Can websites appear in your history if not actually viewed?

[s_gosney]

I have been finding lots of questionable activity on my computer lately and am wondering if it's possible for pages to be in my history without having been viewed by a user of this PC. Does that make sense? Mostly there are things in there that I'm not cool with but H says he hasn't looked at them. I cleared the history and they've reappeared. I went in just now and looked at the history listing and most of the views appear to be clumped together by time. Is it something that pop-ups/adware type stuff could be doing or does it really mean he's been looking at porn?

If it's inconclusive, is there anyway to know? I don't mean to sound childish about snooping on DH, but he has lied to me about more than one thing when he knew I would be upset. I would not be surprised at all if he lied to me about this issue as well.

And thanks so much for all of the kind responses last week. I've been busy with work, trying to keep the house running, and trying to throw something together for dd's bday, so I've been largely MIA around here. All of your comments were so appreciated though. There's really been no change as of yet. I'm trying to decide what to do still. It's a little difficult to find time for reflecting when you're the one thrust into the single parent role. Anyway, thanks again for being here to "listen" and thanks for any input on this question. :)

[s_gosney]

I have been finding lots of questionable activity on my computer lately and am wondering if it's possible for pages to be in my history without having been viewed by a user of this PC. Does that make sense? Mostly there are things in there that I'm not cool with but H says he hasn't looked at them. I cleared the history and they've reappeared. I went in just now and looked at the history listing and most of the views appear to be clumped together by time. Is it something that pop-ups/adware type stuff could be doing or does it really mean he's been looking at porn?

If it's inconclusive, is there anyway to know? I don't mean to sound childish about snooping on DH, but he has lied to me about more than one thing when he knew I would be upset. I would not be surprised at all if he lied to me about this issue as well.

And thanks so much for all of the kind responses last week. I've been busy with work, trying to keep the house running, and trying to throw something together for dd's bday, so I've been largely MIA around here. All of your comments were so appreciated though. There's really been no change as of yet. I'm trying to decide what to do still. It's a little difficult to find time for reflecting when you're the one thrust into the single parent role. Anyway, thanks again for being here to "listen" and thanks for any input on this question. :)

[Saartje]

Sherri, I don't know the answer to your question, but I wanted to let you know I'm thinking about you. It's hard to find time for *anything* when you're suddenly a single parent! :)

[Saartje]

Sherri, I don't know the answer to your question, but I wanted to let you know I'm thinking about you. It's hard to find time for *anything* when you're suddenly a single parent! :)

[ribbit1019]

I am not aware of any adware that could do that. But you never know what they are coming up with to manipulate your computer. I've never had pop ups show up in the history.

Not that I am an expert though either...

Sending hugs to you and your DD. You are doing great mama, keep hanging in there.

Christy
My Waterbabies
http://lilypie.com/pic/060928/Yw0w.jpg http://b3.lilypie.com/0vphm4.png
http://lilypie.com/pic/060928/iBmU.jpg http://bf.lilypie.com/uy3Mm4.png
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/steitzsmith/Other/jump.gif

[ribbit1019]

I am not aware of any adware that could do that. But you never know what they are coming up with to manipulate your computer. I've never had pop ups show up in the history.

Not that I am an expert though either...

Sending hugs to you and your DD. You are doing great mama, keep hanging in there.

Christy
My Waterbabies
http://lilypie.com/pic/060928/Yw0w.jpg http://b3.lilypie.com/0vphm4.png
http://lilypie.com/pic/060928/iBmU.jpg http://bf.lilypie.com/uy3Mm4.png
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/steitzsmith/Other/jump.gif

[spunkybaby]

My DH works in Internet advertising, and he says that technically, it is possible for your Web browser's history to show pages that your DH didn't visit on purpose. My DH says the most likely example would be that someone might have accidentally typed in the wrong URL and landed at a porn site, which then automatically launched a ton of other porn pages.

My DH says the only way to know for sure is to install key-logging software or hardware on your computer. At a minimum, it will record what anyone types in. There might be some privacy/legal considerations with using such software, but if it's your computer, then you're allowed to install and use the software.

Hope this helps, and I'm sorry that you're dealing with all of this. Big hugs to you.

Mom to a spunky toddler
March 2004

...and another spunky baby due in Dec. 2006!

