Capture Screenshots

Capture high-resolution compressed screenshots of users’ computers to uncover risks and unproductive activities.

Screenshots can be captured using three different scenario configurations: periodic, application event, and website event.

Create a new capture

  1. From the CurrentWare Console, go to BrowseReporter and click on the Screenshots feature from the dropdown.
  2. Click on the Configurations tab.
  3. Click on the New Capture button.
  4. Enter a Capture Name
  5. Select the computers you want to monitor
  6. Select the Capture type: periodic, websites or applications
    • Periodic*
      • Change the interval to capture screenshots (i.e. capture every 10 mins)
    • Website**
      • Click Add Websites to add the website domains to trigger the screenshot capture
      • Change the Capture Wait Time if desired, to wait for a website to fully load and the user to start interacting with the site
    • Application**
      • Click Add Applications to add the applications to trigger the screenshot capture
        • Use the Application file name.
          Examples: chrome.exe, slack.exe, edge.exe, msedge.exe.
          Note:           You can find this from the task manager, or by using your BrowseReporter Dashboard
        • Change the Capture Wait Time if desired, to wait for an application to fully load and the user to start interacting with the application.

* Periodic screenshots can take up considerable disk space when tracking many computers or using a high frequency of capture.  The section on managing disc usage provides guidance on controlling this.

** BrowseReporter will only capture a single screenshot per web page session or active application session. After a screenshot is captured, BrowseReporter will only capture another screenshot if the user visits a different web page or runs another application.

How to find the original filename of an application?

1. To manually locate the Original Filename of an application
  1. Right-click on the .exe file in Windows Explorer and select Properties.
  2. Select the Details tab and click on Original Filename in the Item Name box.
  3. The Original Filename is located in the adjacent Value box.

    The figure below gives an example of locating the Original Filename of Notepad. Not all Original File names have the .exe suffix extension. e.g. FreeCell has no extension so just enter “FreeCell”.
.exe properties
2. Use BrowseReporter Dashboard to get the Original Filename

The BrowseReporter Dashboard has the ability to show you the file name.

  1. Go to the Application Dashboard Tab
  2. Hovering over a time bar for an application will show you the original file name
  3. You can also go to the Activity Log at the bottom
  4. Choose the … button and the column button
  5. Select the “Application Process” column
  6. In the activity log all the used application file names will be available in the activity log

Viewing Screenshots

There are two ways to view screenshots on the CurrentWare Console.

All mode

All screenshots for the selected date range will be displayed, sorted by most recent first.

User Explorer mode

For focusing on a particular user, this mode provides access to all the screenshots for a selected user, arranged by hourly intervals which can be expanded or collapsed to hone in on activity during select periods.

Managing Disc Usage

Screenshots captured by this feature can take up a large amount of disc space.  Although the screenshot image files are compressed, the sheer number of image files can amount to significant storage requirements.  It is highly recommended to carefully review the following points to manage the disc usage.

  • Periodic capture: minimize the number of computers / users
    The fewer the number of users having periodic capture, the fewer the total number of image files generated
  • Maximize your periodic capture interval
    Capturing at a higher frequency means more images per user per day.  A suggested frequency is capturing at 10 minute intervals depending on your needs
  • Consider your periodic capture daily/weekly frequency
    Setting the feature to capture only on specific days of the week (Weekly setting allows selection of which days capture
  • Set a periodic capture start and end time
    If applicable, set the start and end times to match your user group expected work times.  This reduces the amount of images of windows lock screens or inactivity before a shift starts.
  • Auto Cleanup
    Enable the settings which delete old screen capture images based on age or space usage (see Configuring auto cleanup below)
  • Monitor
    The current disc space usage vs the remaining free space

Configuring auto cleanup

There are two options available that automatically delete image files based on two criteria: age, or disc space, which can be used together if desired.

Image files can be deleted if they reach a certain number of days old, or if the image files have used up a certain amount of disc storage space.

If you have further issues with your CurrentWare Solutions, contact our technical support team.