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The Best Parental Control?


ajy0903

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Hello.

I have question about the "Parental Control" software.

Which "Parental Control" software is good for kids safetfy from "ANYTHING AVAILABLE ON THE WEB AND EVERYTHING AVAILABLE ON THE COMPUTER PRODUCTS" ?

For example, I want to block the use of Instant Messenger stufffs, certain websites on the web, block/control the installation of software, anti-virus/spyware/adware/malware, and etcs.

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I'll just try to remember what my favorite computer magazine wrote about this matter:

No matter which software is used, kids will find the kinks in it faster than their parents and ways to get around the filters.

(or at least something along that line)

I have to say I don't have kids, but looking at the conclusion above, I'd think the best way to deal with this is to find a router that allows you to block certain PCs from Internet access while you can't watch your kid and have computers that don't get locked out by that schedule password protected.

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I'll just try to remember what my favorite computer magazine wrote about this matter:
No matter which software is used, kids will find the kinks in it faster than their parents and ways to get around the filters.

(or at least something along that line)

I have to say I don't have kids, but looking at the conclusion above, I'd think the best way to deal with this is to find a router that allows you to block certain PCs from Internet access while you can't watch your kid and have computers that don't get locked out by that schedule password protected.

Ok.

Well, they can't get around with the stuffs that I do put in their computer, cause they can't beat my computer skills.

My current college major is computer and skill to have build computers from the scratch.

I'm right, right?

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Ok.

Well, they can't get around with the stuffs that I do put in their computer, cause they can't beat my computer skills.

My current college major is computer and skill to have build computers from the scratch.

I'm right, right?

they will prove you wrong on that one. just saying.

you know the "ntpasswd" bootdisk? :whistle:

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depending on your kids skill you could try the following

create limited account with limited permissions for them

remove all access to & from C, make their computer use another drive JUST for the programs u allow, make it write protected

then u can just block websites using hosts file

make the registry read only & not give them access to it

Edited by MCT
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Hi,

For website blocking and msn blocking I use OpenDNS - look at opendns.com, its very very good and saves a lot of headaches. Just set the opendns DNS servers as your DNS on the network.

As for stopping the users being able to install things etc, take a look at Microsoft Steadystate, not perfect but I think will solve a lot of your problems.

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Yeah.

I know of those bootdisk stuffs that finds the passwords.

And that needs to be run using floppydrive or cd-rom drive or others.

So, I can just take those stuffs out of pc, then they can't do anything using it, right?

Since they don't have building computer skills.

And all of the sites that you guys recommanded me, I love them all!!!!!!!!

I will use all of them at once, hahaha.

Edited by ajy0903
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can i offer another point to this? possibly from a younger persons views (im 22, not sure of your age or your kids)

but why dont u TEACH your kids about the dangers.. if by chance they went to a friends house they wouldnt have all these blocks & rules setup.. something could happen there (unless of course your kids arent allowed to goto friends) but its better to teach them than just force rules on them.. "cuz i said so" parenting doesnt help your kids understand why they cant do such things

Edited by MCT
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I have rather mixed views on this issue. Being a kid myself gives me one perspective, but managing 15 computers in our school's physics lab and trying to keep kids from doing stupid stuff to mess them up gives me the opposite perspective as well. I am not a parent, so I can't really comment from that direction as much.

What I would advise is a mix of restrictions and education. One thing that makes us kids mad and rebellious is when someone, be it a parent or a teacher, makes our computer so restricted that it starts to interfere with learning and having fun using the computer. Hence you need a balance. The first thing you should do, as was mentioned above, is to educate your children well on basic internet security. I don't know how old your kids are - I'm old enough and savvy enough to notice unusual situations and avoid them, but a 10 year old might not understand that (s)he shouldn't give away their address to random people they met on, say, a computers forum. Teach them that the internet is a lot like the real world in that they should never tell a stranger personal information, such as their age, address, phone number, personal email, real name, etc. Also point out that with the internet, it is much harder to tell the "good" guys from the "bad" guys. Someone could be pretending to be your friend from school, when in reality they're a creeper whose email address happens to sound like something your friend might have made up. All of these basic things that might seem natural to some of us need to be taught by someone. Information is key.