[spunkybaby]

My DH works in Internet advertising, and he says that technically, it is possible for your Web browser's history to show pages that your DH didn't visit on purpose. My DH says the most likely example would be that someone might have accidentally typed in the wrong URL and landed at a porn site, which then automatically launched a ton of other porn pages.

My DH says the only way to know for sure is to install key-logging software or hardware on your computer. At a minimum, it will record what anyone types in. There might be some privacy/legal considerations with using such software, but if it's your computer, then you're allowed to install and use the software.

Hope this helps, and I'm sorry that you're dealing with all of this. Big hugs to you.

Mom to a spunky toddler
March 2004

...and another spunky baby due in Dec. 2006!

[s_gosney]

That makes sense. I've certainly had that happen to me and boy are those porn people sneaky! Add one extra n to cnn.com and many other innocent typos like that and WHAMMO! It definitely looks a little more suspicious than that though because in the history, I looked at the dates and times of the views. There are several clusters of views that all occurred at times he was here at the house alone (he's been coming here to do homework b/c the person he's staying w/ doesn't have internet). I thought it was odd that the times were like that. If it were true popups it would most likely show times that I'm on the computer too. Sigh...

I guess I'll try to talk with him about it again and see what happens.

Thanks for your insight.

[s_gosney]

That makes sense. I've certainly had that happen to me and boy are those porn people sneaky! Add one extra n to cnn.com and many other innocent typos like that and WHAMMO! It definitely looks a little more suspicious than that though because in the history, I looked at the dates and times of the views. There are several clusters of views that all occurred at times he was here at the house alone (he's been coming here to do homework b/c the person he's staying w/ doesn't have internet). I thought it was odd that the times were like that. If it were true popups it would most likely show times that I'm on the computer too. Sigh...

I guess I'll try to talk with him about it again and see what happens.

Thanks for your insight.

[s_gosney]

Yes definitely. And while in some ways it's nice to be busy at work to keep your mind distracted, I'm ready for a little break! We should form a support group--the suddenly singles or something.
Thanks for thinking of me and you take care too!

[s_gosney]

Yes definitely. And while in some ways it's nice to be busy at work to keep your mind distracted, I'm ready for a little break! We should form a support group--the suddenly singles or something.
Thanks for thinking of me and you take care too!

[s_gosney]

Yeah I don't know either. And trying to find the info online is impossible.
Thanks for the hugs and good thoughts. :)

[s_gosney]

Yeah I don't know either. And trying to find the info online is impossible.
Thanks for the hugs and good thoughts. :)

[KBecks]

Honestly, it sounds like he has been looking at porn to me, especially if the times of the history are over a time period like a 1/2 hour or such.

DH and I had blow-outs over porn, and we have sort of settled into something -- I'm less ballistic about it, but he's not as interested anymore. It was a big struggle for us in our early marriage though.

Good luck and take care.

ETA -- if he starts deleting the history, you can check the cache -- I sound like a snoopy wife, but I had reason to, IMHO.

EATA -- if you're evaluating, I'd maybe focus on the rest of your relationship too -- how are other things going, and maybe look at the whole picture, rather than zeroing in on porn entirely.

[KBecks]

Honestly, it sounds like he has been looking at porn to me, especially if the times of the history are over a time period like a 1/2 hour or such.

DH and I had blow-outs over porn, and we have sort of settled into something -- I'm less ballistic about it, but he's not as interested anymore. It was a big struggle for us in our early marriage though.

Good luck and take care.

ETA -- if he starts deleting the history, you can check the cache -- I sound like a snoopy wife, but I had reason to, IMHO.

EATA -- if you're evaluating, I'd maybe focus on the rest of your relationship too -- how are other things going, and maybe look at the whole picture, rather than zeroing in on porn entirely.

[Tracey]

It's highly unlikely that these are accidental viewings in your history. Especially if they are the same sites viewed when he is on the computer. Have you checked the temporary internet files in your cache or just the history? There are some instructions here for you:
http://compnetworking.about.com/od/windowsnetworking/ht/findtempfiles.htm

Also, if you *really* want to know what's going on you can use something like this http://www.snoopstick.com/special10-3.htm. I don't think it was this particular one, but I had a co-worker who used this type of thing with a teenage child she was worried about. Personally, I find such privacy invasion to be a betrayal in itself. However, if I were worried about my chid's safety, who knows what I would do. If I were getting a divorce and I wanted info on an affair or something, all bets would be off.

