I deleted my first question as am very proud of myself that I have deliberately nuked and rebuilt my son's hard drive succesfully this morning!!!!

Next question:
I am not being a cheap skate (although money IS tight at the moment as it is for everyone)

but is there a free piece of web-filtering software to safeguard a child who surfs on his own? (he does this all the time for school homework)

I know there are ones you pay for like Net Nanny but I use AVG free virus protection and it is just as good as expensive ones so wondered if the same existed for web filtering??

Thanks in advance!

Dubya da Bee

Thank you for that Gizmo- will go and look

He's 9 now so not a baby any more but still very sweetly naive about sex etc so I'm happy he stays that way for a while!

Wendy

Thanks Shawn

That sounds good as the trouble with software is that I know a lot of it isn't very sophisticated about what it blocks e.g. anything with the word "adult" or "sex" in it gets blocked which would actually not be very helpful for homework as perfectly useful and acceptable scientific sites will have those words in.

I read somewhere that there is a programme which blocks "flesh" photos but am again not sure if that is really practical.

Thanks for all your help guys- it was easier when he was younger as we were always with him when he used the PC, but that just can't be the case any more

Wendy

Thank you so much for the help everyone.

I am WELL chuffed with myself as this kind of thing doesn't come easy to me although I know it isn't that hard for others. I have nuked son's PC hard drive and rebuilt it from scratch today. Reloaded all the software, set up wireless keyboards and mouse, connected to the Internet via wireless, installed virus protection, installed Macafee software and connected via OpenDNS as Shawn suggested so that he can't porn surf too easily etc etc etc

It has taken all day but I can't believe I did it! Husband was going to pay someone but that would have cost a fair bit we don't have

Shall stop being big headed now but I have just tried quite hard to access some porn sites and find porn photos and beyond a few slightly graphic medical photos of dodgy botty conditions Internet Explorer wouldn't show them!!!

Hurrah!

Thanks all

p.s. Have posted again as the FREE combination of AVG, Macafee and OpenDNS seems to be doing a very good job so far and this may help others.

What I can not understand is why you need three programs to do what McAfee can do. All of theese functions are in the McAfee internt security suite 6 program including a surf watch aplication.

Rolo..

McAfee is the biggest virus of them all (possibly Norton is worse).  Glad it's working for you, but I have had to rebuild at least 20 machines that had McAfee installed.  It is a false sense of security.

But you just said you have McAfee loaded. What a free version? and for what reason if you are using AVG?

I know this sounds nuts, but if you are using OpenDNS, and you have enough sense to NOT blindly run downloads from the internet, you will find it hard to get infected.  You avoid the 'drive'by' infections because OpenDNS won't let you go there.

If you are letting him download music of any kind from P2P sites (bit torrent, limelight, etc) you are screwed... just don't let that happen.

I set up my daughter on Dans Guardian. It blocked everything bad, and you can add specific sites like myspace for total blocking. Of course I doubt this will work on a Microsoft Windows operating system but if you someday switch your child to a more secure platform you will know there is  an option.

There maybe a Squid proxy based program for windows but you would have to search for it, my quick search turned up nothing.

It is good to see you on again Wendy.

Paul

Paul is right, a proxy using Dans Guardian is a pretty good defense.

However, I made this rule stick at my house... If you click on it, it better not be a virus, cause if Daddy has to rebuild your system, it's going to remain 'in the queue' for a few months.  One incident was enough to motivate them both to learn how to avoid getting infections.

I know it's a little Machiavellian, but sometimes you gotta play the trump card to make them learn.

-Shawn

  Shawn knows more about a MS Windows machine than I ever will. Since I left the PC side of the platform some time ago. But one thing I do know is that McCafee has not been able to pass the Quarterly Security Book test for the last year and a half. Actually they have just refused to be bothered with it. Saying it is unnecessary. I would remove it from your system.
  There are a couple of LUGs near where you live that would be happy to help you change from MS Windows, to another Windows enviroment. I like Fedora 9 Linux with KDE Windows on it. Looks really pretty. Sort of like Vista. Only faster, no virii, doesn't crash and has shed loads of kids games and educational games.
  OK enough with the Linux evangelizing. Sounds like you've done a bang up good job to me so far. If it turns out I can help with anything. Give a shout.

Kirk wrote on Sep 2^nd, 2008 at 1:07am:


Geek speak interpretation:

LUG = Linux user group

A quick search brought up this Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or

They help with installs during their meetings, some LUG's have an install fest to help many people at the same time. It is something to remember if Microsoft windows ever becomes unbearable.

Personally I think you should should stay with Microsoft windows. You will learn a lot more with a hard to maintain system than with one that is easy.


Paul