My aunt and cousins are staying at my house for threee weeks while we go to america, and my computer has been chosen to be used. I'm not too happy about this (my cousins are in the range of 3-7 years old, and you know how little kids are about spyware etc.) So I've decided to just go with it, but I'd like to know my PC is totally childfriendly whilst being rather strict about what they do and what sites they visit. So what should I do in gpedit and what apps whould I get?

are you using vista?

Nope, XP Pro.

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Originally posted by Ryxpia
Nope, XP Pro.

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Tbh, I wouldnt let any little kids (i.e. Under 16) on my computer.  I would double-password it at the BIOS level and OS level, and just in case, I would limit all the accounts and make a backup of my system with Symantec's Award Winning Norton Ghost 12.0, which is very easy to use.  Anyway, be prepared to format if you don't get it figured out and locked down well...they pretty much click all those ad's and install stuff like SmileyCentral and Games with Built in Trojans, etc...

Just to open *certain* programs and the internet. I'm not letting them go too far.

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Originally posted by Dane
Tbh, I wouldnt let any little kids (i.e. Under 16) on my computer.  I would double-password it at the BIOS level and OS level

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they pretty much click all those ad's and install stuff like SmileyCentral and Games with Built in Trojans, etc...

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deny write/append/create file/create directory permissions to c:\program files and c:\windows.

ín gpedit's Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies > User Rights Assignment, make sure they're denied anything you don't want them to be able to do.

Try changing something in the BIOS that makes impossible the use.
When you come back, reset it to the previous config.
Tell them something happened, you still can't find a sollution and you don't want a unknown tech to fix that.

Haha. Well, seeing as my sound card is stuffed, I just hope they might not want to use it. But just in case, I've made a rushed VB.NET app that shows a popup every time they logon to the guest account

why not run a VM in full screen or dual boot or something

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Originally posted by Dane
I would double-password it at the BIOS level and OS level, and just in case, I would limit all the accounts and make a backup of my system with Symantec's Award Winning Norton Ghost 12.0, which is very easy to use. 

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Originally posted by Chancer
Try changing something in the BIOS that makes impossible the use.
When you come back, reset it to the previous config.
Tell them something happened, you still can't find a sollution and you don't want a unknown tech to fix that.

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Originally posted by ShawnZ
why not run a VM in full screen or dual boot or something

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btw, to put on an OS password, run syskey.

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Originally posted by Dane
make a backup of my system with Symantec's Award Winning Norton Ghost 12.0, which is very easy to use.

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Depending on how computer-aware they are, children of that age can be MAJOR MEGA EXTREMELY curious... Believe me when I say that even a 5 year old can screw up your entire PC (grrrr at my little cousin).

Make a backup of your HDD and store it somewhere OFFLINE. eg: put it on another HDD and physically disconnect that HDD. (and indeed, remove all your stuff and/or stuff they don't need from the HDD which they are going to use - In essence, make a new Windows System for them, like rav0 said).

Also, put a password on your BIOS for sure! (and make sure the bios does not lock you out for ever when you've entered 3 wrong passwords).

Then complain to your parents that a PC is NOT a toy to mess with. It is a machine which needs fine tuning and maintenance like any other machine. I bet they don't let those children play with dad's car or mom's washing machine either...


Personally I would even go as far as building a small PC for them with parts I have laying around, or even buy a very cheap PC they can play with...

The younger they are, the more dangerous they are (think about when you were that age )


PS: I do love children though

Tell them to fo and bring their own PC or laptop. I don't let anyone touch my PC/laptop if I'm not here, ever.