Vista: Using Parental Controls

In Vista Home and Ultimate editions, you can manage how your children use the computer. By utilizing Parental Controls, you can limit access to the web, set hours that the account can access the computer, what games can be played and what applications can be run. Parental Controls can only be applied to standard users, not administrators. To set up Vista's Parental Controls on your PC, do the following...

First, you will need to create an account for each person that will have different privileges (one for each child).



1. Log onto the computer using an account with administrator privileges.



2. Click the Start Button.



3. Click the picture associated with your account at the top of the menu.



4. Select Manage Account.



5. When the UAC box pops up, click Continue.



6. Click Create a new account.



7. Type a name for the account in the New account name textbox.



8. Select Standard user.



9. Click the Create Account button.





After creating all of the accounts you need to meet your household's needs, you are now ready to set up the Parental Controls.



1. Click the Start Button.



2. Click the picture associated with your account at the top of the menu.



3. Select Set up Parental Controls.



4. When the UAC box pops up, click Continue.



5. Select the account you wish to apply the controls to.



6. Under Parental Controls, click the radio button next to On, enforce current settings.



7. Under Activity Reporting, click the radio button next to On, collect information about computer usage.



8. Adjust the individual settings that you wish to limit for the account.



9. Click OK.



Repeat this for each account. When completed, if the child tries to access a webpage or game that you have blocked, they will receive a message notifying them of that.



Note: Please be aware that this is a tool to help parents monitor their children's activity on the computer, parents should still stay active in being aware of their children's activities on the computer, especially if the child has access to the internet.