[Tracey]

It's highly unlikely that these are accidental viewings in your history. Especially if they are the same sites viewed when he is on the computer. Have you checked the temporary internet files in your cache or just the history? There are some instructions here for you:
http://compnetworking.about.com/od/windowsnetworking/ht/findtempfiles.htm

Also, if you *really* want to know what's going on you can use something like this http://www.snoopstick.com/special10-3.htm. I don't think it was this particular one, but I had a co-worker who used this type of thing with a teenage child she was worried about. Personally, I find such privacy invasion to be a betrayal in itself. However, if I were worried about my chid's safety, who knows what I would do. If I were getting a divorce and I wanted info on an affair or something, all bets would be off.

[candybomiller]

Sherri, you've gotten some pretty good advice, but I just wanted to add (((((hugs))))) to you. What you're going through right now is just no fun - as I'm sure you know. Take care of yourself.

[candybomiller]

Sherri, you've gotten some pretty good advice, but I just wanted to add (((((hugs))))) to you. What you're going through right now is just no fun - as I'm sure you know. Take care of yourself.

[Fairy]

I'm sorry, but I agree. The likelihood of a web page being in your history without it being actively navigated to is terribly slim. Now, there are lots of ways that a site can be viewed without truly intending to.

Very Common --> Ever click on the screen and accidentally click on a web ad? That is very easy to do and the most common way that unintended views of pages happen. Now the question is what are you viewing that would have the target audience that would also want to view porn? Web ads are very purposeful and thought-out. If you're on CNN.com, you're not gonna have ads in the frames for greatbigboobs.com. If you're on playboy.com or maybe even maxim.com you might, tho.

Very Common --> Your browsing habits are known to your computer, so they're known to the adware folks. So, if you happen to go to whitehouse.com, I guarantee you, a cookie will be sent to your machine reminding cyberspace that you're a good porn target, and the ads will load specifically for you next time you are on a site that has "insert ad from computer's cookie file here." Wait, you say! Why the whitehouse?! Cuz whitehouse.com is a porn site. Don't believe me, go try it. whitehouse.GOV is the place Dubya currently sits. So, you innocently try to go to a legitimate site, and whammy, you're a porn target. Think that domain name wasn't intentional? Hello?

Very Uncommon --> Unwanted pages loading to your computer. Most computers have enough protection that this doesn't happen. And even if it could happen, it would more or less have to be a specific Internet attack of some kind.

So, this very long thesis is just my way of telling you that it's really unlikely these were not actively viewed pages. They may, certainly, have been accidentally viewed pages, but they were almost definitely viewed. And even if they were accidental, it is more likely than not that the accident was due to another kind of symptomatic browsing behavior.

If it were me, I can't allow things to fester. I would just talk to my DH. I'd say, I wasn't snooping, but I've noticed some things that have me worried when looking at the whole collective context of our relationship right now. I'm worried, and it'll hurt me alot more if I'm lied to than if I know the truth, even if I don't wanna hear it.

But that's just me.

[Fairy]

I'm sorry, but I agree. The likelihood of a web page being in your history without it being actively navigated to is terribly slim. Now, there are lots of ways that a site can be viewed without truly intending to.

Very Common --> Ever click on the screen and accidentally click on a web ad? That is very easy to do and the most common way that unintended views of pages happen. Now the question is what are you viewing that would have the target audience that would also want to view porn? Web ads are very purposeful and thought-out. If you're on CNN.com, you're not gonna have ads in the frames for greatbigboobs.com. If you're on playboy.com or maybe even maxim.com you might, tho.

Very Common --> Your browsing habits are known to your computer, so they're known to the adware folks. So, if you happen to go to whitehouse.com, I guarantee you, a cookie will be sent to your machine reminding cyberspace that you're a good porn target, and the ads will load specifically for you next time you are on a site that has "insert ad from computer's cookie file here." Wait, you say! Why the whitehouse?! Cuz whitehouse.com is a porn site. Don't believe me, go try it. whitehouse.GOV is the place Dubya currently sits. So, you innocently try to go to a legitimate site, and whammy, you're a porn target. Think that domain name wasn't intentional? Hello?

