How to Turn on Parental Controls for Windows XP

Windows Vista and Windows 7 provide users with a dedicated set of parental controls. However, Windows XP does not have a specific system-wide set of parental controls that lets you tailor the content displayed on your machine. Instead, you can establish parental controls on your Windows XP machine by using Internet Explorer's Content Advisor and the parental controls in Windows Media Player.

Instructions

1. Open Internet Explorer. Click "Tools." Click "Internet Options."

2. Click on the tab marked "Content." Click the "Enable" button under the Content Advisor heading.

3. Click on each content option and drag the sliding bar at the bottom of the window to the desired level of protection. Options that can be tailored include levels of violence and language allowed to be displayed. You can drag the sliding bar to a variety of settings to limit the display of these content categories while surfing online.

4. Click on the "Approved Sites" tab. Type the URL of websites you want to block in the text boxes.

5. Click on the "General" tab to set a password to protect your content settings. Click "Apply" at the bottom of the screen. Click "OK."

6. Open Windows Media Player. Click "Options."

7. Click "Tools." Click on the tab marked "DVD."

8. Choose a security rating for DVD content. Click "OK" when finished.

References

• Windows Help Central: Parental Controls in Windows XP
• Microsoft Support: How to Enable Parental Control in Windows Media Player for Windows XP