sKunKbad Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 My son really messed up one of my computers this week. He is 4 years old, and we let him play video games online. He does pretty good, but if he gets a pop-up, or accidentally right clicks something, he just clicks the first thing he sees. He somehow messed up the user permissions or user accounts on my work PC, and I had to use system restore to get back to normal. So, I'm at home, and this PC is off limits, but I'd like to make a user account that is perfect for him. He should only be able to go to a select 3 or 4 websites, play his games, and that's it. I don't want him to be able to do anything else, but I don't know if this is possible to set up. Ideally, if his account is logged into, it would automatically bring up Firefox with his favorite website as the home page. I have looked at user accounts in the control panel, but they don't seem to offer this detail of control, unless I am missing something. I'm not a sophisticated windows guru, so I need to be pointed in the right direction. Previously I had a dual boot set-up, with Ubuntu and XP, and Ubuntu was great for him because it requires a password to do anything to the system. I'd like at least this level of control from XP. Any help is appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingerRobot Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Well, you could quite easily get firefox to start when he logs in by adding it to the 'startup' folder. If you add in a shortcut to it in C:\Documents and Settings\his-user-name\Start Menu\Programs then it will launch when he logs in. Now, i'm not sure if there's an easy way of only allowing this program to be run - which sounds like the kind of thing your after. It might be possible to deliberately mess with the user permissions and take control of most of his documents and settings folder as the administrator, only allowing access to a few things like firefox. Not sure how well that would work though. As for the browsing, i think you'll need third party software. Perhaps there's a decent firefox extension. All you need is something with a whitelist. You dont need a maintained black list, which im guessing you'd probably have to pay for. You just want something where you can say you only want him to have access to these 3/4 websites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcombs_31 Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Just set up his account as a normal user. You can set up a hardware profile that limits services you don't want running. Any recent router most likely has website restrictions that you can set up. There aren't really parental controls built into XP, I think vista added some of those features. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Little Guy Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 I may be able to make you a browser... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakus_maximus Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 I had to do this and bought an application, have to get the name for you when I am at home. It worked great becuase it allowed me to restrict so many options such as folder/file access, what programs could run, how long they could run, and quite a bit more. But specifically for websites, it allowed me to "whitelist" what site could be accessed, everything else is not accessible. In addition it would could be configured for content, such as chat rooms, forums, etc... to either allow or block, so you could give access to yahoo, but not anything on yahoo that was chat related. The only downside was all accounts had the application load, my account had no restrictions of course, but my daughter's did. It was only like 30 bucks... I'll let ya know if you are interested what the program was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sKunKbad Posted April 25, 2008 Author Share Posted April 25, 2008 I had to do this and bought an application, have to get the name for you when I am at home. It worked great becuase it allowed me to restrict so many options such as folder/file access, what programs could run, how long they could run, and quite a bit more. But specifically for websites, it allowed me to "whitelist" what site could be accessed, everything else is not accessible. In addition it would could be configured for content, such as chat rooms, forums, etc... to either allow or block, so you could give access to yahoo, but not anything on yahoo that was chat related. The only downside was all accounts had the application load, my account had no restrictions of course, but my daughter's did. It was only like 30 bucks... I'll let ya know if you are interested what the program was. Yes, I am interested. Last night I was checking out a program called Peanut Butter PC from peanutbuttersoftware.com, and I also stumbled upon a microsoft solution called Windows SteadyState which is at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/sharedaccess/default.mspx. I like the cost of the MS solution (FREE), but the Peanut Butter PC solution is only $25. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sKunKbad Posted April 25, 2008 Author Share Posted April 25, 2008 After checking out the details of Windows SteadyState, it's just too technical for what I want to do. Peanut Butter PC has a free trial, so unless somebody else suggests something better, I'm going to try it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadonarrival Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 www.lego.com Personally I'd buy a box... why does a 4 year old need a computer anyway? