Child-proofing a PC
 

My father-in-law fosters children and I'm setting up a PC for them to use, but we don't want them abusing it. The one thing I don't know anything about though is how to child-proof a computer.
Unfortunately they can't be watched 24/7 and I don't want them to be able to look at adult sites, download anything or install programs without permission.
I'm looking for a program that will do this, or somewhere to find instructions on what settings to change. The OS we have is Windows XP. Any help would be much appreciated.

I'm pretty sure that Net Nanny is the leading product. I have no idea if it's any good or not, but I may be bumping this thread in 2 or 3 years when my little guys get big enough to use the computer themselves. I'm very interested to hear what folks have to say.

Any security expert will tell you that you should always have multiple layers of defense. Thus net nanny is good but i'd consider adding a router where you can filter sights. Thus even if they break net nanny (which is trivial) they still won't be able to beat the router.

For example I can break any software you install on your PC by simply booting into linux-live CD.

Comon, good parenting is about being there with your child to help them experience things. Password protect the whole system and sit there with them and help them use the PC whenever they need to use it.

How old are we talking about? 5 or 6?

Perhaps instead of blocking sites, agree to let them use a few selected sites... you'll need a proxy which will only allow those sites, and allow you to edit that list using a password.

On Firefox, there's an add-on designed for this called Glubble, if the kids are on the younger side.

That's exactly what I did. When they were little and played games, I was right there.

My iMac was great when they were old enough to wander around the computer. If you are set up as administrator of that computer, you can allow them to only go to specific sites. (I believe both XP and Vista have something similar.) As they got older, they'd ask if they could go here and there, and I'd have to enter my password if I approved of the site.

At the very least I'd advise using ad-block plus with the browser. I know you're looking for an entirely different level of security, pr0n ads you have little control over can be eliminated with a simple ad-block extension of the browser :)

You've got it. That's good parenting. Getting a Mac is good parenting.

They are range of ages, 8-15, 6 in total, it just not possible to sit and watch them 100% of the time.

It's that kind of thing I'd like to try and stop, one of the kids recently installed BitTornado, Bit Comet & Azareus from disc given to him at school. It's not the sort of thing we want them using.

That's one thing I would like to do, I just don't know how!

6 kids? Simple. Each get 1 hour a day in the late afternoon into the evening, and they keep the computer in the den or near the kitchen, the most busy parts of the house.

I'm still sure software isn't necessary for this.

Click right here and have fun. :p

I had this same issue when I set up pc's for my step kids.

First, I made sure that the pc was up-to-date w/patches (I assume you are using a windows os)

windowsupdate.microsoft.com

Next was the anti-virus:

http://free.grisoft.com/

Then I installed a freeware firewall I've used on other pc's:

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/fil...scription.html

The last install was a free program from microsoft called family safety. This forces the user to login to the PC to access the internet and based on their login credentials and the setting the parent has input, they get webaccess to the degree you've decided. It includes the ability to make white/black lists and has logging so you can see where you little snowflake has been surfing. Very good stuff:

https://fss.live.com/Default.aspx

If you have them connected to a router, you can do what I did next, which was to go into your access tables and set them up by mac address to be able to access the internet only during certain hours. Check your router documentation or you can ask me here and I'll try to help you if you want.

Good luck, I know how you're feeling :)