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How does it work?
Chat Stick knows where each supported
chat client stores its logs. It quickly
scans a computer for saved chat logs and
saves them in a special report on the
stick so you can view them at your
convenience.
How fast does it work?
That depends on a number of factors such
as computer speed, the size of the drive
being scanned, and the size of the chat
logs. Typically, a search will only take
a few minutes.
Do I need the password of the
computer I'm scanning for pornography?
Yes. You will need to be logged into the
system you are investigating. If you
plan on using the "Remember This
Computer" option, you will need to be
logged in as Admin.
What does "Remember This
Computer" do?
The first time you insert the Chat Stick
into a new computer, you will need to
manually navigate to the drive (most
times, Windows will simply ask if you
want to open the root folder of the
thumb drive) and double-click on the
Chat Stick software to run it. If you
click the "Remember This Computer"
button, you will no longer have to
manually launch the Chat Stick software
each time you want to get chat logs from
this computer. The Chat Stick thumb
drive will be recognized by the system
and allowed to automatically run the
software and automatically start
searching for chat logs (it may take a
minute on some systems for the program
to start).
Does the Chat Stick record
chat conversations as they occur?
No. The Chat Stick was designed as an
investigation tool. This means it only
analyzes data that has already been
saved in the form of chat logs by the
supported chat client.
Is the Chat Stick considered
spyware?
No. Spyware is software that is either
installed on a system unknowingly to the
user or software that gathers and sends
information over the Internet without
the user's knowledge. The Chat Stick is
an investigation tool that simply scans
a computer for chat logs and saves them
in an easy to read format for you to
read through at any time.
I run a search with the Chat
Stick but it doesn't find any chat logs.
Why?
This is either because there are no
supported chat clients on the computer
or logging is not turned. Chat clients
generally have the ability for the user
to turn chat logs on or off.
How can I turn chat logs on?
Each chat client is different.
Generally, there is a Preferences or
Options menu in the main chat client
program. Look for an Archive or Login
option and set it to save all
conversations.
Does the Chat Stick get
Facebook, MySpace, and other web based
chat logs?
Websites that allow visitors to chat
with each other do not save archives to
your computer. Even those that look like
chat clients like Yahoo! Messenger
online do not save chat logs. The Chat
Stick cannot display conversations for
web based chats. However, under the
advanced options in the program, you can
choose to gather all web activity from
your browser's cache. Sometimes, these
files can contain remnants of
conversations for web based chats. If
selected, Internet activity will be
included in your Chat Stick report for
you to manually search through. Keep in
mind, Internet cache can contain
hundreds, even thousands of files for
you to manually sift through.
There are multiple folders in
when I open reports. Which one is my
search results?
Each report is saved under a folder
named with the time the search started
(i.e. 2009-10-29 22-54-51 for a search
that was started October 29, 2009 at
10:54:51 PM). You can keep as many
reports on your stick as room will
allow. Keep in mind that there is a
limited amount of space on the Chat
Stick, however, chat logs are generally
small so you should be able to save
hundreds of found logs on your stick
before you need to delete them.
Chat Stick
Details
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