If you're sharing your computer with the kids in the house, then get ready to make some serious decisions. As the new school year gets under way the family computer will be used for a myriad of tasks including Internet research.
In many households the computer will also become a source of anguish as parents agonize over the time that their children spend on the Internet and the inherent dangers that lurk within websites and e-mails.
There is also the problem of keeping the computer safe from the children. A young child could unwittingly visit a shady site, click on a link, and install evil software or seriously compromise the functioning of the computer. The answer to the dilemma of protecting young children from online dangers or restricting computer activities by certain family members is a delicate act of balancing trust and caution.
At a basic level you can restrict computer activities by making yourself an administrator and everyone else limited users of the computer. In either XP or Vista navigate to the Control Panel and open the User Accounts section. Give yourself admin rights and use a password to protect the account, then make each child a Limited User without a password. You will have unfettered rights to do anything on the computer whereas the youths will be unable to install software or make any changes without your permission.
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