limit time

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logdog2120

New Member
Hey guys and I have a question.

How do I limit time on a computer for kids? I am getting a computer in a couple of weeks, and they want me to make it so it limits time on the computer so the kid isn't on it for hours. Is there a way? Please reply back. Thanks!
 
Windows 7 and 8 have built in parental controls that you can use to limit access times for individual accounts.
 
Well, you've told him that it's possible, but not how to do it...

Anyway, to actually set the parental controls, you need to have an account setup for the kid. You can make one by going to Control Panel > User Accounts. Once that is made, go back to Control Panel and go to Parental Controls. From there, you can choose the account you created. To turn on the time limit, click the word "off" next to the time limit section. It actually has this neat graph of the hours in each day of the week, and all you have to do is highlight the times when the kid shouldn't be allowed to use the PC. Once you've made your selections, click okay, and you'll be all set.
 
I am not sure if Windows XP has that option built in,but if you want I can make you a small program which will turn off the computer after a certain period of time HH:MM:SS.
All you have to do is to put it in the STARTUP folder of the account you will make for kids and that's it.
And of course be sure that you put the password on that account so that kids do not simply turn the computer back on and then just login again lol...

It's the simplest way I know of...
Of course I could put you many options in the program so you do not have to do ANYTHING manually,but let's keep it simple because SIMPLE is FREE. :D

Or you can use the SHUTDOWN.EXE tool from Windows XP and use the SECONDS parameter to set for HOW LONG the PC should turn off.For example...the following will shut down the PC for 3 hours:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\shutdown.exe -C "STOP WATCHING PORN KIDS!" -S -T 10800

Where 10800 is the time (in seconds) of 3 hours.




Cheers!
 
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logdog2120 said:
OK, how do I do it on windows xp?
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XP has no parental controls built in. That was something which was introduced with Vista.

I remember back when I was on XP and about 10 years old (haha!) my Dad installed this piece of software called 'CyberPatrol' (or something like that) on my PC. As well as acting a bit like parental controls and blocking websites on the block list, you could also limit how long you were on the internet for. You set a time period (for example 7.00 am - 7.00 pm for example) which can limit internet use.

I remember CyberPatrol only blocking the internet between certain times - I don't remember it actually preventing me from using the computer at all. Are you looking for something which actually prevents your kids from using the computer at all in a time period or something which only limits internet access?

It looks like this software still exists actually (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/home/) but I'm sure other alternatives for XP exist.

(On a side note, you may want to consider upgrading to something newer since support for XP ends in April this year and after that most new software won't likely will not be compatible with it).

Sorry if this response is kind of all over the place - bit tired (it's been a long day! ;) )
 
voyagerfan99 said:
...counting...
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NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
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voyagerfan99 said:
No it won't. It's about time XP died. It's been around for over 13 years. It's seriously out of date.
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I think Microsoft should have kicked it out back in July 2010 when they dropped support for Windows 2000. I think they reason they didn't was because it is still quite widely-used in businesses.

My Dad is an IT technician who manages the IT infrastructure for a lot of local businesses and he's had a hard time getting some of them to upgrade. Support for Office 2003 also ends in April, which is also widely-used even to this day. Again, getting businesses to spend the money and upgrade can be a challenge.

But nonetheless, you're absolutely right, it does need to die. It's been around for far too long. I've got a VM of XP Pro SP3 and it is having trouble connecting to Windows Update now. I wonder if this is the first step.

I think Microsoft should also knock Vista on the head with XP - but Vista still has another 3 years I believe.
 
Nah!!!

The hell with the Microsoft support!
I never needed them anyway!

To me it won't matter if Microsoft drops the support or not.I will continue to use it anyway.The only updates I have are SP1,SP2 and SP3.All other updates which came out after SP3 I never even installed and don't intend to.So to me it won't matter wether the update cycle and support cycle ends or not.

Just to make myself clear...I do NOT hate newer Windows operating systems.I love them a lot I really really really do and I used them many many many times and I also have them on the original disks I bought (Vista,7 and 8).But for some reason I love XP THE MOST and it is the only OS I have installed on all my computers!
Every single thing I do just works perfectly on XP so why would I upgrade lol?

One day I will probably need to upgrade because the newest programming tools I "might" need to use would require newer Windows OS in order to work such as Visual Studio 2012...since Visual Studio 2010 is the last one which works on XP and it's still new and so great and full of rich tools which will last for a very long time. ;)
And I am still on older Visual Studio than Visual Studio 2010 so by the time I get to Visual Studio 2010 (and some other newer software which would replace the old one which still works perfectly),I think I am at peace at least until 2020. :P

I mean what's the problem lol?
Every single thing I need to make I always find a way to make it on older software and older OS so why waste time doing all the upgrade? :D

I do admit that I DID buy all newer (including the newest ones) Windows operating systems and Visual Studios and I keep them on a safe place.But I have no intention of using them as long as the older ones (which I also bought long time ago) serves me perfectly fine. :cool:





Cheers!
 
spirit said:
I think Microsoft should also knock Vista on the head with XP - but Vista still has another 3 years I believe.
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Yes and no. At least if you're running Vista you're more secure than an XP machine.
 
Do your own thing I guess STARS but you literally don't make sense. I could understand not wanting to pay to upgrade but you literally have all the discs sitting around and you choose to use the old stuff? Are you wanting to ever do anything career wise with computers? Walking in to a job and saying, "Yeah I'm really good at programming" and then you whip up a program using XP and a 10 year old programming suite probably isn't going to impress much.

But hey, if you're just doing it for fun with your own stuff, go for it. But I swear half your posts anymore about how great Windows XP is.
 
voyagerfan99 said:
Yes and no. At least if you're running Vista you're more secure than an XP machine.
Click to expand...

True, but let's face it, it needs to die too. I think more and more people are moving away from Vista now and it didn't take off in the business world quite like XP did, so that's not so much of a worry.

A lot of businesses will need to upgrade from XP and Office 2003 soon - else they'll be screwed come April. A bet a lot of employees use the newer stuff at home anyway.
 
Well, I would like a program but with lots of features! I don't have money, so don't count on it! XD

And they aren't my kids. They are just a friend's kids and the mother (Lets call her Karen). Karen only knows me, and I love computers. I try to be the very best I can XD without making mistakes. But she wants it so the kid can only be on like from 7:00 Am to 7:00 Pm. but I would like to beable to block sites, be able to change the hours, manage the block sites list.

Is there a way so it would save what the kids has been doing too? I know she would liek that. The kids likes to play games A lot on the computer, and if it shutdowns during a game then he will lose his place in the game.

Any suggestions???
 
You'll have to research the products out there which support XP and do what you need. I don't know any off the top of my head, sorry.
 
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