***PLEASE HELP ME...ASAP - Passwords....

[Sabrina]

My son is in cyber school, I am setting parent controls on my computer so my
son does not do things on the computer without me knowing. He has a users
account on the computer and I am setting the parent controls on my admin side
so it takes affect on all users other than my admin. Now, if my son tried to
reset the password on the admin side with a password reset disk, will it
notify my e-mail or will it just change and I have to keep an eye on it?

 

[Aditya Krishnan]

You'll have to keep an eye on it. But since only a reset disk created by you,
on your admin account, can reset your password, it'd be easier just to lock
the reset disk up or something. But he cannot create a reset disk that will
work on your account by himself.

 

[Sabrina]

Yeah, but even though I made it, it alows you to make more. Im just wondering
if it will notify me by e-mail. Do you know?

 

[Donald McDaniel]

My son is in cyber school, I am setting parent controls on my computer
so my
son does not do things on the computer without me knowing. He has a
users
account on the computer and I am setting the parent controls on my
admin side
so it takes affect on all users other than my admin. Now, if my son
tried to
reset the password on the admin side with a password reset disk, will
it
notify my e-mail or will it just change and I have to keep an eye on
it?

Windows never notifies you about ANYTHING by email.
However, if you have logging turned on, his attempt will be logged.
Additionally, it should show up in the Events log.


By the way, not to add more to your worry, but a password reset disk is
not the only way to do this. If he is the type to disobey you, look
forward to his learning how to do it.

Personally, I would purchase a very cheap "bare-bones" computer
(includes the Case, some memory -- usually 1GB, the CPU and Motherboard,
along with a dvd/cd writer, a network card, and (possibly) a floppy.
All he would have to add would be a hard drive (though many bare-bone
computers also include an SATA hard drive), a video card, and a sound
card (although most motherboards include on-board video and sound).

These may be purchased from Tiger Direct http://www.tigerdirect.com.
And from anywhere around $199 and up, depending on added hardware.
Almost all of these will include a MINIMUM Of an Intel Core2 Dual CPU OR
a dual-core AMD processor.

He should appreciate building his own computer, and it will add to his
knowledge of computers. It will also keep him from using YOUR computer,
and give him a few lessons in personal responsibility.

Suggested:
Barebones computer: $79 and up, depending on CPU and
amount of RAM (Random Access Memory).
HD (if needed): $59 and up, depending on
speed, size, and type
256Meg video card (if needed): $30-$99
Hi-Def audio (if needed): $49-$99, depending on
manufacturer.
Vista Home Premium (OEM): $129-$199, depending on where purchased.

So for around $500-$600 (or less), you can get a very powerful
Intel/Vista-based computer for him, including the OS.

If he prefers XP over Vista, lower that cost by $50 or more, depending
on where purchased.

If he prefers Linux over Vista, lower that cost by around $100 (or more,
if he downloads it himself, since Linux is Open Source, and
freely-downloadable via the Net).

Or, one may get a pre-built but less-powerful one from say, Dell, for
even less.

If he prefers an AMD processor rather than an Intel processor, lower the
total cost by ~$100.

By the way, building a computer such as the above (with a preinstalled
CPU and motherboard) is very simple. Even a Middle School student should
find it easy. If he must install the Motherboard itself, it will be
much harder.

Making sure the HD is a SATA drive will make it EXTREMELY easy to
install one, since the connectors are MUCH smaller than the ones for
older PATA (i.e., "IDE") drives.

 

[Sabrina]

Ok...so it will not notify me...alright. thank-you so much. ALso I would
purchase him his own computer but I honestly dont have the money. I am a
college student also and Im do online too. So the only reason why I got this
compter was because my college did halfy on it. Other than that, money is way
to tight for me to purchase anything over 200.

 

[Kjule]

My son is in cyber school, I am setting parent controls on my computer so
my
son does not do things on the computer without me knowing. He has a users
account on the computer and I am setting the parent controls on my admin
side
so it takes affect on all users other than my admin. Now, if my son tried
to
reset the password on the admin side with a password reset disk, will it
notify my e-mail or will it just change and I have to keep an eye on it?

I don't get it.
If your son resets your password, you will know it as soon as you try to log
in your account, and that is before you can check your email (assuming your
sharing the same pc,which is what I understood).

