need help with blocking downloads windows xp home

[imported_jaycee]

Can anyone tell me how to block downloads and keep anyone from joining chat sites, I am using windows xp home and Norton 2004 anti virus. I installed a password that no one here can guess so my grandchildren and others use the guess account, but they have downloaded Limewire and are going on chat lines that we don't want them using on our computer, the last time I was out of town for a few weeks all kinds of virus's and junk was on my computer took forever to get it fixed. If you can help please let me know and thanks for taking a look.

 

[ronach]

Tough love is not easy, especially for us older folks. I am going to assume that you have TOLD your grandchildren not to download files and not to go to certain chat rooms. The problem is not with your grandchildren, it is with you. They are abusing you and your computer, you are either going to regain control of this situation, or they will continue to control it as they are now. My advise; PASSWORD the whole computer AFTER you have told these children YOU are in-charge and not them. They will not initially like this situation, SO WHAT, they will gain more respect for you in the long run. NOBODY respects a wimp, especially an old one. end of rant.

 

[imported_kouch]

ok I would suggest a more technical solution since kids will be kids. Take a look at Zone Labs Security Suite. They have a 15 day free trial so you can try before you buy. This inclues a firewall where you can just ban internet access for limewire or any other program for that matter. Also it inclues parental controls that will block the sites you don't want the kids to be visiting. To boot, it has popup and ad blocking and spam filtering too. I use it personally and like it a lot.

 

[aznbomber]

Sadly enough, you are using windows xp home. Home edition does not give you the necessary control over each user. Only if you had windows xp pro, you could limit their account by not letting them write anything to the C:\.

 

[Amaroque]

I see this quite often. When I "fix" someone's computer. I had a computer that was so loaded with spyware, malware, minor viruses, and just general crap (He had NAV, with like 200 day old def's, the kids turned off auto update), that I had to do a complete reformat. The computer was returned to me two months later... In the EXACT same condition as before!

The guy has XP Pro, so I set up limited accounts for him (and gave him a lecture about computer security), but he then gave the Admin password to the kids to install imesh, and kaza!!

After working on the *same* computer three times in 6 months, I told him to...

I could have Ghosted the drive, but I don't like my work being in vain.

Edit: This belongs in Operating Systems

 

[MarkM]

Originally posted by: aznbomber
Sadly enough, you are using windows xp home. Home edition does not give you the necessary control over each user. Only if you had windows xp pro, you could limit their account by not letting them write anything to the C:\.

Ouch -- not write ANYTHING to HD?!?!? That goes beyond "tough love," and into being unreasonable

 

[bacillus]

a workaround would be to use something like Acronis TrueImage to make a compressed image of your system before you go away. you can store this image on a hidden partition on your hdd, dvd(s) or cdrs.
if the kids thrash your pc then just restore the system to when you last imaged it. usually takes about 10 minutes & saves hours of grief.

 

[mechBgon]

This does belong in Operating Systems, but since it's here, I have some practical suggestions:

1. Yes, lay down the law on them. Tell them to bring their own damn computer if they want to mess one up, see if that gets the message across :evil: You can take the hard drive right out of your computer, put it in an anti-static bag and take it with you if you really want to. Just be very gentle with it.
   
2. Go through Norton Antivirus 2004's Options panel completely. Configure it to:
   • use maximum Heuristics in both places where it is an option (two places)
   • enable scanning within compressed files where it is an option
   • Stop suspicious scripts and do NOT ask the user what to do
   • In all of the various places where you can choose what happens to infected stuff, choose the "Clean-then-silently-delete-if-unsuccessful" option, there are about five places where you need to make sure it does the "silently delete" thing. You do NOT want them having any say in the matter. Do not have it create a backup copy of the infected files in Quarantine either.
   • Leave no files exempt from scanning
   • Password-protect the Norton options so that they can't disarm or Nerf it
3. Log on with your Administrator-class account and right-click My Computer. Choose Manage, go down the list to Local Users And Groups > Groups, and look in the Administrators group and the Power Users group. Right-click each of the Administrator-class user accounts and set strong passwords on them. Delete any Power User accounts outright.
   
4. Disable the Guest account. Make a Limited-class account for them to use, and you don't need to password-protect that one. Try installing some software while logged on as a Limited user and confirm that it fails to install. If it does work, then the computer has been thoroughly subverted and should get a fresh installation of Windows.
   
5. ZoneAlarm Pro will certainly put the brakes on Internet access by any software that you don't approve, and it can be password-protected to enforce that.
   
6. Run a Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer scan: MBSA download. Correct any shortcomings it reports.

Hope that's some help