Child-Friendly environment to protect parent's files.

How IdeaStorm Works:

Software Comments | Software Ideas

3760

Child-Friendly environment to protect parent's files.

3760 points posted to Software by lizblake 06/04/07 **REVIEWED**

After my child and his friend erased our family photos and somehow inverted the display of our family computer... I purchased a software program to give the kids the equivalent of a "gilded cage" to run only software and websites I approve. Similar software would make a great addition to the Dell home computer line-up and could be aimed at families with toddlers, daycare centers, churches, daycare centers, kindergartens, etc.

The software I purchased was called Peanut Butter PC [content removed by moderator] If you don't wish to develop your own, maybe you could license Peanut Butter PC... We absolutely love it.

Liz Blake

We constantly evaluate products that can improve data safety, Internet Safety and access controls. Read jeremy_f's post for more details, and stay tuned for additional enhancements.

badblood 06/04/07	...actually I just went to the site and it looks quite nice. Sorry for the demote. I acted too soon.
jorge 06/04/07	Well what are you doing letting your kid play with a computer that has important files you don't want deleted or modified? Do you let your kid play with the mortgage contract? What about your bank accounts? What about your wallet? We're not adding bloatware just so you can be careless. Who is this guy/gal?
badblood 06/04/07	You don't know who 'Liz Blake' is?
jorge 06/04/07	nope. But I have a good idea who they think they are.
henryharris 06/04/07	Actually, this seems like a great idea. I visited the website and you can use the software to configure a child's computer to start-up and shutdown in their kid-friendly environment. My kids want to emulate what their parents do and this seems like a brilliant idea. Jorge, I'm willing to bet you don't have kids :-)
badblood 06/04/07	me neither....just trying to make conversation really....
jorge 06/04/07	Kids! They're all over the fricken place! Ever remove dried jelly from a computer keyboard! Yea, me either just tossed it out. But guess what? They never get on my computer because its work! They have their own computer to screw up as they wish, I just insert the restore cd and its back to normal, so what if they lose their high scores, thats life. Did I mention they are on a DMZ network as well, no way am I catching those viruses and trojans and who knows whats infected those computers! Did I mention there's more than one, which kid wants to use the others grubby keyboard? Serenity NOW!
jmxz 06/04/07	jorge: "Well what are you doing letting your kid play with a computer that has important files you don't want deleted or modified" Why not - "chmod og-rwx" does a perfect job at making important files safe from kids playing on a computer - as well as keeping sensitive data on shared computers safe for many decades. What kind of OS would actually be so insecure as to enable one user from doing harm to another user's files, or, worse, the system itself? Just give the kids their own account and let the OS do it's job at keeping users from making unwanted changes that affect other users.
hotshotdj 06/04/07	After setting up the kids' accounts as noted by jmxz, you can install dansguardian to restrict their web browsing. This should be marked "already implemented."
abeatty 06/04/07	Peanut Butter PC is an absolute lifesaver. My kids use our home computer now without any worry of lost files from inadvertent mouse clicks.
jorge 06/04/07	chmod takes care of this too "Ever remove dried jelly from a computer keyboard! ", what parameters are you using to do that?
howitzer 06/04/07	We love Peanut Butter PC especially with the new browser function! 10 minutes of set up and our daughter has been worry free on our home computer and the internet. I can easily see this product being bundled as part of a Dell "Home Edition" software pack.
badblood 06/04/07	well yes I can see it bundled for people with kids. A lot of people don't have kids.
jorge 06/04/07	"A lot of people don't have kids." and thats a good thing!
hotshotdj 06/04/07	I don't understand... why is this necessary when the operating system, BY DEFAULT, takes care of preventing limited users (the kids) from touching anything outside of their own directory AND a Free/Open Source solution (dansguardian) is available for limiting their browsing? (Hold up -- I'm approaching this from the point of view of a proper operating system like Linux... are we talking about Windows??)
jorge 06/04/07	Can Peanut Butter PC prevent baloney from being inserted in the CD tray? Or chips in the floppy disk drive? Or legos in the USB/Firewire ports? Can it prevent a kid from pushing the power button and shutting the computer off or on? Can it prevent the laptop from being closed while a toy is still resting on the keyboard? Yea, don't think so. Your kids must not be curious or adventurous if not rebellious, are you sure they're not robots that look like kids?
