Ever needed to keep an eye on your PCs while you’re not in front of them? Looking to exercise a measure of control over your PCs remotely? PC Monitor is the tool you need, enabling you to securely manage and monitor your computers via your portable device, another PC or a suitable web browser.

After installing PC Monitor Manager (32-bit or 64-bit) on the PCs you wish to monitor, you need to pick your remote monitoring app of choice.

Fire up the app, enter your username and password and after a short pause your monitored PCs will appear, ready to be interrogated for information. Everything is laid out logically, and if you’re frightened by the sheer level of detail you can purloin about your PCs as they’re running, you’ll probably faint when you successfully restart, shutdown or put your PC to sleep using your mobile device.

Thankfully, this kind of power comes with built-in safety checks to prevent unauthorised use. You can add a PIN to prevent the app starting or issuing commands without it being entered, and you can also use the PC Monitor Manager application to disable remote control, so only monitoring is possible.

PC Monitor will appeal largely to system administrators, but it has a use in the home or small business too: you can monitor up to three PCs for free with this version – if you want to monitor more, you’ll need to purchase an annual subscription, with prices starting from €39 for 10 computers.