Teens, parental controls and safe mode

[tom982]

Yes, I thought it would be a good idea to ask a more senior member before I went and got myself banned

 

[niemiro]

Yes, I thought it would be a good idea to ask a more senior member before I went and got myself banned

You cannot reply on my guesses though!

 

[osholt]

Richard, I will more than happily check to see if it works but not before I have clarification that it can be undone with a system restore.

Oli

 

[tom982]

Yes, I thought it would be a good idea to ask a more senior member before I went and got myself banned

You cannot reply on my guesses though!

Yes, and I have just sent a message to Dwarf to clarify the matter I'll let you know what he says

 

[niemiro]

Richard, I will more than happily check to see if it works but not before I have clarification that it can be undone with a system restore.

Oli

To be honest, there are several Malware Removal tools that will restore a Hosts file to default if asked, and we could always send someone ours, but it would be useful to hear your thoughts on it if you are willing to try it.

 

[osholt]

Richard, I will more than happily check to see if it works but not before I have clarification that it can be undone with a system restore.

Oli

To be honest, there are several Malware Removal tools that will restore a Hosts file to default if asked, and we could always send someone ours, but it would be useful to hear your thoughts on it if you are willing to try it.

OK, I'll give it a go.

Oli

 

[osholt]

It doesn't block torrenting sites, I just checked the top 5 and had no trouble accessing them in IE or Chrome.

I guess manually adding them or getting another host file modifier is the only way (other than to block torrenting ports completely).

Oli

 

[tom982]

Still no reply from dwarf about the torrent domains, as for the ports, the utorrent port is easily changeable:

UTorrent - TMB Wiki

 

[osholt]

Still no reply from dwarf about the torrent domains, as for the ports, the utorrent port is easily changeable:

UTorrent - TMB Wiki

Yes but there a several (thousand) torrenting ports, all in sequence with no new ports being added.

These are easily known and can be blocked on a router using a simple block incoming connections on port range X-Y command.

I can't remember what the exact port numbers are but they aren't difficult to block using a router or via your ISP.

Oli

 

[Dwarf]

Sorry, but that's not my area.

You might like to have a look at these Tutorials to see if they can help:

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/191199-internet-explorer-add-remove-restricted-sites.html

Hosts File : Use in Windows 7 / Vista - Windows 7 Forums

 

[tom982]

John gave me the thumbs up about the torrent domains.

Navigate to:

C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc

In that directory, there should be a file called hosts (with no extension). Open it with notepad and it will have this at the top:

# Copyright (c) 1993-2006 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host
127.0.0.1 localhost
::1 localhost

Does it have anything below it?

If it DOES then open up the attatched text file and copy ALL of the contents onto the end of the hosts file (do not change what is already in it), then save it into the same directory.

If it DOESN'T then open up the attatched zip archive and copy the file hosts (with no extension) to the same directory as before:

C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc

Replace the existing hosts file with this new one.

Tom

 

[niemiro]

Well done Tom!

 

[MamaDee6]

To find hidden folders, you just need to enable the viewing of hidden folders on your admin account and regularly scan through folders to see if he's hidden any folders/content.>>>>

O.K., I did that and did find his main torrent site. It didn't have anything I didn't already know about. An Iron Man movie clip, a Bionicle thing and a porn scene. Nice.

I looked around more under the letter files he has. He's got this under: c/users/his name/desktop/mystuff/then letters a-z. It's not that there is a file in between letters n and o....but he has the alphabet..then under, say letter "r", he has another set of alphabet files, then under one letter in that set, he has another set....it's confusing, but I went through them all and didn't find anything else.

<<<<Dee, your kid is 14! You can control his use of the computer if it's yours', cant you? I know this sounds rather 'blatent', but if one of my kids was downloading pron (sp is to keep search engines at bay) ... I would have a special "talk" and ground 'em from the computer until it's understood what can and cannot be done using the computer.>>>>

Be blatant. I agree. I talked to him...then hubby had the long talk with him. He IS banned from the computer AT ALL until further notice. Don't know how long yet. He is also grounded from doing anything with his "partner in crime" friend for a couple of weeks, too. What I'm trying to do here is get things in place for when he does get back on the computer. He won't have much access at all at first, and we'll go from there. But I need to be ready for when he can use it again. Make sense?

