File Data - Date Accessed

[MiniEmma]

Hi all,

I was just trying to help my dad out coz he let someone use his pc to write
a letter and he wanted to know if they had accessed any of his documents,
he's on ME so i told him to open My Docs and go View>Details then click the
top of the 'Accessed' column and see what the most recent date was. Sure
enough today's date showed up on some of his documents.

So, i told him to open Word and Excel and see what was in his recently
opened section of the File menu and they weren't there. BUT, when he goes
Start>Documents, some of the files show there but they are listed
alphabetically so i wasn't convinced of the relavance.

So i opened up my docs on my pc (XP) and sure enough a large number of files
said they had been accessed, not only today but in the last hour, while i
have been sat here! but, as with dad, they do not show up in word's recently
opened, and i don't have a documents section on my start menu.

I was wondering whether i was being hacked - i doubt it - or if it is
windows randomly accessing files? any ideas?

Dad has Norton Internet Security and I have Zone Alarm Pro and Norton
AntiVirus, all up to date.

 

[Noel Paton]

MiniEmma
I doubt there's anything to be concerned about, since any file when
r-clicked on , and asked for Properties, will immediately give an 'Accessed'
date/time of the time you pressed the Properties menu-item!
JAD was possibly on the right lines, when he suggested that
FastFind/FindFast (I can never remember which it is!) may cause the same
thing.
The most reliable thing is probably to look in the Registry at the MRU keys.
Open Regedit - and do a search for 'MRU' without the quotes - see what it
finds.
The lowest-numbered items are the last accessed - and you should get some
idea from that.

Might I suggest , that if your dad is concerned about what others see on his
PC, that he either stands over them while they use it, or implements some
elementary security protocols (or upgrades to XP, and uses a separate
account for his 'guest users', and himself)?

HTH

 

[MiniEmma]

MiniEmma
I doubt there's anything to be concerned about, since any file when
r-clicked on , and asked for Properties, will immediately give an 'Accessed'
date/time of the time you pressed the Properties menu-item!
JAD was possibly on the right lines, when he suggested that
FastFind/FindFast (I can never remember which it is!) may cause the same
thing.
The most reliable thing is probably to look in the Registry at the MRU keys.
Open Regedit - and do a search for 'MRU' without the quotes - see what it
finds.
The lowest-numbered items are the last accessed - and you should get some
idea from that.

excellent, i shall do that next time i'm over there, thanks for your help

Might I suggest , that if your dad is concerned about what others see on his
PC, that he either stands over them while they use it, or implements some
elementary security protocols (or upgrades to XP, and uses a separate
account for his 'guest users', and himself)?

yes, i agree, we had discussed this, but the person in question tunred up a
day early before i had a chance to take a second pc over to him, oh well

 

[Noel Paton]

Good Luck

 

[daver]

and if you want to clear those mru's get mru blaster

 

[Noel Paton]

No need - the tools are already available on the PC - or (easier to access
than just about anything else) using TweakUI v1.33 from Microsoft, at
http://www.microsoft.com/ntworkstation/downloads/PowerToys/Networking/NTTweakUI.asp

A few caveats for its use, though.....

1) Do *not* change the first icon from "My Documents" on the Desktop tab
2) Do *not* uncheck: Search Results on the Desktop tab
3) Do *not* hide the Tweak UI icon on the Control Panel tab
4) Do *not* uncheck: Show Control Panel on Start Menu on the IE tab
5) Do *not* uncheck: Shell enhancements on the IE tab
6) To move "My Documents" folder, right-click on the Folder, and click
Properties.
(Thanks, Koldbear!<g>)


HTH

 

[CS]

On Wed, 3 Sep 2003 20:27:44 +0100, "Noel Paton"

Note that TweakUi version 1.33 is not the correct version to use with
XP or XP Service Pack 1. Use the below URL to download the new
Powertoys for XP and TweakUi:

http://www.microsoft.com/WINDOWSXP/home/downloads/powertoys.asp