Do-it-yourself Windows Vista projects

Manage the Internet sites your children can view and the games they can play

Skill level: Easy

What you'll need:
• Windows Vista: Any version
• Internet connection

Step 1: Create a user account for your child
Parental controls are computer settings that are applied to a user account. As such, you should have a password-protected user account on your Vista computer, but your child should have his or her own account. This way, you can apply the controls to his or her account without placing restrictions on your account. The good news is you can create a user account for your child quickly and easily.

Open User Accounts
Click Start | Control Panel. In Control Panel, click the Add or Remove User Accounts link under the User Accounts and Family Safety section.

The User Accounts interface opens. You'll see the account you created when you installed Windows and a Guest account, which is probably turned off. Notice the Create a New Account link. Click this link to create the new account for your child.

Create the new user account
In the window that appears, you can create the new user account for your child. First, give the account a name. Since your child will be logging onto the computer using this account, just name the account your child's name (or a nickname, if you prefer). By default, the Standard user button is selected. This setting is a restricted setting that allows the user to access software and even change system settings that do not affect the security of the computer. On the other hand, you have an Administrator option which essentially gives the user the ability to change settings that affect every user and the computer's security. You should never give your child Administrator privileges, so keep the Standard user button selected. Click the Create Account button.

You now see the new account appear in the User Accounts window. Click your child's new account. You now see the option to make changes to the user account, such as creating a password, changing the picture, and such. For younger children, you may wish to skip creating a password; that way, they can simply click their user names when they start Windows. Older children may want passwords to ensure some sense of privacy.

Step 2: Setting up parental controls
Now that you have your child's user account created, you can set up parental controls for that child. Click Start | Control Panel. Under the User Accounts and Family Safety option, click Set Up Parental Controls for any user. In the window that appears, click your child's user account to set up the controls. This opens the parental controls window for that user.

To begin the process, first turn on parental controls by clicking the On radio button. You can now configure some different Windows settings that will control what your child can and can't do, as you can see in the Windows Settings area of the screen.

Configure the Windows Web filter
The first control area you can configure is the Windows Vista Web filter. This control enables you to place restrictions on Internet usage. Click the Windows Vista Web Filter option to open the Web filter window.

Here's how you configure the Web filter:

? The first two buttons allow you to block some Web content or not. If you choose the "allow" option, the Internet is an open book for your child. So, keep the default setting to block some Web sites or content selected.

? In the next section, you can choose to allow or block specific Web sites or allow only the Web sites that are on the allow list. Edit the Allow or block list, enter the sites, and then click the "Only allow Web sites which are on the allow list" check box. Now, the Internet is completely locked down to only these sites, preventing your child from stumbling onto another Web page. Depending on your child's age, you may want to take this highly controlled approach.

? In the Block Web Content Automatically section, you can choose a restriction level for your child. The High or Medium setting is typically best, depending on your child's age. You can click each radio button here and read a summary of what is blocked. You might also want to click the "How does the Web filter work" link to read a summary. Note that if you choose to allow only Web sites that are on the Allow list, this entire section is unavailable to you because site access is completely controlled by the Allow list.

? The last setting you can enable is the Block File Downloads option. This feature stops the ability to download any files from the Internet. For younger children, this is a good setting to enable because it prevents the possible download of information you may not want to them to have.

Control time limits
The next setting you can configure in the parental controls window is time limits. If you click the option, you see a calendar where you can control when your child is allowed to use the computer. You can use this feature to restrict your child from using the Internet during times when you are not home to supervise, or in the middle of the night for an older child or teen. Simply click and drag to turn the desired hours and days blue in order to block these times. White areas mean the time and day is available, while blue areas are blocked. If you make a mistake or decide to change the time limits later, just click the blue areas to turn them white again.

Control games your child can play
If you click the Games option on the Parental Controls window, you see a window that allows or disallows game playing with controls to set game ratings and allow or block specific games on your computer.

If you enable game playing, you can click the Set Game Rating option and choose to block all games that do not have a rating (recommended), and then choose the level of game rating that is allowed, such as early childhood, everyone, everyone 10 and older, teen, and so forth. Simply read the summary of the rating level, determine which setting is best for your child, and then choose the appropriate radio button, as you can see in the following illustration. If you scroll down the window, you can also enable a number of check box options that block certain kinds of content, even if the game has an allowed rating. For example, you can block the ability to play the game online, as well as block blood and gore, crude humor, and such. Simply click the check box to enable the desired controls.

You can also choose the option to allow or block specific games on the primary games window. Clicking this option opens another window where you can see the games installed on your computer. Here, you can simply choose to use the user rating (this option is selected by default for all installed games), or you can choose to always allow or always block certain games. Make your selections and click OK.

Allow or block specific programs
The final setting you can enable in parental controls is to allow or block specific programs installed on your computer. Maybe you have programs installed that you do not want your children to use for various reasons. Click the option in parental controls, and then choose the radio button that appears allows your child to only access the programs you have selected. Click OK.

You'll then see a listing of all programs installed on your computer. You need to click the check boxes of the programs that you want your child to be able to use. All programs not checked are automatically blocked, as you can see in the following illustration. Make your selections, then click OK.

Step 3: View your child's activity report
If you open parental controls for your child's user account, you'll see an option to view your child's activity report. This feature is very helpful because you can simply review on a periodic basis what your child is doing on the computer, rather than having to constantly look over your child's shoulder. This report feature enables you to see what your child has done on the Internet, what system changes have been made; applications that have been used; games they've played; e-mail that has been received and sent, as well as contacts changes; instant messaging activities; media viewed; and even general system changes. Simply click the report option, then use the categories on the left side of the window to see your child's activity.