Program Files/ under /Myss/ folder) and uninstall it. If this is too drastic and you simply want to spend some time at the computer without the application logging your activity, simply terminate the process nvscv16.exe in Task Manager's Processes tab. You will not be asked for any credentials or be prevented in any way. As the launch of the software is not password protected, after finishing your job, you can go back to the installation folder and restart the process.
As long as you know that MySuperSpy KeyLogger is the reporter of computer activity, it is easy to render it powerless and conceal your true actions. For the $27.95 price, you do not get any protection for launching the application, uninstalling it, or terminating the process. It is true that the process is well concealed under the name of nvscv16, which very much resembles the NVIDIA driver helper service, but there is no stop against killing it and a more computer-wise user can easily spot it.
The Good
You can choose the images to be saved either in JPG or BMP format, as well as set the time interval a screen picture should be taken at.
The Bad
Also, there is no start/stop button in the interface. It will start automatically once all the settings are applied, but stopping it requires calling Task Manager and terminating the nvscv16.exe process.
The Truth
The lack of certain features that would increase its value does not recommend it as one of the best keyloggers out there.
If you are looking for a better deal, take a look at AllSpyMonitor, which at this time is offered with a 30% discount, at $24.47 and is exactly the same as MySuperSpy KeyLogger. Or you can get a freebie with limited options.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
