Parental Controls make their debut in Vista and their advent will make it easier for your whole family to share a computer safely. The controls are available in Vista Basic, Premium and Ultimate.
With Parental Controls you can:
- Determine which Web sites your children may visit.
- Decide which games and which programs in general they may run.
- Restrict computer usage to specific days and hours.
- Monitor computer usage including each time a user logs on and off, the programs run, Web sites visited, email correspondents – well, supposedly – and instant messaging partners.
Gain some peace of mind courtesy of Vista’s Parental Controls.
Vista lets you set different restrictions for each user. So, for example, you can set up one account for your five-year-old, another for your teenager, plus one or more for the adults in the family. You can impose Parental Controls on any standard (non-administrator) account, so you may find it useful to set up some controls for the less techie adults in the family as well as for the younger crowd.
Setting things up
To set up the controls you’ll need at least one administrator account and one standard account. To set up the accounts, click Start -> Control Panel -> User Accounts And Family Safety -> Add Or Remove User Accounts. Make sure you password protect the administrator account or anyone will be able to alter the controls, and, besides, password protecting that account is commonsense security practice. An adult using a non-administrator account can also manage Parental Controls by supplying an administrator’s username and password.
To apply controls to an account, log in under your administrator account, click Start -> Control Panel -> User Accounts And Family Safety -> Set Up Parental Controls For Any User and click the account you wish to configure. In the User Controls dialog, you’ll find switches for turning controls and activity reporting on or off. If you simply switch Parental Controls on without adjusting any other settings, Vista will enforce medium-level Web restrictions and activate reporting.
Web access
To refine the Web settings, click Windows Vista Web Filter. You can use one of the automatic levels (high, medium or none) or block specific categories such as pornography, bomb making, drugs and so on, by selecting the Custom option. These options rely on a centralised list of rated sites; if you have disagreements with the ratings, there’s a link to the Site Review database so you can provide feedback. Alternatively, use the options in the Allow And Block Specific Websites section to create a custom list of sites. You can also block downloads from this dialog.
Although Internet Explorer 7 has its own Content Advisor, you’ll find Vista’s Parental Controls far more flexible.
Restricting time on the computer
The Time Limits setting allows you to check off on a grid specific hours each day when a child may use the computer. If you want to lock your child out of the computer the same block of hours each day, click and drag the mouse over those hours. When the time expires, your child will be automatically logged out of Windows.
The implementation has not been thought through well. For example, there’s no way to allocate a daily time limit – say three hours – and let your child use up that allotment as and when they choose.
The Games settings let you choose whether your child can play games or not. If you allow them to do so, you can limit them to games with a specific rating, exclude games containing certain types of content, or block or allow specific games. Because Vista may not recognise each of the games you have installed, use the Allow And Block Specific Programs settings to gain greater control.
When you click Allow And Block Specific Programs -> Username Can Only Use The Programs I Allow, Vista automatically populates the programs list and lets you tick the programs you’ll allow. That list – which desperately needs a search box – includes all sorts of esoteric programs, some of which are pre-selected. It’s best to leave those selections intact to ensure that basic programs run correctly. If an installed program doesn’t appear in the list, use the Browse button to track it down.
What are they up to?
Finally, to keep tabs on your child’s computer use, switch Activity Reporting on. The generated report shows recent Web site visits, sites blocked, programs used and a variety of other information. Although the monitor is supposed to show email correspondents, such activity only appears if the installed email program supports this feature and, to date, even Microsoft’s own email offerings don’t do so.
Monitoring your children may not be a palatable option.You may find it preferable to avoid monitoring and instead sit side by side at the computer with your younger children, and come to an agreement with older children. Sites such as Microsoft’s Protect Your Family can help you develop safe family computing practices.
| geekgirl.tip: media center controls |
| Additional parental controls are included with Windows Media Center, which is part of Vista. These controls let you restrict access to TV shows and DVDs. You’ll find the controls in Windows Media Center -> Settings -> Parental Controls. |
© 2007 Rose Vines
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