4 year old daughter and PC

[Mike]

Hi all

My 4 old year is very quick on the mouse much to my concern when alerts come up from my fire wall AV etc.

Although she is supervised I would like to ensure she can do not harm to the PC and programme. At the moment we all log on as administrator....... should I create her own log on..... I am just concerned that my not carry all the sercurity setting currently on the PC. I did do it a while ago but not all the icon appearred on the screen so I guessed I must have done something wrong.

Would apprecaite any ideas.

thanks

Mike

[Gareth]

I've always set up a restricted account for my son (who is now 7 years old). It has the password disabled, so he just needs to click his name/icon on the sign-in screen. He doesn't need to install stuff himself, he asks me or his mother if one of his games isn't already installed.

And like yourself, my child is not allowed to use the computer unsupervised.

edit: by the way, my son absolutely loved playing with the Playskool Store. He would spend hours playing with this - it was one of the best Christmas presents we ever bought, and I'd highly recommend it for any parents who have children who enjoy playing with computers.

[Mike]

Originally Posted by Gareth

I've always set up a restricted account for my son (who is now 7 years old). It has the password disabled, so he just needs to click his name/icon on the sign-in screen. He doesn't need to install stuff himself, he asks me or his mother if one of his games isn't already installed.

And like yourself, my child is not allowed to use the computer unsupervised.

edit: by the way, my son absolutely loved playing with the Playskool Store. He would spend hours playing with this - it was one of the best Christmas presents we ever bought, and I'd highly recommend it for any parents who have children who enjoy playing with computers.

I take it the restricted account does not compromise security..............I think that's what I actually did as mentioned in my first post because it just had the basis icons

[Gareth]

Yep, a Standard User account doesn't have quite as much power as an Administrator. That's not to say that it's not possible for a Standard User to screw thigns up, it's just less likely to happen by accident

edit: Seems my terminology isn't correct for XP Home. Looks like it should be called 'Limited Account'.

[Paulie]

That is the main reason i bought my daughter her own pc. Nice cheap one from ebay. Keeps her happy, and my pc free from the dangers of little people.

[Russ]

And just in case - get used to the System Restore facility in XP

[AndrewJ]

www.overclockers.co.uk

check out there full systems some nice little net plodders there which will do the job nicely.

As for your child I recommend perhaps using a seperate pc, and running some external application, so you can see what they are upto from your pc and remotely disable or messaget the person.

I know of some good programs once of which a friend from another forum is using

The program is called Netop and should appear on a google the Ultra version is worth the time finding it.

Certainly suprises two young uns at my mates house when they think they care getting away with viewing ... sites.

[ian@huth]

I have my hard drives in removable caddies and have one drive specifically set up for my grandson. I just pull my drive out and slide his back in and there is no possibility of him screwing mine up.

[MadGamer]

Originally Posted by Mike

Hi all

My 4 old year is very quick on the mouse much to my concern when alerts come up from my fire wall AV etc.

Although she is supervised I would like to ensure she can do not harm to the PC and programme. At the moment we all log on as administrator....... should I create her own log on..... I am just concerned that my not carry all the sercurity setting currently on the PC. I did do it a while ago but not all the icon appearred on the screen so I guessed I must have done something wrong.

Would apprecaite any ideas.

thanks

Mike

To set a restricted account:

1. go to Control Panel and click Yser Accounts
2. click create new account
3. follow on screen prompts to set up the account.

to restrict it follow these steps:

1. click start
2. click run
3. type "control userpasswords2" (without quotes)
4. double click on the new account you created earlier
5. click on the group membership tab
6. click on restricted user
7. click on apply
8. click ok

[bopdude]

You could always have her account set up with something like netnanny, i had a link ealier, i'll see if i can find it, but agree with the other ideas, also if your using nortons internet security ( not sure about windows security cetre sp2 ) you could set up the restricted sites list.

HTH

EDIT: not net nanny but a p0rn blocker and its free link

[GeoffW]

The problem with restricted accounts is that lots of games don't work properly with it (like the Sims), I think the hard drive images/system restore/new PC options are a better way to go.

[bopdude]

Originally Posted by GeoffW

The problem with restricted accounts is that lots of games don't work properly with it (like the Sims), I think the hard drive images/system restore/new PC options are a better way to go.

we are talking about a 4 year old girl, dont think she'' want to play the sims

[monel]

Originally Posted by ianathuth

I have my hard drives in removable caddies and have one drive specifically set up for my grandson. I just pull my drive out and slide his back in and there is no possibility of him screwing mine up.

Are the removable caddies expensive??....ive been thinking of one for my sons PC.He lets friends use his PC and sometimes they mess around with the settings something terrible.....and I have a few hard drives spare that I could easily use.
Thanks

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...Thumbnails=yes

[Mike]

Originally Posted by Wayne A

To set a restricted account:

1. go to Control Panel and click Yser Accounts
2. click create new account
3. follow on screen prompts to set up the account.

to restrict it follow these steps:

1. click start
2. click run
3. type "control userpasswords2" (without quotes)
4. double click on the new account you created earlier
5. click on the group membership tab
6. click on restricted user
7. click on apply
8. click ok

Is the security elements (firewall / AV) transferrred from my administrator account to the new restricted one ?