Security Monitor Pro should disable the power saving settings when you start it. Click Tools >> Application Settings >> Advanced. Make sure that 'Disable Low Power Schemes' is checked. If this is already checked, please adjust the power saving settings on your PC so that it does not turn off or go into sleep mode when it is plugged in. You can change this from the Control Panel >> Power Options

Security Monitor Pro can use send email with photos through all mail services if you have the correct settings. With Hotmail, use the smtp server is smtp.live.com, and you can use port 587. Make sure to turn on 'this server requires a secure connection'.

The amount of space required for recording on motion for 12 IP cameras will depend on the amount of motion. To make an estimate we can say you will have 25% of the time recorded as motion or 4 ip cameras recorded continuously. Security Monitor Pro records compressed video or 512kb per second which equals 3.8Mb per minute, or 5.5GB per day per camera. A 2TB hard drive will hold approximately 90 days of recordings on motion activation from 12 cameras based on a 25% motion time.

Security Monitor Pro supports almost all USB cameras and over 1500 IP cameras. The Microsoft Lifecam Studio works well. The 2 camera license will allow you to add 2 cameras for preview, monitor and record. You can upgrade to use additional cameras at any time. Click Help >> Additional Camera Licenses to purchase more licenses.

Security Monitor Pro will not conflict with the Foscam software. Both can be run at the same time. I do recommend that you use the 4 cameras in a wired mode rather than wireless as it will be more a reliable network connection and give a faster and smoother preview.

For monitoring 16 IP cameras I recommend using a Intel quad-core i7 processor and 8GB of RAM or higher. A 2TB drive will be able to store 15 days of continuous recording from 16 cameras at Security Monitor Pro's 512k bit rate setting. If you are only recording on motion detection you or using a lower bit rate setting, you will be able to store a much longer time period on the 2TB drive.

All emails require a 'from' and a 'to' be sent through a e-mail server. The 'from' should be a valid email address, you can use an existing account or create a new one such as 'AlertsFromMyCamera@gmail.com'. The smtp server for Gmail is 'smtp.gmail.com' and for Yahoo is 'smtp.mail.yahoo.com'. We have an article that explains how to configure alert emails with photos here: https://www.deskshare.com/resources/articles/wcm_SecurityAlertGetEmailNotificationWithPhotos.aspx

Security Monitor Pro records a compressed WMV file in low, medium, and high bit rates. If you are continuously recording, the highest bit rate of 512kbps is approximately 5.5GB per day. With 16 cameras, this will be 88GB per day or 2.64 Terabytes per month. A single 3TB drive should hold all the data from your 16 cameras for 1 month.

You can play all the recordings through the Security Monitor Pro Media Analyzer, it will play them in order. You can also open the recording folder and play all the files using Windows Media Player. The recording folder is normally stored as \My Documents\SMP Recordings. Highlight all the files and have media player play them in sequence.

Yes, you can use the Android phone to view the broadcast from Security Monitor Pro. You will need a media player app. ArcMedia and YxPlayer are two popular free apps that will view the broadcast stream. When you turn on broadcasting there is no data transfer until a player connects to the broadcast from Security Monitor Pro.

Security Monitor Pro broadcasts video on a specific port for each camera. You will need to open access to this port to be able to see the broadcast from the internet. For example, the default port for the first camera is 1030. You can map port 1030 in your router to the IP address of the PC running Security Monitor Pro. Now, when you connect to your routers' IP address with mms://routerIP:1030 then Windows Media Player will open with your camera broadcast. Here is an article that explains the steps in more detail: https://www.deskshare.com/resources/articles/wcm_Internet_Streaming.aspx

Security Monitor Pro has an option to remove the append of the date on the file name. Click Tools >> Application Settings >> FTP Settings. Check 'Overwrite Photo with the Filename' and enter the filename you would like to use for your updated image. No date or times will be appended to the filename.

If you have not changed the default key sequence in Security Monitor Pro, you can access the hidden mode by pressing Ctrl + Alt + H

Security Monitor Pro has many display options. You can minimize the log by click the double blue arrows in the top right of the log screen. To have the maximum space, change the preview layout to a full screen. Select the layout you want, for example, with View >> Preview Layout >> 8 Cameras. Then click the Full Screen icon. You can also detach the preview window to play on another monitor. Right click on a preview and select 'Detach'. Size and place this on any monitor you like.

With Security Monitor Pro you can do both - watch the camera over the internet and view it on your website. To view the camera over the internet, use the video broadcasting feature. If you FTP upload the images to your website, you can view our other forum post for a sample embed code to view the images.

You can detach the camera preview from Security Monitor Pro and place it anywhere on your screen, including over another window running a PowerPoint presentation. To do this, right-click on the preview window and select 'Detach Preview'. Slide it into position on your screen. Repeat the procedure for the other preview windows.

When you have the 'Highlight Motion Change' setting on, you will see a red outline around the object that triggered the alert. To have Security Monitor Pro remove the outline from future recordings, click Camera >> Manage Cameras >> Edit Camera >> Actions and click the button Motion Settings. De-select the box for 'Highlight Motion Change'.

Security Monitor Pro has a setting to perform an action at regular intervals. To do your time lapse imaging, click Cameras >> Manage Cameras >> Edit Camera >> Actions. Under Trigger an Alert, select 'At regular intervals of', and set it to 2 minutes. Click Configure next to the Photo section and set to 1 image. Now you will have a photo taken from your camera every 2 minutes for as many hours as you need.

You can use the masking features in Security Monitor Pro to block out the area the web covers. If the spiders web is created directly in front of the camera, the easiest way to take care of this problem is to remove the spiders web. After removal, use the spray product called 'cobweb eliminator' to prevent the spiders from putting up a new web in that area.

It sounds like you you have the playback speed set to 2x. Open the Security Monitor Pro Media Analyzer using Tools >> Media Analyzer. Next to the forward button there is a small pulldown arrow for Playback Speed. Click on the pulldown and change the speed to 'Normal'.