unwanted visitors

[whoopdeedoo]

I have a 12-year-old son who is easily influenced by some of his peers, particularly when a group of them are in front of this computer.  They are doing things on here and going to sites which I can't control when neither his mother nor I are home.  I keep telling him not to let them boss him around on the computer but I fear he thinks he'll lose them as friends if he doesn't let them do what they want, as only a couple of them have computers at home.   

My question is whether there is a way to have a password needed to access the computer when it starts up?  Or at least one needed to access the internet?  I know about restricted zones in the security portion of my windows xp format, but I'm looking for something even a bit more secure if possible.  I don't want to totally restrict him from the computer but some temporary punishment shouldn't hurt I wouldn't think.

As mentioned before, I am running Windows xp and using Mozilla Firefox as my browser.  And if possible I'm looking for a free solution.

Thanks in advance.

[Calum]

If you want a password to log in, create him a new user account by going to Control Panel - User Accounts.
Set a password, and make it a user account, rather than Administrator or anything else.
Be aware however that this only restricts him logging in, if the other account(s) has/have no passwords he can log in to those easily enough.
Alternatively, set a password on boot, by entering the BIOS (hit delete, F10, F2 or something else whilst the PC is booting, the key to press is usually displayed on screen).
The head over to a section named Security or similar, and set a boot or system password.
Save the changes and exit.
This way, every time the computer is turned on, a password is needed before it will go any further.

To solve the problems of unsuitable activities and sites, I would suggest some form of parental control software, and a stern talking-to.
I'm not too sure what's good and what's not in the software zone right now, hopefully someone else will be able to give you a hand with it.

[whoopdeedoo]

Thank you Calum for the quick response first of all.  I did in fact enter BIOS by hitting "delete" and proceeded over to "boot" and in turn in a sub menu, "Security".....it is then when I ran into a problem.  I created and saved a "supervisor" password, but all that did was make me put in the password the next time I entered BIOS.....otherwise I was able to proceed to the account page and carry on as usual.

One thing I did notice though while in the security section was a drop down menu with "full access, limited, no access, view only"....as well as
 user password creation and clearing options which left me totally in the dark.  Can you or anyone help me with my next step so whenever anyone turns on the computer they will need a password to go further?  I don't know that much obviously about computers, especially the above list I mentioned with full access, no access, limited and view only.

thanks again in advance

[Calum]

Do you have an option to choose something other than Supervisor password?
It may be known as a system, boot, power, or power on password.
If in doubt, take a picture, and show us.

[whoopdeedoo]

ok...under boot settings it goes:

Boot Settings

- Boot Device Priority
- CDROM Drives
-Boot Settings Configuration
- Security

under Security Settings it goes:

Security Settings

Supervisor Password: Not Installed
User Password:           Not Installed
Change Supervisor Password
Boot Sector Virus Protection   [Enabled]
(these bottom two options are the only ones you can click on)

Once you click on Change Supervisor Password and then enter and confirm a password, it goes:

Super Password :  Installed
User Password   :  Not Installed
and then beneath that,,,,,

Change Supervisor Password
User Access Level    [Full Access]
Change User Password
Clear User Password
Password Check  [Setup]
Boot Sector Visur Protection
,,,,you're allowd to click on these 6 lines.......If you press enter on the User Access Level line, the [Full Access] opens to four choices 1- Full Access 2-No Access 3-Limited and 4- View Only


hope this helps

[Calum]

Where it says: Password Check  [Setup]
Hit Enter on it.
Change it to Boot, power on, something like that.
If you're not sure, tell us what you can choose after you hit enter.

[patio]

Are we sure here that we want to set a BIOS level password where it can be done within Windows instead ? ?

Just checking.

[programming_pat]

what about a firewall. you can block websites through that with a password. I dont know if firefox has a restricted page section. perhaps anothermember could help with this

[whoopdeedoo]

thank you.

[Calum]

Are we sure here that we want to set a BIOS level password where it can be done within Windows instead ? ?

Just checking.

I was going for a BIOS rather than Windows password as it's usually simpler to set.
With a Windows password/user accounts, it's still possible to log in under different accounts if they have weak or no passwords.
I felt a BIOS password would offer more security, as someone who knew the password would absolutely have to be there for the PC to boot.

Note: do not forget this password, or you're in trouble.