badblood 06/04/07	A small sharp volt or two of electricity can prevent those things jorge. Pull out the earth and tape it to the computer case and that should keep your PC lego free.
mom4learning 06/04/07	Love the cookies above...makes me hungry!! I have installed this software and I am so happy with it. In reading the comments above, it seems as though Jorge has a very unruly household. My children (3) know better than to put bologna in the cd drive, because they know they are to eat in the kitchen and have been taught right from wrong. As for this software, I am very happy with it. I have a laptop from work that I use at home and my children are always begging to get on the computer. With peanut butter software, I know that all of my work files are safe! As for the internet, we are just starting to go there with our kids in that we know that they need to be properly educated about this vast new world. This software gives them a safe environment for them to discover what I have set up for them. This should come standard on every pc, considering I don't own my own pc, but use my work pc. It's up to adults to decide whether or not they should implement it....if not, then remove it. It seems as though Jorge needs super-nanny. My children are curious and adventurous, but within limits that we have set!
badblood 06/04/07	are you a cop!
mom4learning 06/04/07	Not a cop, just a parent trying to teach the lost art of manners.
jorge 06/04/07	Kids need space and plenty of it, restrictions lead to kids with no imagination later or worse criminals.
badblood 06/04/07	you sound like a cop. I'm with jorge.
robwalker 06/04/07	I had looked at Peanut Butter PC and Kiddesk some time ago and decided against both (Kiddesk was out-dated and out of production and Peanut Butter PC didn't allow for password protection at an individual child level). However, I just revisited the Peanut Butter site and see they have added the password protection to their latest release. My kids are nearly 6 now, but I just may go ahead and buy PB PC. As for some of the comments above, it sounds like you are scientists or something. As far as I'm concerned, "chmod og-rwx" might as well be "Alakazam" I have enough to worry about in life... I certainly don't need to set up a 38th parallel/DMZ in my house.
jmxz 06/04/07	robwalker: Yeah - probably need to explain the "chmod" kinda inside joke comment. It's referring to a 30+ year old capability unixes had that prevented things like viruses taking over computers, kids deleting parent's files, or, for that matter, even sophisticated hackers seeing things they shouldn't on shared computers. It's just a cheap shot at Windows for waiting until Vista for having security like other OS's had in the 1970s.
pam 06/05/07	Sounds like a neat idea.
henryharris 06/05/07	Spoke to someone who knew someone that says HP may already be looking at Peanut Butter PC for its SOHO computers. Of course this is like saying "My cousin's friend's sister told me" :-) Either way, it would be nice to own some shares of Peanut Butter (but I think their private) :-(
banjo8 06/06/07	No where does it say anything on the HP site. But, who cares. This is a Dell site. Maybe they can beat HP to the punch.
techno 06/06/07	What a funny name for a software company?!? Are all the domain names taken in this world? Looks interesting though, I give this idea a thumbs up. Maybe we can get our kids on computers early enough to actually have a technical advantage in this world.
davidmrochko 06/11/07	Great Idea.
ayeohx 06/18/07	Wow, almost demoted because I distrust crappy software like Net Nanny and such but this is some pretty cute software. I don't know if Dell could offer it as a preinstall but adding a recommendation on thier site would be nice. I'll promote your idea Liz.
yertthedestroyer 07/01/07	Windows Vista comes with this feature.
erickelman 07/05/07	Yeah, that's like saying Vista defrags your harddrive or burns CD's. I think the Vista feature is okay, but requires a lot of interaction to do what Peanut Butter PC. I would like to see it pre-installed as an option when checking out. Only really needed for children's computers, classroom computers, library computers, church computers, and parent computers. No need to bog down business computers with more pre-installs. But don't get me wrong... I'm all for this software!
dave8555 07/09/07	Step One: Buy the software Step Two: Install the software Problem solved. Why does everyone expect Dell to give them the option to add the software to the computer at time of sale, especially when this is why operating systems support multiple user accounts with different privilege levels. Failure to learn how to operate a machine you purchased is not the fault of the Dell.
