recommendations for user account software for foster home

[breadandbubbles]

alright folks, i run a foster home, and im having a big problem with computer use. mainly, ive got four kids all using the **** thing, and i have NO idea how much time each kid is spending on it. usually i get "thomas has been on for hours!" and then thomas: "No i havent i just got on!"

but it goes further than that.sometimes i need to know how long they were on for a certain day, so i could go back a week and see that kind of info, yknow?

im at my wits end completely. googling produces nothing except that nanny crap that watches them all the time, and im seriously against it. all the terms i use to search produce completely irrelevant results.

ideally, all i want is that when they sit down at the PC, which runs Windows XP, btw, they have to login. from then on it just records how long until they log off. thats it. thats all. itd be nice if there were an easy way for me to type a password and temporarily pause the timer in case i have to do something while their logged in, but thatd be a perk. mainly, just the timer is what im after.

im asking for your help. please, please consider this in your vast adventures across the interweb. or deep within the recesses of your mind lurks a memory of such software? ill pay whatever it takes, i just need it to be.

OR, can you write something like this? i'll pay you! im not sure what else to say. please help me.

thank you for reading this.

Edited June 26, 2010 by breadandbubbles

[DigeratiPrime]

what about something like one of these:

http://www1.k9webprotection.com/aboutk9/index.php

http://www.windowslivepreview.com/essentials/familysafety/

[breadandbubbles]

what about something like one of these:

http://www1.k9webprotection.com/aboutk9/index.php

http://www.windowslivepreview.com/essentials/familysafety/

im not sure i understand them. well, i mean, have you tried them?

ive heard of K9 before, has anyone here tried it? i jsut want to see time. literally jsut the number of minutes a specific user uses the computer for. are you familiar with whether these services offer that?

ill try them on ym virtual machine for now. thanks a lot! i forgot about k9.

[breadandbubbles]

OKAY, i found it!@ and its fantastic.

very easy to use, unobtrusive. you create a profile for every user (or kid) and designate how many hours a day they can use the computer, or how long they can use it in one sitting, etc. it gives you usage reports just showing you how long they used it on a specific day. you can even generate 'time tokens', codes they can type in to get extra time.

very very nice. its called 'SoftwareTime'

here: http://www.softwaretime.com/

they have a free two week trial