How to Use the Internet Parental Locks in Vista

Microsoft’s new Vista operating system provides a comprehensive system of "Parental Controls" to help parents monitor and limit the content their children can access from the family computer. To use the parental locks for the Internet in Vista, you must first turn on the "Parental Controls" for the user account. With the "Parental Controls" turned on, you can restrict access to certain websites or content.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Microsoft Vista
• List of websites you would like block

1. Turn on your computer to launch Vista. Click the Start menu and open the "Control Panel." Double-click the "Accounts" menu to open it and select set up "Parental Controls."
2. Select the user account for which you want to establish the "Parental Controls."
3. Click "On" beneath "Parental Controls" to enable them for the specific user account. Now that you've turned them on, you can use the parental locks for the Internet.
4. Double-click on the "Windows Vista Web Filter." Click the "Block Some Websites or Content" button and select "Edit the Allow and Block List."
5. Enter the address of the website you want to block in the "Website Address" box. Click the "Block" button.
6. Select the content level you want to filter under "Block Web Content Automatically." Turning the filter on will restrict access to adult-themed content. Selecting a higher level will place stricter restrictions upon access to certain Web content.
7. Turn on the "Activity Reporting" feature in the "Set Up Parental Controls" menu to view the details about computer usage for a user account. To view an activity report, select a user account from the "Set Up Parental Controls" menu and click "View Activity Report."

Tips & Warnings

• Set up a password for additional user accounts on your computer so your child can’t launch a different account to view forbidden content.
• Check the "Block File Downloads" box to disable file downloads on a specific user account.
• Parental locks only apply to the user account you set them up for.
• The automatic Web filter may not block all of the websites you want to block.

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