viableoptions 07/10/07	Step 1: download and burn one of the FREE Linux distros at livecdlist.com Step 2: reboot from windoze into the livecdrom. Options: Find a Dell computer in a thrift shoppe or from a refurbisher ( I like http://cheaptronicsdepot.com near my home in Casselberry, Florida, starting at $59! ). Boot the Mepis Live CDrom, click on the INSTALL icon.
biguser 07/10/07	Dave8555 / viableoptions... Do you truly believe you represent the masses? Dell makes money by catering to users who don't want to learn about Least-privilege User Accounts, Linux distros, and software downloads. It's a matter of econmonics. We know more than the masses, but that doesn't mean we are the largest or ideal customer-base.
tomcidar 07/20/07	parental controls don't lock out the multimedia keys, Alt-Tab,Alt-F4,Alt-Esc,the Windows Key,Ctrl-Alt-Del, CD autorun, right clicking, and make your computer friendly enough for a 3 yearold. That's why I use Peanut Butter PC!
erwin 07/22/07	People seem pretty polarized regarding this idea. I understand both camps point of view. However, I lean towards the specalty software solution because its so inexpensive, looks like kids would love it, and requires absolutely no work on my part. Seems like a pretty cool solution... Gets my vote/digg.
jillfrock 07/27/07	Is the child-friendly browser as good as they claim? I've tried everything under the sun and I just dont think people consider toddlers when they make their software. I can keep my kids off certain sites no problem, but I have to always be right there to solve every little issue... Pet peeve: right click menus! Argh!!!
jorge 07/27/07	What now the internet is the toddlers babysitter? Just record your browsing history and replay it on a monitor for them, thats safe.
marzetti 07/27/07	Sorry, had to demote this one. Data backup is the most simple solution ever. Back it up! :-) HD's are CHEAP right now! lol As for user access? Vista is basically the answer to this.
wraithfive 07/27/07	I totally agree that kids need to be able to use the computer without their parents having to worry about what they might find online or that they might damage the software and data on the system. That being said I don't think any pre-installed software is the answer for several reasons. 1.) Parents should be responsible and be monitoring their children when they are watching tv or playing with the computer. If the parent is not available then the computer should be put away safely out of the children's reach or if it can't be moved (ie. a Desktop system) it should be turned off and prevented from booting by a STRONG bios password that is changed often. 2.) All major OSes these days (Windows, Mac, and Linux) allow you to have seperate accounts. You can make these accounts limited so that children can't change settings or delete another user's files. 3.) See number 1.
jmxz 07/27/07	@jorge: "What now the internet is the toddlers babysitter?" Actually it works quite well. And if you explain to toddlers that there's "yucky" stuff online that they don't want to look at; and show them how to close a window when they find some, they'll avoid most objectionable stuff themselves. @jorge: "Just record your browsing history and replay it on a monitor for them, thats safe." You're kidding, right?
jorge 07/27/07	Yea, most toddlers know the difference between good and bad, their not fetuses anymore. Yes you can record a history path and guide them through an entertaining browse, just easy on the flashing lights pages or you'll be in trouble.
tombell 07/27/07	Wow, I knew this site had a lot of Linux nerds, but you guys take the cake. You've probably never kissed a girl, let alone have children. I challenge you guys to setup a computer with Vista for a toddler and see how long until they get stuck in the desktop properties, task manager, or openned the "View Source" on a website. I've done it and no, you don't need special software, but you do need to spend hours crossing your T's and dotting your I's. Basically, you need a good knowledge of group olicies, a registry referrence guide and a good deal of creative thinking to make a computer into an educational "Appliance." I use the word appliance, because that's what you want for your children, something they can turn on and off and just use as expected. Ever wonder why they make child-friendly remote controls? Because a kid will press a button if it's there. Oh and the comment, "Just watch your kids" comes up a lot in this thread... I have 5 and when one is on the computer and the others are playing in seperate rooms, you're playing "zone coverage"... not as easy as you think. Spend more time on dating sites and less time on Dell IdeaStorm and you might find out one day :-)
