PC Pandora Pro, a monitoring software application, is the premiere product of Pandora Corporation. The company maintains its headquarters in Las Vegas, Nev. The company specializes in surveillance software that assists parents in keeping their children safe online. However, the app is an effective tool for monitoring all users of the target computer.
Monitoring software is a legal application providing the user is the verified owner of the monitored PC. The application has two methods of operation. In the Visible mode, the computer owner elects to allow the app to display an icon on the system tray as well as a shortcut in the Programs menu. In Stealth mode, there is no evidence of the application's presence on the PC.
Many computer administrators have concerns about the viewing of objectionable online content by both adult and child users. With PC Pandora Pro, computer owners can review all website visits. The application also logs transcripts of chat. It is intermittently successful at capturing both sides of the conversation. Supported instant messaging and chat applications include AIM, Facebook, Jabber, Google, MySpace Instant Messenger, MSN Instant Messenger and Yahoo Instant Messenger.
The monitoring software captures the text of both sent and received emails sent via Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Outlook Express. The keylogging and screenshot capabilities of the application record the contents of web-based email clients such as Gmail and Hotmail. It is disappointing that the software does not have greater support for web-based email applications.
Computer administrators can customize the app in several ways. The scheduling feature allows for the configuration of PC monitoring. The email reporting frequency is configurable as well. The Interval options start at ten minutes and are extendable up to 12 hours.
The keylogger of Pandora PC Pro captures every keyboard stroke a user makes. This information includes typed website URLs, passwords, user IDs and more. The DVD type screenshot player saves the computer administrator hours of time. It makes viewing the collected data easy and time efficient. Additionally, the software logs all applications accessed on the PC by username and time.
Administrators can block specific applications from use. However, online reviews completed by end-users of the software report that renaming the app's executable easily evades the blocking feature. Our own evaluation of the product confirmed this finding.
PC Pandora Pro's file tracking abilities may appeal to business owners. The application logs file access, document creation, modification, deletion and printing.
For an additional fee, users can subscribe to the company's LIVE! Monitoring service. The service allows for the remote management of the app's settings as well as access to reports. This feature is useful when physical access to the monitored computer is limited or non-existent. All collected PC data is stored on the manufacturer website. PC owners can access the information from any internet-connected computer.
When accessed locally, a well-organized user Interface categorizes the collected data. The predefined categories are Snapshots, Programs, Websites, Keystrokes, chats, User activity, E-mail, Webcam, File tracking, Web requests, Search queries, Printer and Bandwidth. Clicking each topic heading displays more information about the category.
PC Pandora Pro has some effective features. However, advanced users of the monitored computer can easily evade the monitoring software's blocking features.
