Software Question

Given that software can usually be turned off with a quick press of ctrl-alt-delete, and anything that can't is likely to do truly horrid things to your computer, a "hardware" solution may be better.

Depending on how your internet is configured, you could do something like attaching the modem/router to a timer switch. I think that some routers even have the ability to restrict connections based on times as part of their content filtering settings. If the internet is turned off, you will probably find that your daughter quickly loses interest in the isolated computer.

If she is sufficently savvy to steal the neighbours wifi you may have bigger problems.

You're best solution is to use firewall logging/blocking at the router end. some thing like a Netgear DG840 would allow you to have a list of filtered sites and then allow you to filter out sites at specific times and days(I think will double check) Also depending on what type of OS you are using you could create a script that shuts down the machine at a specific time. The best way to stop the CTRL ATL DEL stopping of apps is to create an admin account and then using Local Policy block access to the CTRL ATL DEL options and the task manager. This will stop anyone shutting down applications and proccesses with out permissions.

(Sorry about the length I'm on a MS course ATM!!!!!)

Apart from setting a timer into the power supply, I wonder if it is possible to organise a timer for logout? As main User you can set up passwords to log in for each User and then it may be possible to shut down your daughter as a User using your command controls. Or is this giiberish?

I wonder if the electrical input can be wired directly to a timer so avoiding pulling the plug and plugging it in elsewhere?

OS = Operating system

A timer on the plug won't do anything because if she can work a computer she will figure out how to take off the plug e.t.c

I suggest you hit her with taking the internet down.
I.E Go into the room take the Router/Modem out if it's external and running away with it.

If shes on wifi i suggest setting the password to connect at your own choice ******** whatever for example. So say at 1am when your off to bed cut the power to the wifi/modem.
That way even if she connects it back up she will have a password to face.

Or if that fails, just bung the WIFI in your bedroom, so you can turn it off there.

If all this fails, phone up BT and get an Internet timer/cut off. That way the internet shuts off at such and such.

i agree with james

Guys, before Alan gets back I think it's fair to say you don't realize how old said daughter is. Some of the ideas may be appropriate for a 12-13 yr old, but that is way off the actual.

Open notepad.

Type in:

at 04:00 shutdown /l /t:20 "Time for bed." /y /c
exit

(copy paste should work fine)

- Save this as "schedule.bat", somewhere where she's not going to find it easily. Try C:\Program Files, for example.

Here's what the switches do:

/l (that's a lower case letter L) - selects the local machine to shut down
/t:20 "message" - 20 seconds, you can change the message if required
/y - answers "yes" to any prompts that may appear at shutdown. Some programs will ask "are you sure you want to quit", for example.
/c - Force a shutdown if a program is not responding.

So, you now have a script that will shut down the computer at 04:00, showing a little message at the same time. Here's how to implement it.

- Right-click on the Start button, choose "Explore All Users"
- Go to the Startup Folder
- Right click, choose "New" then "Shortcut".
- Browse to C:\Program Files\schedule.bat (or wherever you stored it). Click on the actual file, then OK, then Next.
- On the next screen, you can give it a name so as not to make it obvious what it is - doesn't really matter what you call it, it's just a shortcut.

At the specified time, the PC will automatically shut down, closing all current programs and forcing them to close if necessary.

Restart the computer. When she logs in, the script will run, and at the specified time, the computer will shut down. Combine that with a BIOS password as has already been suggested and away you go.

However, this can be overruled in two ways:
1) schedule.bat could be deleted or altered
2) the shortcut on the start menu can be deleted.

So, here's an alternative to the startup folder method - it involves editing the registry, and if you mess with the registry in the wrong way, you can screw over your entire computer. You might want to set a System Restore point first.

Go to:
Start > Run
Type "regedit" (without the quotes) and hit enter.

Navigate your way to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
SOFTWARE
Microsoft
Windows
Current Version
Run

- When you click on "Run", you'll see some of the stuff that starts when your computer does, on the right hand side.
- Right click in an empty area on the right.
- Choose "New" then "String Value".
- Give it a name - anything you want, within reason. "Shutdown Timer" would do well enough, tho it's a bit obvious. Press Enter to confirm the name.
- Double-click on the name (or right click on it and choose "Modify"), and a box will appear, titled "Edit String".
- In the "Value data" field, put in the exact path to the schedule.bat file you created earlier, for example "C:\Program Files\schedule.bat". Include the quote marks, just to be sure.
- Click OK, then close the registry editor.
- Restart the computer.

There's no reason she should need to be in the registry, so deleting this would prove she's been digging around looking for it, and has been messing around in areas of the computer that she probably shouldn't be messing around with!

There's a couple of ways of getting around this;
1) Delete schedule.bat
2) Delete the registry entry
3) Use MSCONFIG to prevent schedule.bat from loading at start time
4) Restart the computer at 03:58 - Windows will take a couple of minutes to load, so the script may not get run until 04:02, at which point it will schedule itself to run at 04:00 the next morning.

Hope this is of help!