I want to get my 14 year old daughter a computer?

Question

However , I don't trust all the sites she goes to ( spec. Myspace)
She recently got busted for uploading a photo of herself wearing
a very revealing bikini. I went to another computer she used and
about 40 pop-ups came on the screen and they were all nude
women and other junk. So, I want to get her another computer,
all hers, but which I can maintain some degree of control. I really
don't want to be a snoop but you moms and dads know what I'm
talking about. I guess what I'm saying is that I want to trust her but
at the same time, I don't trust her. Any ideas? I heard about a
program called "Keystroke". Is that a solution? Her getting on
Myspace is not the problem - it's what she's saying to who and
who is saying what to her. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Hi - I can really relate to your situation. The best approach is to use a router with parental controls. I'll reply with some options for routers that provide this capability.

Please read this article:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1650669,00.asp

Answer 2

I think you guys need to work on your trust first and foremost. Why does she have to have a new computer? Are you rewarding her for looking at porn sites and uploading inappropriate pictures? She won't respect you if you give in to her. No matter what they say, teens want to be guided in the right direction. It's natural for them to argue and rebel but they will give in as long as you don't. If you give in once, you'll give in again. Next thing you know, hey let's reward her bad behavior with a new computer and then maybe she'll like me more and respect me more and do as I say... She doesn't need a new computer, she doesn't need you to be her friend... She really needs you to be her PARENT. Her ROCK. Her Guidance Command Center = MOM. Stick to your guns and she'll know then, and only then, that she can count on you to be solid for her. Then, she'll not only respect you but any new computer you might buy her. Good Luck... Oh, just a thought, why not the TWO of you set up a SEPERATE myspace page just for the both of you to be on together. Then you can take a half hour or an hour every day to just do that one thing together. She's smart. She'll see how you act and react and she'll do the same when you're not around. :-)

Answer 3

1.) Get the crud off your computer
AVG (antivirus) - http://free.grisoft.com/doc/5390/lng/us/tpl/v5#avg-anti-virus-free
Ad-aware - http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad-aware_se_personal.php
Spybot Search & Destroy (Use the Immunize function too) - http://www.spybot.com/en/mirrors/index.html

2.) DON"T get her a computer of her own.

3.) Put the computer in a high traffic area of your house, so that anyone walking by can see the screen. If she's not doing anything wrong, she won't have any reasons to object.

4.) Don't EVER let her have a computer in her room. Privacy + boredom + strangers having access to her = a huge amount of trouble.

5.) Don't let her friends use the computer. Kids / teens do strange stuff when their friends are around.

6.) Learn how to read browser histories and use HOST files to block sites. This will require you to be vigilant, because kids / teens know how to get around rules.

7.) Make rules for the computer very, very well known (write them on a poster behind the computer), and punish her if she breaks them. No excuses! She has a brain!

8.) Have an account for you that's admin level (with a hard to guess password!), and make hers limited. This means that you have the ultimate control. This means you can change her password to lock her out. This means she can't install all kinds of software.

9.) Limit her time on the computer. Have a program that logs when internet has been accessed, especially at night. She WILL sneak on the computer.

10.) Insist everyone uses Firefox...

Free, fast, a small 5mb download, Firefox blocks pop-ups and sites from secretly installing programs on your computer. It will copy over your settings from other browsers (cookies, settings, bookmarks). Firefox is powerful too, it's more up-to-date than even IE7 according to the web standards (w3.org).

The main reason I like Firefox is because it's customizable.

Why is customizability important?

Imagine being able to do 2 small things and never seeing a banner ad, flash ad or an iframe ad again? (Remember, pop-ups are already gone)
Imagine being able to pause your computer's music player when the phone rings without having to switch to it?

Firefox puts the power back in your hands!

Firefox - http://getfirefox.com/
Adblock Plus - http://adblockplus.org/
Adblock Filterset.G Updater - https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1136/
FoxyTunes - http://www.foxytunes.com/
Firefox Addons - https://addons.mozilla.org/

Answer 4

Walmart $398 Laptop - Starting Nov 5th October 29, 2006
Just caught wind of this deal, starting Sunday, November 5th at Wal*Mart. There is currently a discussion thread in our forums about it. Below are the laptop's specifications.

Compaq Presario V5305WM Laptop Computer - $398.00

Product Link • Official Specifications

* 2.00 GHz Mobile AMD Sempron™ Processor 3300+

* 512MB 333MHz DDR (upgradable to 2GB)

* ATI RADEON XPRESS 200M IGP (128MB)

* 60GB 5400RPM Hard-Drive

* 24X DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive

* 15.4” WXGA High-Definition BrightView Widescreen (1280 x 800) Display

* Integrated 56k modem, 100mb Network Card and 54g 802.11b/g Wireless Connectivity

* 1 ExpressCard/54 Slot (Not PCMCIA)

* 10.2"(L) x 14.1"(W) x 1.38"(min H) /1.77"(max H)

* 6.4 lbs

Minimum 15 per store. Limit 1 per customer, no rain-checks.

Note that this deal is only good from November 5th to November 11th (NOT BLACK FRIDAY) at Wal*Mart.

Answer 5

Instead of getting a keystroke program, they can be used against you to steal your credit card details and other things, you can set up you computer in the following way. By the sounds of it with all the pop up your computer may already be inflected with a virus/ad-ware/spy-ware programs. And if you do have spy-ware such as a keystroke logger, any good anti-spy-aware/virus program what can be down loaded from he internet would delete it when run.

First of all windows xp has an accounts optain.
Start -> control panel->user accounts.

Where you can set up an adm account and a limited account.
An adm account is an account that controls what setting you have for your computer etc. A limited account only gets you control graphic settings and likewise for that account.
You set up 2 accounts. One adm account for yourself (that is passworded) and one limited account for her (that does not have a password). This way you are in control of the computer, and you must use it to update the operating system and anti-virus stuff.

Once you have done that there are numberous internet security programs that have a parental control feature. You can install one on your computer using your newly created adm account. Once installed you have to configure it. Firstly you need a adm acount that controls the parental control features, make sure this is password protected and is not logged into automally then the computer is turned on. How as I don't know that program you will be using, I can't help with the settings, but you can confiurate it to part up so that its not logged into any account but has settings that are not chainable by her. This way you can stop her going to some of the more riskable sites, ones with nude women etc through your adm account settings for her account. From here you can also allow her to visit websites or block her some set ones, but you have to work that out for yourself.

Also with the optain of accounts for your computer you can set up email options. You can then also set up email programs that are only for that account in question. Ie then shes using her account you can set it up so that she has an email account that you can read, to do this you have to configure the email options ie (automallicy log in using this password) and then make sure only you know the password so she can't change it, but you only be able to read her mail from her computer account.

Answer 6

Active Key Logger 3.4.2
http://keykatcher.com/

Cannot personnally vouch for the keykatcher but it is not the only one out there. I used the demo of active key logger once and it did capture the screenshots well.
I won't go into the popup issues but that is a matter oh having the right software in the first place.

Answer 7

The Keystroke program and others similar are great for keeping track of what your daughter would be saying. It'll record all her messages, and it'll also record her password, so if you ever want to go and read anything in her inbox (the private part) you can just sign on and check it.

Answer 8

http://www.spectorsoft.com/products/eBlaster_Windows/index.html
http://www.safeeyes.com/