Also.....I know when I was 14....my reaction to getting caught would have been, "How can I do it better next time" , not one of repentance. Maybe he won't be like that, but I don't trust him now. He did not just stumble upon something out of curiosity. This was premeditated and then he tried to hide it. It's what I would have done at 14 if this stuff had been around, I'm sure. We had Playboy...they have worse.

Anyway...I'm off track. I don't mind getting rid of Torrent all together. I don't need it. Do I still have to worry about all the different directories, etc. I need to sort through Tom's last post. This stuff is so confusing for me!

I really appreciate the help.

Dee

 

[osholt]

To find hidden folders, you just need to enable the viewing of hidden folders on your admin account and regularly scan through folders to see if he's hidden any folders/content.>>>>

O.K., I did that and did find his main torrent site. It didn't have anything I didn't already know about. An Iron Man movie clip, a Bionicle thing and a porn scene. Nice.

I looked around more under the letter files he has. He's got this under: c/users/his name/desktop/mystuff/then letters a-z. It's not that there is a file in between letters n and o....but he has the alphabet..then under, say letter "r", he has another set of alphabet files, then under one letter in that set, he has another set....it's confusing, but I went through them all and didn't find anything else.

<<<<Dee, your kid is 14! You can control his use of the computer if it's yours', cant you? I know this sounds rather 'blatent', but if one of my kids was downloading pron (sp is to keep search engines at bay) ... I would have a special "talk" and ground 'em from the computer until it's understood what can and cannot be done using the computer.>>>>

Be blatant. I agree. I talked to him...then hubby had the long talk with him. He IS banned from the computer AT ALL until further notice. Don't know how long yet. He is also grounded from doing anything with his "partner in crime" friend for a couple of weeks, too. What I'm trying to do here is get things in place for when he does get back on the computer. He won't have much access at all at first, and we'll go from there. But I need to be ready for when he can use it again. Make sense?

Also.....I know when I was 14....my reaction to getting caught would have been, "How can I do it better next time" , not one of repentance. Maybe he won't be like that, but I don't trust him now. He did not just stumble upon something out of curiosity. This was premeditated and then he tried to hide it. It's what I would have done at 14 if this stuff had been around, I'm sure. We had Playboy...they have worse.

Anyway...I'm off track. I don't mind getting rid of Torrent all together. I don't need it. Do I still have to worry about all the different directories, etc. I need to sort through Tom's last post. This stuff is so confusing for me!

I really appreciate the help.

Dee

If you've looked through them all then no.

I think when he is allowed back on the PC you need to completely block him from installing any programs that you have not authorised, if he asks and says something that you don't understand say maybe tomorrow, go do a little research on its capabilities and decide whether or not it's OK to be installed.

The modification of the host file to block certain sites as mentioned above is a very good idea and I recommend you implement it ASAP.

Another thing you may want to do is remove all media codecs that you don't use. This will limit what video formats can be played even if he does manage to get round the restrictions, thus meaning he can download something but then find it's completely useless.

If you need some help doing this just shout.

Oli

 

[tom982]

Well done Tom!

Thanks Richard

And Dee, if you need any help, or you want more detailed instructions, then let us know its what we're here for

Tom

 

[niemiro]

I think he will try again, but I think this will be a good warning. I think he will sit and think for a while, then try again in even more secret. If he ever finds a loophole, do tell us and we can tell you how to close it.

 

[tom982]

I think he will try again, but I think this will be a good warning. I think he will sit and think for a while, then try again in even more secret. If he ever finds a loophole, do tell us and we can tell you how to close it.

Good advice richard, and congratulations on passing 1,000 posts

 

[niemiro]

I think he will try again, but I think this will be a good warning. I think he will sit and think for a while, then try again in even more secret. If he ever finds a loophole, do tell us and we can tell you how to close it.

Good advice richard, and congratulations on passing 1,000 posts

Thank you!

 

[tom982]

To find hidden folders, you just need to enable the viewing of hidden folders on your admin account and regularly scan through folders to see if he's hidden any folders/content.>>>>

O.K., I did that and did find his main torrent site. It didn't have anything I didn't already know about. An Iron Man movie clip, a Bionicle thing and a porn scene. Nice.

I looked around more under the letter files he has. He's got this under: c/users/his name/desktop/mystuff/then letters a-z. It's not that there is a file in between letters n and o....but he has the alphabet..then under, say letter "r", he has another set of alphabet files, then under one letter in that set, he has another set....it's confusing, but I went through them all and didn't find anything else.