jennyr 07/27/07	Wow, Tom... don't blow a gasket. I feel your pain, though. I read the posts and recently bought Peanut Butter PC for my daughters. I have to say, it's a lot cheaper than hirering the Best Buy GeekSquad to update my computer. Oh JillForck, I think the browser is great. It is full screen and has only 3 buttons... back, forward and quit. And it even blocks the right-clicking you dislike so much. Good luck... Tom, I promoted the idea just to make you feel better :-)
jervis961 07/27/07	Wow this thread is funny. I too find it funny that people who don't want Dell to waste time making computers safer for kids are the same ones who complain they need Dell to preinstall Linux so it will be easier. Everyone turns a blind eye to kids until their house gets toilet papered. ;)
superdave 07/27/07	Hey JennyR, were your really thinking about "hirering" the geeksquad? I really hope you just made a typo... for your kid's sake. Anyway, I agree with Jervis961... You people are nutts. (Promoting)
marzetti 07/27/07	You dont need to modify security policies to lock other users out of system properties. Google the how-to's on sharing picture folders. You can setup a guest account, and share the pictures folder as read only. All can be set from the folder options.
jmxz 07/27/07	jervis961: "I too find it funny that people who don't want Dell to waste time making computers safer for kids are the same ones who complain they need Dell to preinstall Linux so it will be easier." Just in case that was directed at me (I resemble your remark anyway)... ...I wasn't saying Dell shouldn't do this (I even voted for it). All I wanted to say is that my experience suggests that people shouldn't underestimate how much they can teach their kid to do many of these things they want software for. My 3-year old knows not to click "yes" on "do you want to run this .exe" [just in case the viruses work under Wine]; close popups; close offensive windows; and ask me when he gets stuck.
jervis961 07/28/07	I wasn't directing it towards you jmxz. I agree with teaching the kids ourselves too, I just hate when people go bashing an idea like this. What is wrong with making a program like that? If you don't want it don't buy it but alot of people would as can be seen by the votes. Also what good would it have done for the poster to teach his kid more when his friend could have been the one to trash the system.
rotthund 07/30/07	Set up a local policy to hide and disable the control panel applets and give the kids seperate limited accounts....and backup, backup, backup. Software can't protect like keeping the computer away from kids.
dundermiflin 07/31/07	Hi Rotthund, I think "Software can't protect like keeping the computer away from kids" seems to miss the point of this thread. People want to get their kids onto computers as early as possible. Since we don't build anything in the U.S.A. anymore, we need to keep our only advantage going... technology. If we don't raise some computer savvy kids, we're all doomed.
cyrilslupe 08/02/07	Is there a trial available for this software? I don't see anything on their site or on Download.com.
toonsis 08/02/07	I spoke to someone at Peanut Butter and they have a trial but there doesn't seem to be a link to it via their webpages. He told me to http://www.peanutbuttersoftware.com/Downloads/220trialDownload.zip< unzip into a folder and run setup.exe (it'll give you 15-days to try it).
boxxertrumps 08/02/07	If you want to stop your kids from killing your comp... #1: Install Linux. ANY Linux distro will do. #2: Make a separate account for the adults and the kids. #3: ?????? #4: Profit.
jorge 08/02/07	No-OS is child super friendly!
dell_admin3 08/06/07	Changed status to UNDER REVIEW.
kalstolyn 08/06/07	Instead of using a third party application, put your kids on limited user accounts and password protect your files. The last thing we need is more trialware shipping on Dell computers. How about Dell puts some information on the setup screen where you get to set up your accounts so that you can choose which ones are limited right off the bat instead of everyone having full admin rights?
premcv 08/06/07	Agree with, kalstolyn. And more so with Vista, what with all the UAC and password protection and stuff.
kensuader 08/06/07	I don't think it should be trialware, but rather an option like MSWorks vs. MSOffice. If you know you're going to have kids on the computer, it would be great to have a program to manage everything for you. I tend to agree with TomBell above. The number of things I would like to lock down is pretty lengthy. For example, how do I remove the ability to right click on the Start Button and Explore the harddrive... I'm guessing this is somewhere in the Registry? Ken
jorge 08/06/07	I think most adults should be required to use it.
