Locking down a PC for childrens use

maby66

maby66

maby66

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Hi - can I ask for some advice please?
I am about to "donate" my old desktop to my kids (8 & 9).
I want them to be able to access the internet, within reason (flash games will be ok), use MS applications such as Word and Paint, print their output and that's probably about it.

I've done nothing like this so would appreciate advice.

Thanks in advance.
 
I know that McAfee has a feature to block adult content and over 18 sites, not sure if other AV programs have this though.
 
For limiting application access you could create them a user account that has limited access to programs.

As for the internet I think that's slightly more complex... You may find a program that could do it (worth asking around in Software) and I think you can block certain sights through your router, but again I'm unsure :s

Set them up with a single browser option as well and make sure google safe search is turned on completely... Saying that I doubt it'll take them long to figure out how to turn it off..

kd
 
I used to use a program years ago that would allow you to totally customise windows, to lock down literally anything you wanted, even as far as preventing a user from changing the wallpaper. This was great for kids as it meant they didn't go deleting and messing with settings and causing hassle.

However. The best thing to do is use a program like "netnanny" to prevent all xxx sites... and take a mirror image of the hard disk if anything goes wrong, you just need to restore the image... takes all of 20 minutes tops.

Also, make sure their account isn't an administrators account. Give them limited access or even "Guest" account them!

Hope this helps.
 
I needed to do this a while ago when i got an itouch for my daughter.

My best option was to set up an opendns account which was free, then to update the router forcing her mac address to use the opendns server that was filtered. The filter included msn mesgs.

Ofcourse, you would need good router firmware for this. I used ddwrt and iptables as post boot script. Cannot remember my command, iptables can be a dark art if you are not familiar.

Edit. Sforgot to mention that i didn't go down the virus scanner route as this could be bypassed fairly easily.
 
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Get a copy of Windows 7, cheap if you buy it with your kids name/school as a student. Then install 'Family Safety', give them a passworded standard user account. Keep your family safety login etc within a separate passworded admin account. Control their every website individually or generically. Log on/off times and the apps & social media they can use. All free.

http://explore.live.com/windows-live-family-safety?os=other

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows-vista/Protecting-your-kids-with-Family-Safety
 
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^ This. Family Safety which is part of the Windows Live Essentials is a very comprehensive and easy to pickup plus you can control it anywhere. I certainly need it on my home PC since I have 4 and 16 year old boys.
 
What a previous guy said about netnanny but to be honest parents worry about kids seeing porn on the net when it is the games and screensavers that they download that cause the major problems.

Smiley face packs for msn and email, toolbars to play a game, many of them contain trojans or malware. They get you because the child clicks that 'Accept' button to install what they think is 'only a game' and it is on your system.

Install a 'safer' browser like firefox and disable java or install opera and remove IE
 
I used netnanny for my son a few years ago. I could block over 18 sites and it emailed me details of other sites he visited. I could also limit his internet access to certain times of day.
Was pretty effective but he really had no interest in dodgy sites anyway.
I suspect software has moved on considerably since then and the suggestions above are probably more useful now.
Definitely take an image of the hard drive though.
 
Thanks for all suggestions so far. I forgot to mention that it is XP at the mo, and I doubt it is capable of running Win7 - its a socket 939 single core.
I probably will go down the individual user, restricted program route as step 1, look to see if I can put Family Safety on it, then look at proprietary programs.
 
OpenDNS is handy for blocking websites for multiple PCs on the network. Very easy to setup and get working. It also has a nice web based interface for stats and settings and its free for home use.
 
maby66 said:
Thanks for all suggestions so far. I forgot to mention that it is XP at the mo, and I doubt it is capable of running Win7 - its a socket 939 single core.
I probably will go down the individual user, restricted program route as step 1, look to see if I can put Family Safety on it, then look at proprietary programs.
Click to expand...
You might be surprised, I've put W7 on an old P4 512MB ram and it ran ok. You can get W7 professional for about £34, so worth a punt.

Maybe give the PC an overhaul, see if it can take some more ram or a better graphics card. I often do that before passing on an old machine, you can often find some nice upgrades.
 
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