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I am working in a government position where we regularly process confidential information. We are looking into a possible way to patch the analog-hole problem and discourage users from taking photos of their computer screen.

I was wondering if we could put a whitewashed watermark (that contains system data like the IP address, computer name, user name, etc.) on the display at all times. We are using only MS Windows hosts BTW.

We are aware that this would be somewhat counter-productive and that many users can skillfully remove the watermark using photo editing programs, but we don't have to simply "trust" every user (we have too many of them)

Gokay
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    Do you mean you want a desktop background, or you want this to show ontop of all open applications with transparency? Something like http://www.thewindowsclub.com/overlay-image-windows-desktop-wallpaper Also see http://superuser.com/questions/218270/how-can-i-display-host-name-on-windows-desktop – Dave Apr 04 '16 at 07:45
  • sounds like the latter, but he wants something constantly over everything else/always on top – Journeyman Geek Apr 04 '16 at 07:48
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    windows does something similar when it detects a licensing problem so it's definitely possible but i don't if you can trigger something like that on your own – conquistador Apr 04 '16 at 07:50
  • You are looking for [BGInfo](https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897557.aspx) This does exactly what you are looking for and is customizable. We use it on some of the workstations here in the training rooms and User Level computers. – NetworkKingPin Apr 04 '16 at 07:59
  • @NetworkKingPin as far as i know BGInfo only modifies desktop background so watermark won't be visible on top of another program. – conquistador Apr 04 '16 at 08:05
  • @MustafaAKTAŞ Gotcha I see what he fully wants to achieve. – NetworkKingPin Apr 04 '16 at 08:11
  • Have a Look at [Here](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms997507.aspx),[Here](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3019794/watermark-using-c-sharp) and [Here](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/554939/transparent-top-level-windows) as these look like some great resources to achieve a top layer Transparent Window that could display the Text you want as well as make the windows not closable by taskmanger. – NetworkKingPin Apr 04 '16 at 08:22
  • Thanks Mustafa_AKTAŞ for clearly explaining what I am trying to achieve. @NetworkKingPin: I wish I was a c# guy and not an IT guy to write my own program :) I will check out Rainmeter as jcbermu has commented. Looks like that might do the trick (hopefully) – Gokay Apr 04 '16 at 09:25

4 Answers4

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You could try Rainmeter. Customize an existing skin (there are plenty of skins on internet) that includes all the information that you want to show on desktop. Like this:

enter image description here

And you can set it as Position: Stay topmost. It means that it will be always on top even over user windows.

You need to make sure that the user can't kill the rainmeter process.

jcbermu
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  • This is true dont know why I didnt think about this I use rainmeter on all my computers in my home lab. +1 – NetworkKingPin Apr 04 '16 at 08:30
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    Once you install it go into your Documents\Rainmeter\Skins folder and delete the existing skins. Then in the app click "create .rmskin package". When done with prompts click to open the skin and make it like "NewFolder.ini" in this image, and save it (but first Change the value for "Text=" to say what you want). Then click the "Edit settings: button and make it like "Rainmeter.ini" in this image and save it. Then click the buttons "Load" and "Refresh all". This image shows what it looks like (my test was "6 Tickets today"): https://tinyurl.com/yd4k73t2 – user2961555 Apr 12 '22 at 21:42
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I would reccomend you take a look at https://datapatrol.com where they provide an enterprise solution for Desktop Screen Watermark. Their watermarks are dynamic and adaptive containing the meta-data of system information (logged-in user, IP Address, Time, Machine, ...etc). The solution isn't free but it's totally professional one with many other features as well.

I've seen it being adapted by many organizations looking to stop insiders from taking photos with their cellphones.

Note: the screen watermark can be configured so it's not annoying to end-users, and it supports multisession which could be used on servers with more than one user logged, each will see his own watermark policy on top.

John Peter
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You may want to try Screen Watermark (https://www.xSecuritas.com). They also have an enterprise edition allowing you to add watermarks to video conferences, printed documents, prevent screen capture, use invisible watermarks, and set various policies.

Ulyana
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I am using Curtain MonGuard (coworkshop.com/monguard). It is free. If you want to show IP and username in watermark content, you need to upgrade to paid version but it is very cheap. I like this software because it is developed for enterprises. It has central admin console for administrators to set policies for different users. And it not only provides full screen watermark, but also display watermark only for particular applications. This function is quite interesting because I only need to display watermark for CAD application.

Kelvin Cheung
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