Very Uncommon --> Unwanted pages loading to your computer. Most computers have enough protection that this doesn't happen. And even if it could happen, it would more or less have to be a specific Internet attack of some kind.

So, this very long thesis is just my way of telling you that it's really unlikely these were not actively viewed pages. They may, certainly, have been accidentally viewed pages, but they were almost definitely viewed. And even if they were accidental, it is more likely than not that the accident was due to another kind of symptomatic browsing behavior.

If it were me, I can't allow things to fester. I would just talk to my DH. I'd say, I wasn't snooping, but I've noticed some things that have me worried when looking at the whole collective context of our relationship right now. I'm worried, and it'll hurt me alot more if I'm lied to than if I know the truth, even if I don't wanna hear it.

But that's just me.

[momofmany]

no scientific or technological experience here, but we recently had an experience....

we were "slammed" by some porn recently - only dh and I use the computer and neither of us would ever visit such site (trust me) but some key word must have triggered it, because our history listing was full of sites. There were multiple sites within seconds of each other. There was no way we could have looked at so many sites in that time period, especially within our computer's slow speed. it really shook me up - and it was about a three day event and it hasn't happened since. i frequently check our history, too.

Again, no technology in the details, but it happened here.

[momofmany]

no scientific or technological experience here, but we recently had an experience....

we were "slammed" by some porn recently - only dh and I use the computer and neither of us would ever visit such site (trust me) but some key word must have triggered it, because our history listing was full of sites. There were multiple sites within seconds of each other. There was no way we could have looked at so many sites in that time period, especially within our computer's slow speed. it really shook me up - and it was about a three day event and it hasn't happened since. i frequently check our history, too.

Again, no technology in the details, but it happened here.

[crl]

You've already gotten better information that I can really give you. I just wanted to reinforce that it is possible for websites not viewed to show up like that. DH was a criminal defense attorney and used this as part of a defense. And I know that I have stupidly googled (when looking to buy underwear) and gotten a bunch of porn sites in the results. DH said some of those sites probably showed up in my history (something about being "pushed" or preloaded. . . . )

How likely these scenarios are. . . . . I don't know.

Sorry you are having to deal with this.

[crl]

You've already gotten better information that I can really give you. I just wanted to reinforce that it is possible for websites not viewed to show up like that. DH was a criminal defense attorney and used this as part of a defense. And I know that I have stupidly googled (when looking to buy underwear) and gotten a bunch of porn sites in the results. DH said some of those sites probably showed up in my history (something about being "pushed" or preloaded. . . . )

How likely these scenarios are. . . . . I don't know.

Sorry you are having to deal with this.

[boogiemom]

Ok, I've never checked my history. How do you even check it? I never thought about I guess.....

[madelinesmom]

If you look on your tool bar there will be a button that looks like an arrow going to the left on a clock. It is right beside the favorites unless you have changed your tool bar. When you put your mouse on top it should say history... when you click it you will have a list on the left side of you screen come up that will have from Today to Three Weeks ago. When you click on each one it will show you the web sites browsed during this time frame...

Jane
Madeline and Emily's Mom
1/20/03 11/29/05

[madelinesmom]

You have gotten such good advice, good luck with this...

Jane
Madeline and Emily's Mom
1/20/03 11/29/05

[ajmom]

Actually, it's quite possible. I'm not highly technologically advanced, but I'll explain the best way I know how... if you have high speed internet (in the form of DSL or cable modem) that's NOT blocked by a firewall, then people can access your internet and technically "steal" it. It looks like it's stuff you have been viewing, but it'a actually people from the outside. Yes, it happens all the time and yes, if people know what they're doing it's fairly easy. We had a problem with this about 7 years ago when we first got DSL and my parents have had the same issue. Until you are blocked by a firewall, there's not much you can do. Basically, your internet access is availbale to pretty much anyone.

I don't know about your particular situation, but it is not only possible, but probable if your internet isn't protected.

[Tracey]

Yeah, if your computer has been hacked, someone else could have total control of your computer. However, I do not find that a credible possibility since the porn sites are being viewed only during the time periods her husband is home alone at the computer. There is no other suspicious activity. She would be seeing other signs if she had been hacked, like password changes etc. I would be surprised if she doesn't have a firewall anyway.