Windows Vista Parental Controls

One of the great things about the IT industry in general, and about the Internet in particular, is the freedom of expression it guarantees.

However, as anyone who has children will tell you, there is an age for everything, including some types of expression!

Windows Vista comes with a tightly integrated set of parental control features, which allow parents to control and monitor WHEN and HOW children use the computer.

How do Windows Vista Parental Controls Work?

The Parental Controls options can be enabled only for standard user accounts (since users with administrative privileges can change any settings). In order to apply them, Windows Vista takes advantage of NTFS features (An advanced file system designed for use specifically within the modern Windows operating systems).

Parental control options can be accessed through the Parental Controls Console in the Control Panel, and can be customized separately for every standard user account on the computer.

The most basic parental control feature is the Time Limits feature. Using Time Limits, you can block an account for certain periods of time; such as for every day of the week after 6pm. In the periods marked as blocked, logging in from that account will be impossible. During the periods marked as allowed, warnings will pop up 15 minutes and 1 minute before the users allowed access time expires.

Restricting the time when the computer is available is, however, only part of the story. For those who want to restrict Internet access, the Web Restrictions option allows users to block access, either to specific websites, or to a wider class of websites. In the latter case, the restrictions are imposed based on a set of parameters, or based on pre-defined restriction levels: High, Medium or None.

Internet content may not be the only one, which needs to be restricted. Game content, which is a major concern nowadays, can also be the basis for access restrictions. Access to games can be restricted based on the game's age rating. Several rating systems are available to choose from, depending on your location (e.g. ESRB in North America).

Following along the same line, Windows Vista also allows you to restrict access to programs. This can be done in one of two ways: by positive filtering (defining only a few programs that can be run) and by negative filtering (defining only a few programs that cannot be run, giving free access to any other).

In order to improve these settings and make sure that they are having the correct result, it is possible to monitor the individual computers usage quite precisely; by using the built in Activity Viewer. The Activity Viewer will give a detailed report of how the computer was used, allowing you to better adjust the settings and to better understand what your child is using the computer for.

Windows Vista also includes a special API that applications can use to achieve a better integration with the Parental Control system. Although a very good degree of integration is already in Windows Vista, Microsoft hopes to further improve it, and has opened it up to third party software developers.

Used with care, the Parental Controls system can prove to be a very important asset in protecting your children until they are old enough to make their own decisions.