Protecting Desktop Computer From Kids

Yesterday my sister was over with her two little kids and needed to use the computer, which wasn't a big deal until she let her youngest kid sit on her lap. Anyway, I look over and see he has the mouse in his hand and clicking buttons on it and also leaning over pushing buttons on the keyboard simultaneously. I look at the screen and the start menu is popping up, VLC Player opened up and so did Firefox options. She didn't prevent him from doing this which really annoyed me and got me worried what might happen to the computer. So, how do I go about protecting the computer from any potential damage caused by little kids who have no idea of the destruction they're likely to cause and their parents are too lackadaisical. Obviously locking the computer doesn't do anything since my sister claimed she needed to use it. Any help is appreciated.

 

I should have logged into the guest account before letting her use my computer. Sometimes mistakes happen though, so what other way can a person prevent any system changes by a kid who mindlessly presses any and all buttons on the keyboard?

 

My kids started using the computer at about 2 years old. They were allowed to use things like paint or play games like sesame street and the like. It trained them to use a mouse. They were not allowed to just willy-nilly pound on the keyboard and mouse.

If it were me, I would install a sesame street or putt-putt game, which runs off the cd and is a story-like gamestyle. It teaches them and keeps thier attention.

I would tell your sister if they are not playing such a game, they should not be using it if they don't treat it properly. If she does not like that, she can always get her own computer, its not like they cannot be found super cheap these days at thrift stores etc.

Keyboards and mice are not playskool rated, so why would you allow that to take place at all? I guess if you're fine with that happening, then shadow defender would be perfect. Just enable shadow mode, and disable it when they are done. A reboot and things are back to normal, other than the wear and tear on your hardware lol.

Sul.

 

It's just sad some parents don't know any better. A toddler has no right playing with anything that isn't a toy and yet the parent has no common sense to tell their kid "no". The kid isn't even old enough to play computer games. And I don't really want to fork out money to protect the computer, since nobody comes over that often anyway. But when those instances arise it's good to be prepared.

I discovered an add-on for Firefox called Public Fox to prevent any unwanted changes. Now all I need is security for the computer. Folders & files, programs, etc. for changes without my permission and/or knowledge.

 

Would disabling hot key commands help?

 

Disabling the toddler would help the most I think. When you mash down buttons in strange combinations, lots of things can happen. Maybe you could just set out an old keyboard and mouse as a decoy? You might look at just enabling screensaver with a password as well.

You could also leave a trail of crackers away from the computer towards some toys. Maybe include an m&m in there a time or two. You're sure to lure em away

Sul.

 

In other words there is nothing I can do except pay for a pricey program or do the job a lazy parent should be doing.

 

Is there any way to find out if any changes were made?

 

You offered your computer to your sister to use, not for the kids to play with. Tell your sister this. If she can't handle it, it has nothing to do with being a lazy parent ... she is being disrespectful to you. Now tell her that too, gently. Do not shout it at her. If it angers her, tell her that she and the children will always be welcome in your house, but the computer will be off limits from now on. Forget the lock down or pricey program option.

 

There are many free ways: guest account, limited account, Linux distro, back-up & restore programs like (Macrium Reflect, Clonezilla etc). Just give some play space to the kids and lock your stuff. When I was a kid I was destroying the OS like Wreck-it Ralph buildings. Sure, I had my own computer other didn't touched, but that's how I learned using computers, by destroying stuff.

 

Some schools are now running some kind of shell or application over the top of windows. Maybe this is encouraging the push for younger children to play on keyboards and parents to presume its okay. Anyways, depending on their ages you might not need to go overboard. Such applications are available for home use. Alternatively, I'd encourage the children to play outside, to do drawing, or some other activity. If it has to be electronics, they sell child safe tablets that are good for gaming, drawing, and other child orientated activities. I think this might be preferable to the more technical route of trying to lock down your computer. The downside with these tablets is that at some point, you'll be chasing them up and down hallways because they aren't fixed to an anchored device like a TV. In my opinion, technology is just not a replacement for good parenting. Not that I'm suggesting in anyway that you are a bad parent. Your seem quite sincere and justified in your concern. As a gamer, I would never let a small child near my command center

 

I would install another OS alongside the current one and remove all other drive letters in this OS. When someone needs to use your PC you can just boot to this OS and let them do whatever they want.

 

Thanks for the input, everyone. Thankfully she doesn't come over often anyway.

What I'd like to know is if any changes were made to my computer in the short amount of time she let him click away on buttons with no concern. So far I haven't noticed any problems. At least nothing noticeable. How would I be able to tell?

 

I discovered Guest Mode for Windows 7 a bit ago. Have any of you tried this?

http://winsupersite.com/article/windows-7/windows-7-feature-focus-guest-mode

This looks like a promising solution to what I was talking about.

 

Well that's out of the picture. They don't offer that feature for Windows 7 anymore so I guess I'll stick to letting carefree people use the guest account.

 

This is when an app like Rollback Rx really shines. You could do a rollback to the last snapshot before the incident. I had a child whip out a pen from his pocket which turned out to be a usb device with a game on it. Before I realized what he was going to do, he inserted the usb in my computer and then turned the computer on, producing a BSOD and freezing it. I immediately hit the restore to former snapshot button and saved the day. Now that you've been burned, you should'nt let small kids anywhere near your computer. If their Mom has something to do on the computer, take the trouble to make sure her kid is being entertained somewhere else. I have a lock on my computer room which is activated when ever kids come over. My Grand Daughters used to ask if they could play games on my computer, so I activated Shadow Defender first to prevent malware from the game sites.

 

Make a Linux live CD and only pop it in for when she asks to use your machine, boot back into Windows when they leave.

To me, this is a safer approach

 

Is a guest account safe enough for other people to use?

Safe meaning they can't make any accidental or even intentional system changes.

 

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