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sKunKbad Posted April 28, 2008 Author Share Posted April 28, 2008 DOA, He is very smart for his age. He loves to read, and is probably at 1st grade level already, and he hasn't even started school. I will admit that he is spoiled. I don't know many kids that are 4 and have their own TV, game system, and verizon FIOS in their bedroom. I just want him to grow up and have more than I did. I want him to succeed and not be held back by anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadonarrival Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 I can see where you're coming from, but let me assure you (from someone who's family were all readig before they started school aswell, I'd say we're talking comparable kids here) that you won't damage his future by giving him toys, not technology. He's not old enough to understand the complexities of the computers, and while I'd hate to scare him off it - don't stop him using it necessarily - he'll never know or care if you don't offer it to him. I know he's quite advanced, but give him the mouse and paint and let him draw... or just a box of paint. We as adults like to do everything on our computers, but it'll do him more good in the long run to let him play with toys (albeit choose stimulating toys)... there's plenty of time to be stuck in front of a computer late in life. Sorry, realised I sound like I'm trying to teach you parenting here... please just take it as someone's 2 cents on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakus_maximus Posted April 29, 2008 Share Posted April 29, 2008 Hey, sorry for not getting back right away. Here is the website -> http://www.salfeld.com/ The program is called "Child Control 2008". It looks like it's still 30 bucks. They have trial versions you can download. Hope that helps out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sKunKbad Posted May 7, 2008 Author Share Posted May 7, 2008 DOA, You have a good perspective on raising kids, and I appreciate your comments. F_M, Thanks for the link. I will check it out thoroughly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFilmGod Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 Personally, I think that game counsels, computers, and technology will ruin your kid. 4 years old and playing computer games? Do you want him to get glasses within the next 2 years? I personally wouldn't let "my" kids play video games until they would be 8 years old. Your kid will become anti-social and too geeky. I have experience seeing a kid develop with a computer in his hands since 5 years old and he is SUPER anti-social. Don't ruin your kid. (I said "my" since I'm a high school teen). :-\ As I stated, I'm just a high school teen. - What do I know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neylitalo Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 "Ruin your kid?" You give children less credit than they deserve, and I think we need less parenting advice and more kid-proofing advice. sKunKbad, if you have a Linux machine, you can filter the internet traffic through squidGuard. I've used squidGuard on school, corporate, and home networks - it works like a charm. If you really want to lock things down, though, you could install a version of Ubuntu GNU/Linux - Edubuntu is packed full of things that your four-year-old might enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Little Guy Posted May 8, 2008 Share Posted May 8, 2008 Give this a whirl: http://kidrocket.org/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PureEvil Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 Hi sKunkbad: There is a little known application supplied by Microsoft for FREE called Steadstate. Microsoft first developed it to allow businesses like internet cafe's an easy way to address shared access computer problems. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/sharedaccess/default.mspx I've used it at my business for a long, long time now. It's so good that I do not even run antivirus on the machines using it! Key benefits are: The ability to lock the hard drive. Meaning nothing can be changed (think deepfreeze). The ability to set account restrictions. The ability to lock system settings in windows xp, internet explorer and office! the list goes on and on, but keep in mind this is only for XP. It does not work for other operating systems... The greatest feature is that it is supplied free of charge for both business use and home use! Hope that helps... --UPDATE------------------------------------------ Sorry didnt see you already addressed Steadystate already... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sKunKbad Posted May 9, 2008 Author Share Posted May 9, 2008 sKunKbad, if you have a Linux machine, you can filter the internet traffic through squidGuard. I've used squidGuard on school, corporate, and home networks - it works like a charm. If you really want to lock things down, though, you could install a version of Ubuntu GNU/Linux - Edubuntu is packed full of things that your four-year-old might enjoy. I do have a Ubuntu Linux machine, and I do prefer to have him on that machine since anything to change the system is password protected. I haven't used Edubuntu, but I will check that out too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadonarrival Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 I've just been looking at the glubble extension for firefox... it looks quite good (http://www.glubble.com/) Secures FF anyway, but I think your kid is a bit more inquisitive, and its not much good for securing XP as a whole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyber Dad Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 Another program to try out is KidDesktop. It works great and lets my kid play games, visit websites I approve, etc. For websites, it can be setup to block popups and prevent kids from leaving the domain you setup (works great to prevent him from clicking ads). Check it out at http://www.kiddesktop.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.josh Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 I can see where you're coming from, but let me assure you (from someone who's family were all readig before they started school aswell, I'd say we're talking comparable kids here) that you won't damage his future by giving him toys, not technology. He's not old enough to understand the complexities of the computers, and while I'd hate to scare him off it - don't stop him using it necessarily - he'll never know or care if you don't offer it to him. I know he's quite advanced, but give him the mouse and paint and let him draw... or just a box of paint. We as adults like to do everything on our computers, but it'll do him more good in the long run to let him play with toys (albeit choose stimulating toys)... there's plenty of time to be stuck in front of a computer late in life. Sorry, realised I sound like I'm trying to teach you parenting here... please just take it as someone's 2 cents on it. I made my first gwbasic program when I was 5. It was a guessing game. I made it all by myself without just typing what I saw from some book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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