Is there a way to prevent my teen from using the computer when he is not supposed to.?

Question

I have password protected it, but he still manages to bypass that and use it. By the way he is 17.

Answer 1

Unplug the keyboard and mouse and LOCK that up. This is a bit more obvious than silly passwords and other sort of HIGH TECH solution. It is also less subtle, in ways that he will really understand.

Yes, the computer is the scourge to parents, who wish to bring up their children in a safe world.

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Answer 2

If he is 17, he probably know computer more than you and know how to get around most of the protection that is available right now. The only way is to remove the hard drive or something not easy for him to get and take the item with you or lock it away. May be even disconnect the DSL modem and take it to work with you.

If you just take away the keyboard, mouse, or cable, they can easily ask a friend to borrow keyboard, mouse or cable. So you should lock away stuff that he can't easily get.

Don't trust the XP admin login, or BIOS password, etc, if you do a google search, you can find many way to get around them.

Btw, I would think the only reason you don't want your 17 years old use your computer because you don't want to get any virus or get to any of your personal info (like bank account info, some company confidential info, etc) in your computer. I mean at 17 years old, they can easily go to friend's house or somewhere else to get internet access. And in another few months, once they go to college or university, you will even have less control. So you should really sit down and talk with him about this first. He needs to be more responsible.

Answer 3

Set pwd at the Bios.

Boot up, press DEL key and enter Bios. Set your password. Have it in such a way it cannot be guessed.

Not your birthday, or your dog's name or your telephone # or SSC #.

Start with a number first, then a few letters, with ampersands, brackets, etc.. then end with another few #s. This kind of pwd is difficult to guess.

But I am curious - a 17 year old can use the computer... no problem there. May be he is logging in as another user. Nothing wrong with that.

If you are in XP, go to control panel, click on user accounts and set yourself as the administrator and set him up as another user.

These are all the reasons why Win XP or Win 2000 have become more robust and it cannot be fooled around with if you set it right.
This is what they do in your office. Ask your tech guy at your office about how to do it if what I gave above is not clear.

Answer 4

If he got by the password, and it was really set up right, that is not a beginners concept. You probably are not going to do it with software. And he could make a boot CD that does about anything that he could do from the HD and that bypasses all software.

Take some hardware that you need to run it.

P.S. I would take it away completely for punishment. It would be somewhere that he has no physical access to.

Answer 5

heres what to do
log in as admin
if you have a log on screen that is icons you click and then enter a password hit ctrl+alt+del 2 or 3 times til you get a screen that you can type a user name and password
once you are at that screen
user-administrator
password-(leave blank)
this how most computers are set up unless yours was done by a professional
if you can get in this way you will be able to see all the accounts on this pc. with this account you will also be albe to change the passwords to any account. therefore your son will have to come to you everytime he wants to log on.
heres how to do that
click start-click control panel (if you dont see control panel click settings then control panel)-click user accounts or users and passwords-once you are in you should be able to double click any of the accounts showing and set a new password or delete the account. you should also set a password for the admin account that you just logged in with. that way no one can get in to change these settings. good luck you can contact me if you need more help.

Answer 6

Change your password. Make sure you have only an administrator account. Talk to someone that is a computer tech. for ideas. And I'd go along with taking the keyboard away. Also try moving your computer into your bedroom and locking the door.

Answer 7

Ah, sure. I try this to my mum and dad, too. you need an outstanding password. Use hassle-free characters, and UPPERCASE and lowercase letters. Your password needs to be a minimum of 6 characters lengthy, in spite of the indisputable fact that it appears like yours needs to be longer. also, change your "forgot my password" question to something only you'll understand, and do not ever tell all and multiple. Alternately, change it to the completed opposite of what the genuine answer is. If all else fails, cover the flexibility twine to the computing gadget, and easily plug it again in at the same time as *you* choose the computing gadget.

Answer 8

Bios password is the way to do it. There are ways to get around it if they can get the case open so you need to lock the case somehow.
I did find one place on the net that sells locks. The case lock is about $15...I don't know how much their shipping fees are. The other way is using the special one way security screws they provide.

Answer 9

Pull the harddrive out when you leave...LOL
Or easier still, remove the powercord from the back of the tower and take it with you!!! LOL
What he's doing is starting it in safemode and bypassing the passwords and logging in as admin...

Answer 10

Go into the bios setup and set a password there so he cannot start it up without premission, and make the password something like he could never think of like l7M6d0H