 

[Sabrina]

I dont need comments. I just want to know it it will notify me or not. I work
to and his father takes care of him and his father is an a$$ and he never
watchs him on the computer. Usually through the weekend my son goes to his
house with the computer (laptop) and I dont know if he will change the
password or not. Im also wondering bacause I have to go on a trip and my sone
will have tha computer. I will be on a company computer when I am on my trip
(for work). So while Im gone...I have to leave the computer at his fathers
(his father does not have a computer). So while Im on my trip, I wont know if
he is up to anything with my admin account. Unless It notifys me if it gets
changed. Does anyone one know? I had one tell me it wont notify me, does
anyone else know for sure?

FYI: im not with my son's father.

 

[Aditya Krishnan]

Ok, to be completely clear:

1) No, Vista will NOT notify you via e-mail or anything else if a
password-reset disk is used to change the admin password. (or for that
matter, any other event)

2) But, seeing as a reset disk is meant for a forgot-password situation, you
could probably just not make one?

3) If you need a reset disk, then make sure to just keep it locked up
somewhere.

4) If you keep your reset disk safe, the only way to make another is from
your own admin account. From you saying "it allows you to make more", I
assume that you allow him to use the Admin account. If this is true, then do
not EVER do this, there are umpteen ways to bypass a computer's security with
an admin account. He could make himself an administrator or do all sorts of
other stuff.

5) Solution: Set up the system as you mentioned in your first post and never
let him use your admin account and never let him find out your password. That
should do the trick.

 

[Aditya Krishnan]

One more thing: A password reset disk does NOT tell you the current password
of the account. It just allows you to change that password and nothing else.
So you see, if your boy used one, you would find out the next time you used
the computer. Under no circumstances will Windows reveal one user's password
to another, even if the second user has an Admin account. If you wanted to
see your son's account, you can't find out his password. You can remove the
password, but not find out what it was (as a side effect,deleting any files
he has chosen to keep private). So

A) even if he used a reset disk, you'd find out pretty soon

B)as I said before, just keeping your password a secret ought to fix the
issue.

Hope this helped, best of luck.

 

[Donald McDaniel]

Ok...so it will not notify me...alright. thank-you so much. ALso I
would
purchase him his own computer but I honestly dont have the money. I am
a
college student also and Im do online too. So the only reason why I
got this
compter was because my college did halfy on it. Other than that, money
is way
to tight for me to purchase anything over 200.

I do understand, Sabrina.

Since there is really no way to keep your son from changing login
settings, if he really wants to, outside of keeping your machine locked
up in your bedroom, I suggest you count on his better side, and just lay
it all out for him.

Tell him how important the computer is for YOUR education, and how you
simply can't afford one for him. Hopefully, he will not take advantage
of your honesty and your trust of him.

After all, if we can't trust our children, who CAN we trust?

 

[Kjule]

I dont need comments. I just want to know it it will notify me or not.

Well, I apologize if it seemed to you that I wanted to make any comment or
"gossip" about your life.
But actually I didn't mean that.
My reply was just to understand better your problem, to find a solution
I needed more information (not about your personal life!) beacause I don't
speak english very well and sometimes I'm not sure I corretly understand.
And also because sometimes users will think that they have a problem when
they actually don't have any, so I wondered if that was you case (and it's
not, as I see now).
Anyway, that said, if you need to know (by email) if and when your son logs
into your administrator account, then you can try this way:

-Log into you admin account
-Click on START (vista) button- then type "task scheduler" on the search bar
and hit ENTER key.
-Task scheduler windows will appear
-Go to "action" menu and select "create basic task"
-Enter any name and description you want for that task
-Click NEXT and on the "trigger" section, select "when I log on"
-Click NEXT and on the "action" section, chose "send an email"
-Click NEXT and complete the section "from" "to" "subject" and "text" as you
wish (that is the actual email sent to your address, specified on the TO
field). On the SMTP server, you'll need to specify a smtp server that will
work with the Internet connection your son will use (you have to contact you
ISP to know it, if your not sure)
-Click NEXT and then finish. You can also customize it better for you, there
are a lot of options.
And you can of course be allerted by email of other system or security
events, but, as much as I understood, knowing if someone is logging into
your admin account is what you need.
Anyway, if you need to set anything else and you want an help, just ask.

Usually through the weekend my son goes to his
house with the computer (laptop) and I dont know if he will change the

Being it a laptop, if you haven't done it already, you may want to set the
BIOS so that it will not start from any floppy/cd/dvd/removable/network and
then provide it with a password.
It will not save your laptop from a willing son, but it will require
additional time and effort for him to crack your system.

FYI: im not with my son's father.

Well, thank you for the info! ;-)

Good luck!