"Time lock" software for windows?

[TechnicalFreak]

Hi

Ok, a friend of mine has this problem, his kid (13 years) skips school just so he can play WoW.. Now, his father (my friend) want's to "lock" the computer to a certain time.

I.e. : The software is set to lock out anyone except the person who has the password. The timer can be set so after say 14:00 the computer works as "normal" and anyone can use it.

Is there any software that can do the above, and where to find/download it. It doesn't matter if it's freeware or Try before you Buy software, as long as it can be used on Vista.
(I have tried to search, but don't know what to type to find the right stuff..)

Also if there is any way to just lock the game World of Warcraft from being used from a certain time, even that would help a lot I think , but best would be so Vista can't be used at all during a certain time...

The system is using Windows Vista (home edition I guess..)


Thankful for any replies given.

 

[xu^]

dont think ive ever heard of software to do want u want tbh.

only thing i can suggest is puting a password on windows itself or setting pw via the bios so he cannot even start the PC.
of course he wont be able to use the pc at all untill the father types in the PW for him,so he`s basically stuffed from playing wow untill he's told he can.

not ideal but at least he will soon learn that skipping school wont help as he cant get on the pc anyway.

 

[bassmasta]

I think he should create a new user. he can then right-click WOW and set permissions, so that only his user can play it, and log on when he gets home. As far as I know, there are no time-based apps. Or he could just get rid of WOW, as it obviously is having a negative impact on his kid.



edit: Even better still, send me the pc, and I'll send a compaq that can't play any games, just so this kid won't get addicted to anything else available over the net.

 

[Deleted member 3]

Active directory, though that's a bit over the top

 

[TechnicalFreak]

Active directory, though that's a bit over the top

Do you mean this : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_Directory
What's the command in Vista??

 

[Darknova]

There is a really obscure command that you can do from the command line that makes it so a certain user account can only log on during certain times.

Also, I remember my friend's dad used a program called WinLock I think. It could lock out certain programs, make it so you could only log on for a certain amount of time. That kind of thing.

 

[Namslas90]

It's built into both XP and Vista. It's called Parental Controlls.

Link to Vista Explaination ; http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/features/details/parentalcontrols.mspx

 

[Lazzer408]

If my kid doesn't listen I'll kick his ass or have him arested. No reason kids need to be ditching school to play a game. Call truancy to pick him up. I'm just one against 'building a fence' because someone else can't follow rules. =) If you insist on putting up the fence here is a $9 program to do it. http://rbytes.net/software/hillyheights-lockout-review/ or a free one http://www.sofotex.com/ChildCentre-download_L11240.html I haven't personally tried either.

 

[TechnicalFreak]

Hey all of you.. Thanks, thanks so very much! There is nothing more worse than your own kids having a bad education, and me who know's how hard it is to even get a decent job in this country...

 

[Lazzer408]

Hey all of you.. Thanks, thanks so very much! There is nothing more worse than your own kids having a bad education, and me who know's how hard it is to even get a decent job in this country...

Yup. Bush fucked it up even more. The country is on a perpetually accelerating downward spiral and it's only a matter of time untill we give China enough of our money to afford to bomb us.

I've been looking into parental controls for XP and haven't found anything usefull. Vista on the other hand has parental controls.

 

[Namslas90]

I've been looking into parental controls for XP and haven't found anything usefull. Vista on the other hand has parental controls.

Yeah it's diff on Xp you need to download "Windows Live One Care Family", and it is not as good as P-Control in Vista;

http://www.microsoft.com/protect/products/family/onecarefamilysafety.mspx

 

[AsRock]

I use my Firewall which is Outpost Pro v4 Firewall. It allows me to lock any program i want. BUT if you can get used to it it does shed loads of other stuff.

http://www.agnitum.com/products/outpost/download.php

Outpost Pro 2008 ( there still adding stuff to it. ) is not as good as Outpost Firewall Pro 4.0 yet. So v4.0 is the way to go.

EDIT: you can set times for each app on a computer when it's allowed or not allowed to connect to the internet.

If you want pics on what i mean let me know but there is not much this firewall cannot do.

 

[Lazzer408]

Your BIOS doesn't have power on/off times does it? I have that on my board. Thought I'd mention it.

 

[ktr]

I say that Asrock has the idea. Most routers should have the ability to restrict ports during certain times of the day (I know dlink does, and i believe others do to). All you do is block the WoW ports during school hours.

 

[Thermopylae_480]

If you have a decent enough router you can set times when the computer can access the network.

 

[Deleted member 3]

Do you mean this : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_Directory
What's the command in Vista??

There is no such thing in Vista. It only exist in Windows server. Hence being a bit over the top.
Though user accounts in the AD can simply be limited to logon hours.