help with security

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Guest

can someone tell me how to block access to e-mail and internet, and my
documents? my partner's 11 yr old keeps getting on to my computer when I am
not here and answering e-mails as well as sending them. She could also put
all my studies at risk that are in my docs. If she can only type or draw, and
no access to anything else, I would be a happy girl!
 
Danae said:
can someone tell me how to block access to e-mail and internet, and
my documents? my partner's 11 yr old keeps getting on to my
computer when I am not here and answering e-mails as well as
sending them. She could also put all my studies at risk that are in
my docs. If she can only type or draw, and no access to anything
else, I would be a happy girl!
Click to expand...

You should have several user accounts on the system with a screensaver that
automatically locks the computer screen after a given period of time. There
also should not be another user (other than yourself) who knows the
administrative username/password on siad computer and it should be setup to
boot from the hard disk drive first and another password put on the system
BIOS.

Even with all that done - a person with enough initiative and time alone
with the system could take over and grab everything on it or just discretely
make themselves an administrator again. However - some protecti0on is
better than what you have now - none.

Just create a new account for the 11 year old, make it a limited account,
put a password on your account and set the screensaver to lock the system
after a few minuts of inactivity. That way - when the 11 year old goes to
the machine - she can log on with her account (passworded or not is up to
you) and she can do whatever she wants without touching your stuff or having
the ability to install anything.
 
Danae said:
can someone tell me how to block access to e-mail and internet, and my
documents? my partner's 11 yr old keeps getting on to my computer when I
am
not here and answering e-mails as well as sending them. She could also put
all my studies at risk that are in my docs. If she can only type or draw,
and
no access to anything else, I would be a happy girl!
Click to expand...

You need to create a different account for her, and password-protect your
account. Don't give her the password, and don't give her account
administrator rights.

As well, put a password on the Administrator account, which by default in
XP Home has no password (you just press enter). In XP Home, you can only
get to the Administrator account in Safe Mode, but you should expect that
she's clever enough to figure out that she can promote her account using the
Administrator account.

Check the system logs occasionally to verify that nobody's been using your
account.

Finally, consider parental - control products like Net Nanny. On your
account, set it to have limited restrictions, but on hers, you can lock it
down and prohibit any network access.

And first, you need to back up those documents! Make at least two copies
that are not on the machine. Check that the copies actually work. Make
backups regularly.

HTH
-pk
 
You might have to invest in a good parental control. I use one called
PC Chaperone (htp://www.pc-chaperone.com) and can't say enough good
things about it. It shoudl do what you want and will do a whole lot
more.
 
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