parental controls

[the_moose]

Hi all. I haven't been here for a while, but I'm guessing (hoping!) that the advice is still as spot-on as ever... If I've posted this in the wrong place please move it as necessary - I've posted it here for the internet part of the question, and also on the XP forum for the last part. Hope that's ok.

We have Windows XP (SP2) and use Firefox. I am about to start helping my 8 year to learn to use the internet to get information for school projects etc. I won't be letting him surf alone yet, but I would like to use some sort of "Parental Control" to avoid me having to answer questions about pictures of naked women and golf balls etc etc! To be honest I'm not a great fan of any sort of censorship, but it would seem reasonable at 8 years old to protect him from some of the bad stuff out there. I've never used anything like this before, as I feel big enough and ugly enough to deal with whatever I come across - and I just rely on my security tools to deal with any problems, rather than limit me to what I can or cannot view.

I have set up a separate profile on XP with limited rights, so he's got his own little icon and documents folders etc. So far I have set up the Fox Filter add-on, and I have also installed BlueCoat K9 Web Protection to keep an eye on him whilst he's browsing. (I did experiment with Glubble, but found it a bit too babyish - I would like him to learn to use the net using bookmarks etc and a more "normal" format). I also use WOT, and have explained to him that he should only click on links with all of the "rings" coloured green.

Whereas I think I've managed to set up the FoxFilter so that it works differently on his profile than mine, I am having a bit of bother with the K9 program in that it would appear to be working across the whole computer, so that if I want to browse freely myself I have to remember to reset it to the highest settings to make it secure for him afterwards.

Has anyone got any suggestions - either about K9 settings that I've missed, or about better ways to set the whole thing up? For instance is there any benefit in setting up his profile to use IE for browsing, and maybe using some different Parental Controls, or even - as I've just realised it works on Windows too - would I be better using Safari as a browser for him, or all of us?

Finally is there any way I can do anything as an administrator to alter his profile on XP to limit the programs that he can use, or is that asking too much?

Many thanks in advance for any help/advice.

Cheers, Moose. :up:

[Disk_Contented]

Glubble is a very impressive browser plugin that adds parental controls to Firefox. Glubble transforms Firefox into a locked down environment where kids can only surf approved sites, while parents can easily log into a restriction-free account for normal web surfing.

Glubble also re-skins Firefox with a simple and appealing kid-friendly look while logged into a child account. The browser under Glubble is a completely controlled environment, meaning all of your bookmarks and most of your other plugins are hidden while logged into a child account (some plugins, like Flash for example, will still work -- a good thing considering how many children's sites utilize Flash).

Looks pretty cool. Sounds like it might fit the bill. More info:
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives...efox_addon.php

For administrative control, the group policy editor is possibly best, but read up a bit first:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307882

[the_moose]

Originally Posted by the_moose

(I did experiment with Glubble, but found it a bit too babyish - I would like him to learn to use the net using bookmarks etc and a more "normal" format)

Cheers for the help, but as you can see I have tried Glubble. It's a good system, but the way it's set up is almost pre-school so I was trying to get something else that maybe works in a similar way.

Cheers anyway, Moose.

[Disk_Contented]

Sorry, I missed that.

http://www.crawlerparental.com/