How to Activate Parental Controls
Computers are great tools that help us in work, education and entertainment. They're versatile machines and provide great benefits, but that versatility opens the door for users to access inappropriate content. Microsoft Windows offers a number of controls to restrict or entirely block access to many content types. Unfortunately, the Parental Controls feature is not available in Windows XP or earlier systems, but Windows Vista and 7 have the utility preinstalled. You can set up the controls in a few steps and help protect anyone that uses your computer.
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Instructions
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Activation
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Click the "Start" button in the lower left corner of your screen and then click "Control Panel."
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Click "Control Panel Home" on the left of the Control Panel window, if it is not already selected.
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3
Click "Set Up Parental Controls for Any User."
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Select the account for which you want to set up controls. This is the "User Controls" section of that account.
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Select the "On, Enforce Current Settings" option on the left side of the window
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Click "OK." This activates whatever settings are currently on the computer.
Parental Control Settings
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Access the "User Controls" section of the account you want to restrict.
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Select the type of control you wish to alter or put into effect. Your options include "Time Limits," "Games" and "Allow and Block Specific Programs." Windows Vista also has "Windows Vista Web Filter."
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Restrict when an account may be used under "Time Limits." You can set what hours the account is available for each day of the week.
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Set game rating limitations. These settings allow you to select which game rating is the highest permissible for that user.
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Restrict certain programs. You can block the use of whatever programs you prefer, such as video games or Web browsers.
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Set Internet restrictions. In Windows Vista, you can decide how strict to make the restriction level immediately; in Windows 7, you must first install the free Windows Live Family Safety 2011 suite (see Resources).
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Click the "OK" button in the "User Controls" section once you are finished with the control setup.
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Tips & Warnings
You can only set up parental controls for a standard account, not an administrator account. You can change account types in the "User Accounts and Family Safety" section of the Control Panel.
Make sure that only the people you want have access to administrator account passwords; anyone who has the password can access and change the parental controls.
References
Resources
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