That being said, not all kids are going to be responsible. My parents trust me with the computer - I have never gotten into any sort of problematic situation with anybody on the internet. Nor have I ever gotten a virus or spyware. Not all kids are like this. I am more technically knowledgeable than the average kid my age. I fix my computer, I fix my parents' computers, and therefore I have earned the privilege to do what I want to my computer. If your kids are not this savvy, or you do not trust them, then you need to lock the computer down to some extent.

If the kids are younger than high school aged, I would suggest that you give them their own limited user account, and occasionally ask them to show you around. We actually don't mind showing our parents stuff; it's when parents just go snooping around that we get disgruntled. Keep an eye on who they are emailing and about what, but don't read every one of their emails - that's a blatant invasion of privacy. A limited account can still install some software, but is not likely to be able to install a catastrophic virus or some such. Again, just keep an eye on what's on the computer. If they install something "bad", talk to them about it, don't just turn immediately to locking it down tighter, because there's a good chance they'll find a way around it, and whether or not they can, they will be mad at you. Once again, communication is key here. OpenDNS is a great suggestion - that way you can filter out potentially harmful content. Keep in mind that your computer will also be affected by any blocking. It is possible though to set just the DNS on that one computer to use OpenDNS, but why wouldn't you want to use OpenDNS anyways?

If your kids are high schoolers, things are a bit different. Teenagers will expect a certain degree of privacy, and I think you should honor this. While you might not be comfortable giving them full reign of the computer, you should at a bare minimum let them have their own account, not demand to know all their passwords, and leave their email to themselves. Ask them periodically what they're up to on the computer - it's good to check in. Do not constantly watch their every move, as this will quickly put you in an unfavorable light in their eyes. If you trust your kids' internet safety skills and computer capabilities, you might even consider giving them power user or admin access. I would advise still checking periodically to see what they're doing, but let them use the computer to the full extent possible. If they start getting viruses, teach them a little about how one gets a virus, what to do about it, and remind them that if it happens too many times, they'll lose their privileges. Do not block IM. I can tell you that as a high school student, it is a very useful tool for both school and social uses. While it might be a minor distraction at times, I have had many a time where my classmates and I have had good discussions about homework via IM, or helped eachother with difficult assignments and so forth. Obviously you don't want your kids just talking to random people on the internet, so it might be ok to occasionally as to see who's on their contacts list, but flat-out disabling IM isn't going to do you any good. OpenDNS is again a good idea for blocking dangerous content, which is one thing that I think ought to be strictly controlled.

All this being said, if you really can't trust your kids with the computer for some reason, either because they are irresponsible, stupid or trouble-causing, then it might be a good idea to look into disabling booting from a CD, using steadystate to implement some basic restrictions, and taking other such methods. Use these sparingly though, because the harder you try to inhibit your kids' computer experience, the harder they will fight back, which is no fun for anybody.

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K9 Web Protection is what I've been recommending for a while because:

1. It is free

2. It runs as a small system service that will work regardless of the browser one is using.

3. Requires a password to change settings or uninstall (also requires admin rights)

4. You can set it to block uncategorized sites so you dont have to worry about new sites getting through the filter.

5. It queries their backbone for categorization based on the url and then the client compares with your local settings and either blocks or allows; ie you dont need to maintain large block lists.

OpenDNS can be set in your Router, but if a network client specifies a different DNS server it will bypass OpenDNS; unless your router has a feature to intercept all DNS traffic. Most people use their ISP's DNS which is contacted through DHCP in their modem.

You can go with Router based filters which start to make more sense if you want to manage multiple computers, but this can be more compicated and expensive depending on your requirements. A common example: if you have a certain Linksys router you can flash it with the Tomato firmware to add 'Access Restriction' policies.

BTW Vista has built-in Parental Controls but I haven't really given them a full trial.

It's always a good idea to run as User and require elevation for Administrator rights.

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