<<<<Dee, your kid is 14! You can control his use of the computer if it's yours', cant you? I know this sounds rather 'blatent', but if one of my kids was downloading pron (sp is to keep search engines at bay) ... I would have a special "talk" and ground 'em from the computer until it's understood what can and cannot be done using the computer.>>>>

Be blatant. I agree. I talked to him...then hubby had the long talk with him. He IS banned from the computer AT ALL until further notice. Don't know how long yet. He is also grounded from doing anything with his "partner in crime" friend for a couple of weeks, too. What I'm trying to do here is get things in place for when he does get back on the computer. He won't have much access at all at first, and we'll go from there. But I need to be ready for when he can use it again. Make sense?

Also.....I know when I was 14....my reaction to getting caught would have been, "How can I do it better next time" , not one of repentance. Maybe he won't be like that, but I don't trust him now. He did not just stumble upon something out of curiosity. This was premeditated and then he tried to hide it. It's what I would have done at 14 if this stuff had been around, I'm sure. We had Playboy...they have worse.

Anyway...I'm off track. I don't mind getting rid of Torrent all together. I don't need it. Do I still have to worry about all the different directories, etc. I need to sort through Tom's last post. This stuff is so confusing for me!

I really appreciate the help.

Dee

If you've looked through them all then no.

I think when he is allowed back on the PC you need to completely block him from installing any programs that you have not authorised, if he asks and says something that you don't understand say maybe tomorrow, go do a little research on its capabilities and decide whether or not it's OK to be installed.

The modification of the host file to block certain sites as mentioned above is a very good idea and I recommend you implement it ASAP.

Another thing you may want to do is remove all media codecs that you don't use. This will limit what video formats can be played even if he does manage to get round the restrictions, thus meaning he can download something but then find it's completely useless.

If you need some help doing this just shout.

Oli

Yes, especially the DivX codec because this is a commonly used codec to host online videos.

 

[osholt]

To find hidden folders, you just need to enable the viewing of hidden folders on your admin account and regularly scan through folders to see if he's hidden any folders/content.>>>>

O.K., I did that and did find his main torrent site. It didn't have anything I didn't already know about. An Iron Man movie clip, a Bionicle thing and a porn scene. Nice.

I looked around more under the letter files he has. He's got this under: c/users/his name/desktop/mystuff/then letters a-z. It's not that there is a file in between letters n and o....but he has the alphabet..then under, say letter "r", he has another set of alphabet files, then under one letter in that set, he has another set....it's confusing, but I went through them all and didn't find anything else.

<<<<Dee, your kid is 14! You can control his use of the computer if it's yours', cant you? I know this sounds rather 'blatent', but if one of my kids was downloading pron (sp is to keep search engines at bay) ... I would have a special "talk" and ground 'em from the computer until it's understood what can and cannot be done using the computer.>>>>

Be blatant. I agree. I talked to him...then hubby had the long talk with him. He IS banned from the computer AT ALL until further notice. Don't know how long yet. He is also grounded from doing anything with his "partner in crime" friend for a couple of weeks, too. What I'm trying to do here is get things in place for when he does get back on the computer. He won't have much access at all at first, and we'll go from there. But I need to be ready for when he can use it again. Make sense?

Also.....I know when I was 14....my reaction to getting caught would have been, "How can I do it better next time" , not one of repentance. Maybe he won't be like that, but I don't trust him now. He did not just stumble upon something out of curiosity. This was premeditated and then he tried to hide it. It's what I would have done at 14 if this stuff had been around, I'm sure. We had Playboy...they have worse.

Anyway...I'm off track. I don't mind getting rid of Torrent all together. I don't need it. Do I still have to worry about all the different directories, etc. I need to sort through Tom's last post. This stuff is so confusing for me!

I really appreciate the help.

Dee

If you've looked through them all then no.

I think when he is allowed back on the PC you need to completely block him from installing any programs that you have not authorised, if he asks and says something that you don't understand say maybe tomorrow, go do a little research on its capabilities and decide whether or not it's OK to be installed.

The modification of the host file to block certain sites as mentioned above is a very good idea and I recommend you implement it ASAP.

Another thing you may want to do is remove all media codecs that you don't use. This will limit what video formats can be played even if he does manage to get round the restrictions, thus meaning he can download something but then find it's completely useless.

If you need some help doing this just shout.

Oli

Yes, especially the DivX codec because this is a commonly used codec to host online videos.

Weirdly enough I have NEVER had that installed, knowingly at least, to any of my systems and I've never had problems.

Oli