How to Use - Active Computer Usage Time Tracker

How to use Active Computer Usage Time Tracker

To start tracking the computer usage time and software applications that are being used simply press the "Start Tracking" button.

Then a timer will start that indicates that you are actively using your computer. By default the timer will run for 2 minutes and then will stop and a keystroke or mouse action is required in order to start the timer again.

This means that the time that you are reading for example a small article on the internet without mouse movement is measured also as active time but action is required in order to start the timer again.

Also the active computer usage time is being on the icon of the application. The top two digits are the hours and the two bottom digits are the minutes of usage time.

This is very practical because you can check the active computer usage time any time without even focusing the application. You can view it simply with a glimpse on the running Windows applications bar.

To pause tracking the time press on the "Pause Tracking" button and top stop tracking press on the "Stop Tracking" button.

To reset the timer for today press on the "Reset Timer" button.

How to view reports of active computer usage

To view reports of active computer usage simply press on the "Report" button.

Then a report will be shown with the active computer usage time for the current week.

You can access the reports for previous or next weeks by pressing on the arrow buttons on the left or right of the screen.

You can also see the report for a specific day by setting the date on the date time picker called "Report Start Date".

You can view the active computer usage for the specific day and the total computer usage for the week and also total month usage.

You can also see or enter comments for the day, for example you can explain to your boss how you used your computer time e.t.c. or enter comments when you left e.t.c.

For each day a green bar is being drawn on graph of the report. When you move the mouse button over that green bar you can see as a tooltip the exact active computer usage for that day. By pressing on the green bar that day will be selected and the bar will become orange.

How to view reports for software applications usage

To view reports for software applications usage go to the "Reports" screen, select a day by pressing the green bar with your mouse and then press on the button "Show Application Usage Details".

Then a new screen will appear that will list the applications that were used.

It displays the usage start time and end time for the entire computer usage.

It also displays the total computer usage.

Moreover, it lists the software applications that were used and orders the by computer usage time in descending order.

For each software application that was used it shows its icons, filename and computer usage time for the application.

Moreover you can view the exact computer usage time for each application by viewing the horizontal bars on the right of it.

When you move the mouse over the green bars on the right of each application the time that is was used will be shown as a tooltip.

You can move the to the previous or next day by pressing on the left and right arrow buttons on the left and right of the screen.

You can also select a specific day with the date time picker on the top of the screen.

How to export software applications usage to Excel or CSV

To export software applications usage to Excel or CSV press on the "Export to Excel" and "Export to CSV" buttons on the "Applications Usage Details" screen we mentioned earlier.

How to view statistics for month or week

To view statistics of active computer usage time and software applications usage time simply select "Statistics for Month" or "Statistics for Week" on the "Reports" menu.

Then a new screen will appear that will show the average computer usage time, average computer usage start and end time and also the total usage time for the month or week.

Also the top 10 used software applications will be listed and their total computer usage time is displayed on their right along with their icon and filename.

You can access previous or next weeks or month by pressing on the arrow buttons on the left and right of the screen or by selecting a specific date with the date time picker on the top of the screen.

How to set admin password

You can set an admin password so that certain actions can be made only by administrators and normal users can only see the active computer usage time and their own report.

To set an admin password select "Change Admin Password" from the "Options" menu and set an admin password.

The password strength will be shown on the right of the new password textbox.

Green color means that the password is strong but also weak passwords are accepted.

After setting the admin password press on the "OK" button. Then from the "Options" menu check the option "Require Admin Password".

How to view reports for all users

The active computer usage time data and software applications usage data are stored in an encrypted format in the data folder of the application.

To enable the usage of the application from many users you have to first specify a common network public folder for all users that will be used as the data folder for the application.

Each user should have read and write access permissions on this public network folder.

You can specify the data folder from the "Options" screen by selecting "Options (Admin)" from the "Options" menu.

Please note that it would be wise to set an admin password so that only admin users can view reports of other users.

To view reports for all users press on the "Report All Users" button.

The you can select the user for which you want to see the report and then press on the "OK" button to open its report screen.

How to view statistics for all users

To view statistics for all users select "Statistics for Month for All Users" or "Statistics for Week for All Users" from the "Reports" menu.

Then the software applications report will be shown but it will include all users and for each user the software application he used will be displayed.

How to specify Options

To specify options for the application select "Options" from the "Options" menu.

On the first tab you can specify the maximum user time for each action. This means that the timer will run for this time period and then will stop if no keystroke or mouse action was done.

The default is two minutes, this means that if for example you are reading a small article on the internet without mouse movement for two minutes then this time will be accurately calculated as active time.

If you make larger pauses between computer actions then increase this time period.

You can also set the start of day time. This means the time that each day will start. For example if you are using your computer during late hours it could be useful to set this time after 3 a.m. e.t.c.

On the second tab you can specify to run automatically the application for all users or specified users and also to hide the application by default.

This means that administrators can hide the application from ocmmon users and run the application automatically on Windows startup.

On the third tab you can specify the data folder for the computer usage time and software applications usage time data that we mentioned earlier.

On the fourth tab you can specify whether the computer usage time will be shown on the icon of the application and also normal users can view their own reports.

How to start and stop the Active Computer Usage Time Tracker Windows Service

To start or stop the Active Computer Time Tracker windows service select Start Windows Service or Stop Windows Service from the "Tools" menu.

This windows service prohibits common users from closing the application and restarts the application once it is closed.

If you want to close the application then you have to select "Exit" from the "File" menu which requires admin password if set.

How to save and load the settings file

To save and load the settings file select "Save Settings File" and "Load Settings File" from the "File" menu.

How to specify the application for many users

To specify the application for many users first you have to create a common network public folder.

Each user should have read and write access to this network folder.

Afterwards, install the application on the admin computer and specify the various options such as Data Folder in the "Options" screen.

Moreover, specify an admin password and check "Require Admin Password".

Afterwards, select "Save Settings File" from the "File" menu.

Then install the application on other machines and select "Load Settings File" from the "File" menu.

Test if the application is working and computer usage time report data are created for each user in the common network folder.

How to Register and Buy the application

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