Is there any way, or a "best way" to have the facebook application not work on my computer?

Question

I want my stepson to get off the computer, and if Facebook conveniently didn't work, or returned a fake error like this computer has been banned from using facebook, or some such thing, the kid would get off his *** and get a job. I know it sounds weird, but if he thinks its disabled because he did something wrong, he'll be too lazy to get it back. If I simply unistall it or forbid him from using it, there is no end to the extent he'll go to defy us.

Answer 1

One free way to do it is to put a couple of new entries in your hosts file.

If you're on Windows XP, go to C:\Windows\system32\drivers\etc and open the "hosts" file using notepad.

Add the following two lines to the bottom:

0.0.0.0 facebook.com
0.0.0.0 www.facebook.com

Save and close the file, and close/reopen your browser to test it. This will redirect all requests to "facebook.com" or "www.facebook.com" to 0.0.0.0, ie: a fake IP address.

If you don't have XP and can't find your hosts file, see the referenced links for more locations/info.

If he has a separate account on your computer, even better. You can change the security settings on the hosts file and deny modify access to his account, so the only one that can change the file is you. Although many people don't even know what the hosts file is, so it may be possible he wouldn't even get as far as trying to modify it.

FYI, you can use this method to block any and all websites. Just follow the example above and replace "facebook.com" to the domain of your choice. Be sure to include both the base domain.com name and the www.domain.com name on separate lines.

Answer 2

It seems to me that if he is really that lazy, he'll just find some other way to waste time. I don't think Facebook is the cause of the problem. Instead, you should consider that your stepson might have a different issue, such as a psychological problem, that is keeping him from being a productive member of society. I recommend that you take him for a psychological evaluation.

Answer 3

The only way for facebook (which is a website, not an application) to be disabled is to violate their terms of service. I assume you do not wish to break the law and risk losing your internet service (via lawsuits), so here's what I suggest you do. Depending on your browser, you should be able to block certain websites from being loaded. All you have to do is block everything with "facebook.com" as part of the URL. Then your stepson will be unable to use facebook.

As an alternative, I suggest that you talk to him about getting a job, and let him use facebook in his freetime.