Restricting Internet Explorer

Hi All,

I have a question. I am using Windows XP Pro and would like to know if there is any way I can disable internet explorer for one of the destops without it being disabled on the others?

If not, is there any reliable software that would block out all adult or **** sites?

I have young teenage kids and this is now becoming a problem.

Thanks for any advise you can give me.

 

Your ISP may have a filtering feature. There is also SurfControl and Net Nanny.

 

How savy is the teen ager
Or you could (besides or in combintion to noahdfear suggestions)

IEspyadds would do the trick
IE-Spyad: http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~ehowes/resource.htm#IESPYAD

Or you can completly disable internet explorer by setting up a fake proxies then hidding the advanced tab in IE.. either with a tool or a registry edit


??
Lonny

 

I personally would prefer the filtering option although none of them are perfect and it certainly is possible that a kid could see things you don't approve of. Especially a hacker-wannabe kid who likes to tinker.

If you want to be sure that one of them has no access to Internet Explorer (either full time or as a thing to do when you find some problem behavior), it's fairly easy to do with XP-Pro.

Lets assume each PC user has his/her own logon username and in this case, passwording the username is probably a good idea. So we have Mom-the-boss, Knucklehead, Not-a-problem, and Dad-uses-it using the PC.

• Right-click the Control Panel icon then left-click Manage and expand the Local Users & Groups section.
• Open Groups and put Mom-the-boss into the Administrators group. Just open it and click to add then put in the username. Remove Knucklehead and Not-a-problem if they are there.
• Put Knucklehead and Not-a-problem into the Users group. Make sure they aren't in any others and if found, remove them.
• Put Dad-uses-it into the Super Users group.
• Check in the Users section and if Guest is enabled, disable it. XP-pro should have set it up as disabled but things happen.
• Close that window and open Windows Explorer then go to the Internet Explorer folder (probably under Program files) and locate iexplore.exe.
• Right-click on it and left-click on Properties and then click on the Security tab.
• Make sure all your users are listed. If any are not, add them.
• Give Mom-the-boss Full Control (should automatically include all the rest).
• Give Dad-uses-it Modify permission (should include all below it).
• Give Not-a-problem Read & Execute access.
• Deny Knucklehead Full Control (which should include all below it).
• Remove any other generic users like Guest or Everyone or anything similar. But only do this after you've made sure you have full control. And Remove them rather than do the deny thing.

At this point you have made it so that Knucklehead cannot start Internet Explorer. If things change, all you have to to is go back into properties for iexplore.exe and check the boxes for the access you want him/her to have.

There seem to be a lot of steps but it really doesn't take long. You may also decide to use this same technique on other items. For instance, if you deny full control to knucklehead for a folder Mom Private Stuff, he/she cannot even list the folder contents and certainly can't open any documents.

A nice side benefit of putting the user accounts this way is that someone who is a User on XP-pro can mostly only change/delete/mess up their own stuff and can't install or alter most programs.

 

Hmmm... got some mixed feelings here. I think I would only deny permissions, as described so well by Newt, if Knucklehead was likely to mess up the computer or snoop in my stuff. Filters don't work all the time, and is it really a good idea to keep kids off the internet completely? There are legitimate uses for the 'net. Plus, I'd rather know what KH was up to, than him go to Johnnie's house next door and surf away w/o supervision. Kids are naturally curious, and the forbidden is twice as tempting.

Is it possible to move the computer to a public part of the house? Can you restrict when he is online? For example, only I know the password for my kids' dial up account, so they have to get me, as well as my permission, to go online. (boy, would they be annoyed to know the password is just my initials!)

I wrote about this subject a few months ago, here, and even though the kids are getting more computer savvy every day, I haven't changed my mind. If you set the rules, and Knucklehead breaks them, that's one thing. Fair consequences are to lose his internet privileges.

Of course, you are his parent, and must decide what is best for your family. Speaking strictly as a parent, though, is it possible that the kid is seeking answers to questions that you are better suited to answer than net trash? Would it help to try a frank, private conversation (or two) to encourage him to feel comfortable to confide in you, or another trusted adult? If the kid is deliberately defying house rules, that's another story. Lying and sneaking must be dealt with immediately and effectively, and the deprivation of being online might be the punishment he deserves. And only YOU know what the situation demands. This post was just intended as food for thought.
Respectfully,
Johanna
mother of many... The buck stops with me, and the rotten kids KNOW it! On my part, it's just self defense!
Hey, they outnumber me!

 

Anne - as a working philosophy for myself, I think I pretty much agree with Johanna. But it is for sure a decision that each parent must make to suit his/her comfort level.

Johanna
mother of many... - it is probably a very good thing we are from different places and of very different ages. Otherwise my mind boggles at the thought of possible consequences.

Newt
father of 9 and grandfather of 11 (so far)

 

As father of many, 12 and two more on the way, I also agree with Johanna. Set rules, restrict use not remove, and apply consequenses for misuse. If you don't already know how to search your computer for evidence of misuse, learn to and keep tabs on 'em. Blows them away when you point out you know where they go and what they do while online. Keyboard loggers are nice, as are internet spy programs. Made just for keeping tabs. Drawback is spyware removal programs always identify them and want to remove(can be added to exclusions list). I did use a good filter supplied by my ISP when I had dialup though. Drawbacks to filters may include keeping YOU from going where you want. Free screensaver sites and the like.