Fig 1.0 Double click on the USER ACCOUNTS icon
Fig 1.1 The User Accounts window - Click on the MANAGE ANOTHER ACCOUNT link to continue.
| PARENTAL CONTROLS |
In the previous section you were shown how to create a Standard User Account and then how to apply a password to it and
change its picture. In this section I will show you how to apply Parental Control to a standard user account and then how
to change some of its settings.
Parental Controls allows an Administrator Account to change the way a Standard User Account uses the computer and its internet
connection. For example. An administrator account can set each hour of the week to be blocked or allowed, so when a hour is
blocked the standard user account cannot use (log-on to) the computer within that hour. If you set up parental controls to
block hours from 12am to 6pm and from 9pm to 12pm, Monday to Sunday, the standard user account will only be allowed to use
(log-on to) the computer between 6pm and 9pm every day. You can also block websites and their web content (bad language,
violent games, videos and so on) from being downloaded/viewed using web filters (special settings) as well as view the
activities of the standard user account (Log-On times, Changes to certain computer settings and so on) amongst other things.
The first thing you need to do is open the Control Panel with an
Administrator account and then double click on the USER ACCOUNTS icon. This will open the User Accounts window (Fig 1.1).
From there, click on the MANAGE ANOTHER ACCOUNT link so that you can see/manage the other user accounts.
After clicking on the MANAGE ANOTHER ACCOUNT link a UAC (User Account Control) security requester will appear.
User Account Control (UAC) is a feature of Windows Vista that helps to prevent unauthorized changes to the computer, such as
deleting a system file or setting up parental controls. When attempting to set up parental controls UAC automatically blocks
you off with the security requester below, because it wants to know if you are the one attempting to set up parental controls
and not a piece of malicious software for example. In this case simply click on the CONTINUE button to continue.
If you decide you no longer want to set up parental controls at this stage click on the CANCEL button, otherwise click on the CONTINUE button to bring up the following Manage Accounts window.
On the above Manage Accounts window you need to click on SET UP PARENTAL CONTROLS to continue. This will bring up the UAC (User Account Control) window belonging to the Parental Controls control panel. Belonging, meaning you could of just double clicked on the Parental Controls icon in the control panel instead of double clicking on the User Accounts icon. However. Sometimes you may already be using the User Accounts control panel, hence why I have shown you this way of getting to the Parental Controls control panel. As with the previous UAC window, simply click on CONTINUE to continue.
After clicking on the UAC window's CONTINUE button (Fig 1.4 above) the Parental Controls control panel appears (above). Its
window allows you to select a Standard User Account that you wish to apply Parental Controls to. The Guest User Account and
Administrator User Accounts cannot have Parental Controls applied to them. Parental Controls only apply to Standard User
Accounts.
In this example there is only the John standard user account, therefore I clicked on John. After clicking on a standard user
account your are taken to the User Controls window (below). On this window you can switch Parental Controls off/on. You can also
switch off/on a feature called Activity Reporting that allows you to view, in a report, what that standard user account has
been doing on the computer.
The first thing to do from the User Controls window is switch on Parental Controls, by clicking on the radio (circle) button marked ON, ENFORCE CURRENT SETTINGS. Activity Reporting is automatically switched on when you switch on Parental Controls, but Activity Reporting can be switched off by clicking on the radio button next to it marked OFF. When you are happy with these off/on settings click on the OK button to apply them. This will take you back to the Parent Controls control panel.
If you click on OK without editing the Parental Controls settings for the standard user account, the next time you use
the Parental Controls control panel (as in Fig 1.5 above) simply click on the standard user account who's Parental Controls
settings you wish to edit. The reason I mention this is because the wording on the Parental Controls control panel, CHOOSE
A USER AND SET UP PARENTAL CONTROLS, could lead you to confusion because you might be thinking "I have already SET UP PARENTAL
CONTROLS for this standard user account". In other words, you might misinterpret the wording SET UP to mean Create From
Scratch". It would of been better if Windows Vista set up Parental Controls for the first time and then stated
"EDIT PARENTAL CONTROLS" for any additional editing. Anyway, as said. Once you have set up (created) for the first time
Parental Controls for a particular standard user account, and then clicked on OK, the next time around you are editing
that standard user account's Parental Controls settings - You will not be creating Parental Control from scratch for
that standard user account.
If you create another standard user account and want it to have Parental Controls you must follow all the steps above, this
is because each standard user account is individual. Meaning. You do not set up Parental Controls once - You must set it up
for each standard user account. So you could have one standard user account with parental controls and another standard user
account without parental controls.
| EDITING PARENTAL CONTROLS |
To edit the Parental Controls settings for a particular standard user account follow the above steps so that you are then
looking at the User Controls window (Fig 1.7 above). The step in Fig 1.6 will be skipped because you have already set up
(created/switched on) Parental Controls for that particular standard user account. You are then ready to edit the Parental
Controls for that particular standard user account. In this example the John standard user account.
You can also get to the User Controls window by skipping steps from Figures 1.0 to 1.3 and instead double click on the
PARENTAL CONTROLS icon from the control panel and then follow on from steps in Fig 1.4 onwards. The step in Fig 1.6 will
still be skipped.
The User Controls window has four main settings. Windows Vista Web Filter, Time Limits, Games and Allow and Block specific programs. Editing these Parental Controls settings will be explained in the next section - Edit Parental Controls.
Microsoft product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation. As stated here by the Microsoft Corporation.
All HTM files in the yoingco.com folder and its sub-folders are (c) John White, August 3rd 2005 - 2009. All Rights Reserved. FREE Vista Helpline: Contact John