Can I prevent web version of MSN messenger?

[Patrick Coghlan]

I use Windows permissions to enable/disable my kids' access to MSN
messenger, but they (my kids) found a back door in the form of a
web-based version of this tool.

How can I permanently turn off just the web-based version? I suspect
that this might be a bit tricky, as appears to be just a browser window
which gets refreshed at webmessenger.msn.com.

-Pat

 

[Jonathan Kay [MVP]]

Greetings Pat,

The easiest way would just to put a bad entry in the Windows hosts file.

To do so, open up Notepad, click File, then Open, and enter
"%windir%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts" and click OK.

You'll see a 127.0.0.1 localhost entry. Simply make a new line after that, and add:
127.0.0.1 webmessenger.msn.com

Then save the file, and after a reboot, they won't be able to access the Web Messenger
anymore.
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com
All posts unless otherwise specified are (c) 2006 Jonathan Kay.
You *must* contact me for redistribution rights.

 

[Patrick Coghlan]

Excellent! I'll give it a try. Thanks.

My 16 year-old might not be too happy though :-(

-Pat

 

[Galen]

In Patrick Coghlan <[email protected]> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

Excellent! I'll give it a try. Thanks.

My 16 year-old might not be too happy though :-(

-Pat

Or she'll figure out how to edit the hosts file on her own. <g> So some
additional information.

I've never used this product (and hope I never have to) but I've recommended
it to a lot of people to try. It's free and it's been fairly well received
thus far.

iProtectYou:
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/iprotectyou.html

Additionally some firewalls (third party) will allow blocking of certain
URLs and will allow password restriction on changing the firewall settings
or even turning off the firewall.

Firewalls - Basics:
http://kgiii.info/windows/all/security/firewalls-basics.html

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/
http://kgiii.info/

"We approached the case, you remember, with an absolutely blank mind,
which is always an advantage. We had formed no theories. We were simply
there to observe and to draw inferences from our observations." -
Sherlock Holmes

 

[Patrick Coghlan]

Hers is a limited account, and unable to modify system files.

 

[Jonathan Kay [MVP]]

Good man, hosts file should be fine then.
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com
All posts unless otherwise specified are (c) 2006 Jonathan Kay.
You *must* contact me for redistribution rights.