Parental controls in Windows XP


Are there any parental controls in Windows XP ? Sure there are.
And if you're worried about the online safety of your children you can
find out how to use them in this article.

Tip : also read this great
tip that will make your (somewhat older) children explore the
internet in a more exciting, constructive way. It's a proven method to
make young people realize that there's much more to the internet than
instant messaging alone. They learn valuable, in-demand skills and if
they play it smart they can even generate an income with it.

If you want to learn how to protect your internet and computer
privacy you could easily spend the better part of your weekend reading
reviews on parental controls and internet filtering software.
It's a complex matter.
But why not start by using the built in parental controls in
Windows XP ? No filtering software is perfect and they all have their
weak spots, but in order to prevent your children from viewing
inappropriate content, you have to explore the possibilities.
Content Advisor in Internet Explorer


The Content Advisor in Internet Explorer is one way to protect
your family's online safety. That is if you use Internet Explorer to go
on the internet of course. Most other browsers offer their own mechanism
to deal with internet safety.
To enable the content advisor in Internet Explorer ...

• click on the "Tools" menu and select "Internet Options"
  
• In the Internet Options dialog, click on the "Content" tab
  and then click the "Enable" button
  

That opens up the Content Advisor properties window :

In this window, click each category and use the slider to set the
desired level.
You will also notice the "Approved Sites" tab. It allows you to
add sites manually and specify if you want the site to be always blocked
or always allowed.
The "General" tab lets you specify if websites without rating
system should be blocked or not. You can also set a supervisor password
and find rating systems in the "General" tab. Choose a secure password,
write it down and store it in a safe place.
You will need this password whenever someone needs access to
restricted content and whenever you need to change or disable the
Content Advisor.
In addition to the Content Advisor in Internet Explorer you can
also set parental controls in Windows XP in ...
Windows Media Player


If your computer has a DVD drive, you can play a DVD by putting it
in the drive and choosing "Play" in Windows Media Player. To implement
parental controls on DVDs played on the computer, select "Tools" ->
"Options" in Windows Media Player and click the DVD tab.
You will see a check box to enable parental controls and a rating
drop-down list to specify the rating to apply.
Instant messaging


Chatting on the internet is immensely popular. Exciting and fun,
but not without danger. Parents often don't have the faintest idea about
what is going on in chatrooms.
On the internet everybody can pretend to be anyone. Young kids
don't always realize that. They don't know that there are people out
there with phony identities, completed with fake pictures, fake hobbies
and fake favorite snacks.
You can learn how to protect your children from these individuals
in our instant
messenger monitor article. (The link takes you to another page. At
the bottom of that page you will find a link that brings you back here.
I'll wait here.)
Back already ? Ok.
Apart from parental controls in Windows XP, nothing can replace
common sense when it comes to protecting yourself and your family on the
internet.
Here are a few additional recommendations :

• Install your home computer in the living room, where you can
  walk by from time to time. Try not to make your teenager feel like you
  are spying on him / her though.
  
• Try to show some interest in what your child is doing on the
  internet. Talk about the fun stuff, so that they know that it's o.k. to
  talk about it.
  
• Make sure they understand not to send their name or address
  over the internet to someone they have never seen in real life.
  
• You can find a lot of "free" stuff on the internet. Often
  you only need to provide your email address to get the goodies. Consider
  opening a separate hotmail account, used for internet sites. That makes
  it a lot harder for spammers to abuse your private email address.
  
• Use a nickname or only a first name for chat or instant
  messaging.
  
• Don't enter phone information in a chat profile.
  

Special tip :
We have to admit it : MSN Messenger is fun. Everyone with
youngsters in the house knows that instant messaging programs are
extremely popular. But nowadays more and more bright teenagers are
exploring the web in a new, promising way.
They build their own website. Not just a website
(everyone else already does that), but a SiteSell website.
SiteSell sites are different.
Why ? Because they work. More than once they
have proven to enjoy more popularity than many existing bigger
commercial or official sites in their domain.
SiteSell was founded by Ken Evoy, M.D. who has developed a deadly
efficient all-in-one system to create content-rich websites that stand
apart by their heavily-stressed hit counters.
Today the market is flooded with dummy-proof systems to create
personal and hobby websites, but 99% of them are only collecting e-dust
because no-one ever knows they exist.
SiteSell is the only company that proves that it can be done
differently and a growing number of bright young people know it.
A SiteSell website isn't free, but in most cases it pays itself
back (and more) after one year. The possibilities and techniques to
generate income from a website are also covered in the excellent
documentation.
Everything that your teenagers need to make their friends jealous
with their new extra income is included in the package.
The only disadvantage to the system is ...
... some people have a hard time believing that it can be so
simple to learn these valuable, in-demand skills for such a reasonable
price.
Nevertheless, that shouldn't restrain you from trying it, because
the product is covered with a risk-free 30-day money-back trial.