Spytech Spy Software - Computer Monitoring and Internet Recording Software

SpyAnywhere Frequently Asked Questions

Here you will find common questions about our SpyAnywhere software.

SpyAnywhere's Product Manual/Help Documentation

1. How do I use SpyAnywhere?
2. How do I access SpyAnywhere on the remote PC?
3. How secure is SpyAnywhere?
4. What is the minimum configuration that is able to run SpyAnywhere?
5. How do I get the IP address of the PC if it is on dialup, or if the IP changes regularly?
6. Who will have access to SpyAnywhere?
7. How do I access my remote PC if it is behind a firewall?
8. How do I access my remote PC if it is behind a router?
9 . How do I access my remote PC if it is on a network?
10 . I always get a "cannot find server" error when trying to access SpyAnywhere!

1. How do I use SpyAnywhere?

You need to install SpyAnywhere on the remote machine you wish to monitor. Once installed configure SpyAnywhere to load on Windows startup in Listening mode - this will ensure that SpyAnywhere is always running!

2. How do I access SpyAnywhere on the remote PC?

Simply point your browser to http://remote_ip or http://workstation_name (where remote_ip is replaced by the actual IP of the remote computer, and workstation_name would be the workstation name of the remote computer) and enter your SpyAnywhere password in the login area. Once logged in you will have full access to the remote PC!

3. How secure is SpyAnywhere?

SpyAnywhere is secure as you want it to be. SpyAnywhere can be configured to filter IP addresses so only certain IP addresses are allowed access to SpyAnywhere. Make sure you choose a unique IP address for SpyAnywhere as well! You can choose to limit access as well to SpyAnywhere by disabling features that you do not want to be used remotely - such as remote file system browsing.

4. What is the minimum configuration that is able to run SpyAnywhere?

All you need for SpyAnywhere is a Windows machine. It does not require a web server, since SpyAnywhere is its own HTTP server. The only thing you need to have running on the machine is TCP/IP.

5. How do I get the IP address of the PC if it is on dialup, or if the IP changes regularly?

You can configure SpyAnywhere to deliver the IP address via email every time the IP changes - just use the IP Delivery Via Email feature!

6. Who will have access to SpyAnywhere?

The only user that will have access to the SpyAnywhere software, locally or remotely, is you - or whoever you give the access password and ip address to. SpyAnywhere cannot be terminated locally without your administrator password. You can also configure SpyAnywhere so only certain IP addresses can access the server.

7. How do I access my remote PC if it is behind a firewall?

The easiest way to access a computer that is protected by a firewall is to map one of the firewall's ports to SpyAnywhere's port (default is port 80).

For example:
FIREWALL IP address: 172.120.0.1
SpyAnywhere machine: IP address: 172.120.0.10, Port: 1000

In this case, you should pick a port on the firewall (say, 4000) and map it to 172.120.0.10:1000
Having done the above, you will be able to access the computer with the URL http://172.120.0.1:4000

8. How do I access my remote PC if it is behind a router?

The easiest way to access a computer that is protected by a router is to map one of the router's ports to SpyAnywhere's custom port for the computer it is running on.

For example:
ROUTER IP address: 58.37.28.19
SpyAnywhere computer A's network IP address: 192.168.1.100
SpyAnywhere is using port 1000 on computer A
SpyAnywhere computer B's network IP address: 192.168.1.101
SpyAnywhere is using port 1001 on computer B
SpyAnywhere computer C's network IP address: 192.168.1.102
SpyAnywhere is using port 1002 on computer C

To set a custom port in SpyAnywhere click on SpyAnywhere's "Settings" button and specify a new port under its general settings.

Once you have SpyAnywhere's ports configured for each computer you want to access you will need to open your router's PORT FORWARDING settings and configure the router to forward all traffic on ports used to the IP's of each corresponding computer. In the example above, you would forward all traffic on port 1000 to IP 192.168.1.100, all traffic on port 1001 to 192.168.1.101, and all traffic on port 1002 to 192.168.1.102

After that is setup you will be able to connect to each computer via http://router-ip:computer-port. In the example above, you would use http://58.37.28.19:1000 to connect to computer A, http://58.37.28.19:1001 to connect to computer B, and http://58.37.28.19:1002 to connect to computer C.

If you are trying to connect to the remote desktop service that SpyAnywhere offers please ensure port 5150 is forwarded to the monitored computer's network IP as well.

9. How do I access my remote PC if it is on a network?

If the remote computer is on a network, and SpyAnywhere is already installed, you can either access it externally from the network, or locally on the network. If you are on the same network, then just enter in http://workstation_name, or http://ip_address into your browser to view the computer. However, if you are outside of the network you will have to enable port forwarding on the network router to let you access the machine. Please see Question 8 above for more information on port forwarding.

10. I always get a "cannot find server" error when trying to access SpyAnywhere!

This could happen for a few reasons.

The SpyAnywhere server is not running - confirm it is running in listening mode on the computer you want to access.
The IP or computer name you are using is incorrect.
You are using the external IP for the computer, but it is on a network and you do not have port forwarding enabled (see questions 7 and 8 above)
You are using the internal IP (network IP) for the computer, when you should be using the external (make sure port forwarding is enabled)