I cannot keep my son off the PC. Other then locking the office door, I need
to make the Win XP Home ask for a password at login (My PC's at work have
this feature) using the Cntl-Alt--del buttons. I do not want to create
individual accounts. How can i do this? many thanks to a helpful community.
--
Dell Deminsion 8250
Win XP Home SP2
Dell Inspiron 9000
Win XP Media SP2

wxrr wrote:

> I cannot keep my son off the PC. Other then locking the office door, I
> need
> to make the Win XP Home ask for a password at login (My PC's at work
> have
> this feature) using the Cntl-Alt--del buttons. I do not want to create
> individual accounts. How can i do this? many thanks to a helpful
> community.

Here is my standard "security blurb". Take the bits that are applicable to
your situation. What you do if your son is 5 may be different if your son
is 15. You should also give some thought to how far you want to go with
this; for instance, you will be hamstringing yourself by not creating
individual user accounts and making your son's account Limited.

Any computer running any operating system can be accessed by someone with 1)
physical access; 2) time; 3) skill; 4) tools. There are a few things you
can do to make it a bit harder though:

1. Set a password in the BIOS that must be entered before booting the
operating system. Also set the Supervisor password in the BIOS so BIOS
Setup can't be entered without it.

2. From the BIOS, change the boot order to hard drive first.

3. Set strong passwords on all accounts, including the built-in
Administrator account.

4. If you leave your own account logged in, use the Windows Key + L to lock
the computer (and/or set the screensaver/power saving) when you step away
from the computer and require a password to resume.

5. Make other users Limited accounts in XP Home, regular user accounts in XP
Pro.

6. Set user permissions/restrictions:

a. If you have XP Pro, you can set user permissions/restrictions with Group
Policy (Start>Run>gpedit.msc [enter]) but be careful. Using the Policy
Editor can be tricksy. Questions about Group Policy should be posted in its
newsgroup: microsoft.public.windows.group_policy.

b. If you have XP Home, you can use MVP Doug Knox's Security Console or the
MS Steady State. SteadyState also works in XP Pro if you'd rather not use
Group Policy.

http://www.dougknox.com
Steady State -
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pro...s/default.mspx

Please understand that these are technical responses to what is basically a
non-technical problem and there are ways around all of these precautions.
This is a family/interpersonal issue that can't be solved by technical
means.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
Don't Panic!

Basically, if the account has a password then a logon will be required. If
there is only one account and no password, then no dialog will appear.

You can set a password in control panel, or by running 'control
userpasswords2' which gives some more options.

If you want the domain-style logon, this is achieved by choosing 'Change the
way users logon and logoff' in the control panel 'users' applet.

Bear in-mind that the Administrator account should have a password set too,
or he can use this to bypass your security.

--------------------------
"This is a wonderful computer. It''s 20yrs old and absolutely reliable.
And, in all that time it''s only had four mobos, six processors, two cases,
seven OS''s ...."


"wxrr" wrote:

> I cannot keep my son off the PC. Other then locking the office door, I need
> to make the Win XP Home ask for a password at login (My PC's at work have
> this feature) using the Cntl-Alt--del buttons. I do not want to create
> individual accounts. How can i do this? many thanks to a helpful community.
> --
> Dell Deminsion 8250
> Win XP Home SP2
> Dell Inspiron 9000
> Win XP Media SP2

might also try parenting classes



(E-Mail Removed)



"wxrr" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:38229543-3E99-437B-8663-(E-Mail Removed)...
I cannot keep my son off the PC. Other then locking the office door, I need
to make the Win XP Home ask for a password at login (My PC's at work have
this feature) using the Cntl-Alt--del buttons. I do not want to create
individual accounts. How can i do this? many thanks to a helpful community.
--
Dell Deminsion 8250
Win XP Home SP2
Dell Inspiron 9000
Win XP Media SP2