How to Block Porn on your Computer without Software

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By explnr
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Block Pornography

Unwanted images can crop up on your computer even with routine searches. To block pornographic material, many families have turned to software-based solutions. Software is expensive, requires updating and can be altered by computer-savvy children. Block porn and other harmful material from appearing on your PC and your home network by filtering all incoming Internet traffic before it reaches a computer.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Step 1

Sign up for an account at opendns.com. DNS is a service that translates alphabetic web addresses into the numeric IP addresses your computer needs to connect to a website on another computer or server. Most ISPs (Internet Service Providers) designate a DNS service, but you can choose any service you want.
Step 2

If you don’t have a router, go into your control panel on your Windows XP system and click on network connections. Select your connection and click on properties and then on Internet protocol (TCP/IP). Click on properties and select the radio button marked use the following DNS server address. In the preferred DNS server box put 208.67.222.222 and in the alternate DNS server box put 208.67.220.220 and press OK when you are finished.
Step 3

If you have a router, it is best to set the DNS settings on your router rather than on a computer. Routers filter the traffic before getting to your computer, which increases security. It also allows you to change settings one time, rather than on each computer on your network. Find the DNS preferences on your router and change them to 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220 and save. You may need to reboot your router for the settings to update. Specific instructions for your router can be found on opendns.com.
Step 4

Select filter settings. Sign into your account on opendns.com and click on the settings section. Choose your desired level of filtering. To block porn and phishing (websites that attempt to gain your information through deception), select low. If you want to block pornography, phishing, adult sites and illegal activity, select moderate filtering. If you prefer to block all porn, illegal activities, video sites, social networking and time wasting websites, select high filtering. After selecting the radio button next to your desired filtering level, click apply.
Step 5

Block specific websites. If you have a specific website you always want to block, add it under manage individual domains. After you add the domain name to block, click add domain.
Step 6

Check settings. Wait two hours for your filtering and website blocking settings to be updated on opendns servers. After two hours, search for websites that should be blocked. You can search for general porn by putting free porn in a Google search and selecting one of the search results. If your settings are working properly, you should see a website that says: site blocked [website address] is not allowed on this network.

Comments

explnr said

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on 10/17/2009 OpenDNS handles the process for Windows and Mac based systems. If you are on a Unix-like system, then yes, you would need to modify the resolv.conf file as well.