- Jan 6, 2002
- 13
- 0
- 0
Hey everyone. Some of you may remember me a while back, I had almost the same question as I do today. I work for a small cafe in Annapolis and we have 3 computers for public internet use, free of charge.
I'm trying to find some way of restricting access to the computer so that all the user CAN do is browse the internet.
We've been having problems with people changing the background, installing programs, etc., ever since we've been open. The spyware and spam software is unbelievable.
Here's a list of what we've tried and why they didn't work:
1) Honor system - Haha, yea right. Since it's free people do what ever the hell they want to it.
2) Editing local system policies - This works somewhat. It restricts the user somewhat, but it's time consuming to configure the policy. Also, the changes are not easily reversed meaning that the Administrators now are subject to the same restrictions.
3) Windows 2000 Server with a domain - Too expensive. It took way too much convincing to get the boss to drop money on the XP licenses, let alone at 2k license with an extra client pack.
4) I also looked into Linux-based kiosk distributions/applications. That's about as far as it went. I searched on SourceForge and Freshmeat for any type of solution - no go.
I would really appreciate any input you may have. The main issue here is money, the solution would have to be free and legal (if it's the perfect solution, a one-time fee can be tolerated, but not subscription).
I know this type of thing can be done, I've used it before. Thanks a lot for any help.
I'm trying to find some way of restricting access to the computer so that all the user CAN do is browse the internet.
We've been having problems with people changing the background, installing programs, etc., ever since we've been open. The spyware and spam software is unbelievable.
Here's a list of what we've tried and why they didn't work:
1) Honor system - Haha, yea right. Since it's free people do what ever the hell they want to it.
2) Editing local system policies - This works somewhat. It restricts the user somewhat, but it's time consuming to configure the policy. Also, the changes are not easily reversed meaning that the Administrators now are subject to the same restrictions.
3) Windows 2000 Server with a domain - Too expensive. It took way too much convincing to get the boss to drop money on the XP licenses, let alone at 2k license with an extra client pack.
4) I also looked into Linux-based kiosk distributions/applications. That's about as far as it went. I searched on SourceForge and Freshmeat for any type of solution - no go.
I would really appreciate any input you may have. The main issue here is money, the solution would have to be free and legal (if it's the perfect solution, a one-time fee can be tolerated, but not subscription).
I know this type of thing can be done, I've used it before. Thanks a lot for any help.