Micky007
29-08-07, 14:25
Parental Control is a great new feature in Windows Vista, and it's useful for much more than keeping your kids away from sketchy Web sites. You can control when and for how long someone uses a computer, what games or applications they can play and use, as well as what Web sites they can visit. Afterward, you can see an audit of all their activity both on and off the Web. It's about time this type of solution was integrated directly into the operating system.
When working with the Allow/Block settings, you should only include \"Allowed\" sites at first. Trying to handle the thousands of blocked sites will drive you crazy. Start a user (or your child) off with a handful of approved sites and then expand the list over time. This is the best way to prevent them from circumventing your efforts by using proxy sites or by going through Google image (or other image-viewing sites) and viewing inappropriate content.
http://admin.mcpmag.com/images/red0307_vistatricks4b.jpg
You can configure the Allow/Block sites through the Parental Control settings or by importing an Allow/Block file. First, go to your Allow or Block specific Web sites section. You can type an address in the Web site address pane and then hit Allow or Block to manually add sites. For faster progress, hit the Export button and save the file.
When you go to open the file, you'll notice it's an odd file type. It's called a WebAllowBlockList file. Aside from the Parental Control being able to open the file, you won't see any other options. Right click the file, select Open With, and then choose Notepad or some other text editor.
Now you'll see that the file isn't all that complicated to work with. Here is a simple example that includes one allowed site and one blocked site:
http://microsoft.com/http://badstuff.com/
The numeral 1 is the code for Allow and 2 is code for Block. From here, you can add as many sites as you like. When you're done, you can import the file back into your Parental Controls.
Obviously, there are a billion possible sites you might want to block. You can do this manually or pick up a filter off the Web. In the latter case, you would then have to configure the entries to work with your Parental Control entries. For example, you can search for \"URL deny lists\" or \"URL block lists.\"
One of my favorite best block lists comes from Rich Krol (get it here). You'll notice there are two XML files -- one list for porn content and one for spyware. Take the time and reconfigure these to work with the Vista format.
Keep in mind that you can create a list with only Allow settings and then choose the \"Only Allow Web sites that are on the allow list\" option. So when a friend asks for the list of Web sites you let your users (or your kids) visit, you can export your entire list to share.
Sometimes the mere presence of a deterrent is effective. Even if you don't filter a thing, if you let your users or your kids know that you can see every site they visit, that should scare them enough to resolve most of your worries.
When working with the Allow/Block settings, you should only include \"Allowed\" sites at first. Trying to handle the thousands of blocked sites will drive you crazy. Start a user (or your child) off with a handful of approved sites and then expand the list over time. This is the best way to prevent them from circumventing your efforts by using proxy sites or by going through Google image (or other image-viewing sites) and viewing inappropriate content.
http://admin.mcpmag.com/images/red0307_vistatricks4b.jpg
You can configure the Allow/Block sites through the Parental Control settings or by importing an Allow/Block file. First, go to your Allow or Block specific Web sites section. You can type an address in the Web site address pane and then hit Allow or Block to manually add sites. For faster progress, hit the Export button and save the file.
When you go to open the file, you'll notice it's an odd file type. It's called a WebAllowBlockList file. Aside from the Parental Control being able to open the file, you won't see any other options. Right click the file, select Open With, and then choose Notepad or some other text editor.
Now you'll see that the file isn't all that complicated to work with. Here is a simple example that includes one allowed site and one blocked site:
http://microsoft.com/http://badstuff.com/
The numeral 1 is the code for Allow and 2 is code for Block. From here, you can add as many sites as you like. When you're done, you can import the file back into your Parental Controls.
Obviously, there are a billion possible sites you might want to block. You can do this manually or pick up a filter off the Web. In the latter case, you would then have to configure the entries to work with your Parental Control entries. For example, you can search for \"URL deny lists\" or \"URL block lists.\"
One of my favorite best block lists comes from Rich Krol (get it here). You'll notice there are two XML files -- one list for porn content and one for spyware. Take the time and reconfigure these to work with the Vista format.
Keep in mind that you can create a list with only Allow settings and then choose the \"Only Allow Web sites that are on the allow list\" option. So when a friend asks for the list of Web sites you let your users (or your kids) visit, you can export your entire list to share.
Sometimes the mere presence of a deterrent is effective. Even if you don't filter a thing, if you let your users or your kids know that you can see every site they visit, that should scare them enough to resolve most of your worries.