premcv 08/06/07	yes. Most adults should.
winoffice 08/07/07	You do not necessarily need to download that to restrict what your children can do. If you have Windows Vista, you can do the same thing: run only those programs and display only those websites that you approve. Also, you can make your documents private, so that only you can see them. See the book Microsoft Windows Vista Plain and Simple from Microsoft Press for more information.
premcv 08/07/07	Spot on, winoffice.
randomthoughts 08/07/07	winoffice, I followed your advice, but I need some help... How do I: - lock down the right-clicking on websites... My kids seem to click both buttons all the time. - Prevent shutdown of the computer (I may allow them to use another account, but I don't want to have my running apps shutdown) - Hide the Start button - What kensauder mentioned... prevent exploring the HDD from the start button - remove the right click from the desktop and icons. Don't want properties to be played with... display settings, etc. - Keep them out of the Task Manager... This looks like a Registry edit, but I can't get it to work on Vista. - Keep them from running more than one app at a time (They will click off the window and get lost) - Remove the "system" icons from the desktop... I can get most, but not all. - Do I have to make folders private or each document (as I create them?) - How do I hide the application bar? - Lastly, can I write a script or macro do do all the above? I would also like to do the same for my Sunday School computers. Thanks in advance!
randomthoughts 08/07/07	Just reread some of the comments above and had a couple more questions... - How do I lock down the DVD/CD-ROM AutoPlay for just one Windows Account, but not others? - Can the multimedia buttons be turned off for certain windows accounts, but not others? - Is there a way to prevent USB devices from launching programs? If they attach an iPod, can you block iTunes from launching? - How do you stop the pop-ups (e.g. the desktop clean-up wizard, antivirus, email messages, windows updates, etc.) I'm afraid they might click on the little yellow messages. That's it, promise... Again, thanks in advance winoffice... I'm trying to avoid forking out money for this.
henryokeiff 08/07/07	randomthoughts, not for nothing... but isn't your time worth more this product? Plus, if it's like other kids's software... it's not copy protected, so you could probably just copy it onto the Sunday School computers.
winoffice 08/07/07	Dear randomthoughts, This is something more administrative than my book (Microsoft Windows Vista Plain & Simple from Microsoft Press, namely) covers. I in any case was planning to get a more advanced book on the subject, Microsoft Windows Vista Inside Out from Microsoft Press, namely), and hopefully, I will find out how to do so. I fear that the scripting is not covered, and thus I will look for a book on Windows scripting. Most public libraries have the restrictions that you suggested, so I can probably do the same, if only I knew how....Anyway, thanks for your questions. Although I cannot guarantee that I will have answers for everything, nor can I promise that they will work or be correct, as I am more of an intermediate administrator than an advanced one, not to mention that I am not yet an advanced programmer, I will try to answer your questions the best I can and as soon as possible. Anyway, I am certain that you can write scripts/macros that can do such things in VBScript.
kalstolyn 08/08/07	You may need to actually do a registry hack and change some policy keys in order to do what you want there.
jenniferhart 08/08/07	Good idea
twocows 08/08/07	Ever think of giving them a limited account? It's not that hard. Of course, on Windoze, they won't be able to do almost anything. I heard the next version of Micros**t Windoze is going to have a sandbox built in that might have this sort of functionality.
glennforman 08/09/07	According to Business Week, it looks like HP is now committed to a child-friendly operating environment... according to Sean Patterson, senior product manager for consumer desktops at HP. http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2007/tc2007087_437013.htm?c...
kalstolyn 08/09/07	If you have enough RAM, you could install Virtual PC on your computer and just let your kids go wild on a virtual machine... it doesn't touch your main OS.
pennygarver 08/10/07	Interesting.
jmxz 08/10/07	@kalstolyn: Wouldn't that require an additional windows (or software vendor of your choice) license?
kalstolyn 08/10/07	Yep. It's either that or configure your computer so that it netboots the OS and loads it directly into RAM, giving you a clean OS every time, and keep your actual documents on a seperate password protected server. I'm pretty sure that's way beyond the average user.
dell-aware 08/14/07	Anyone know if the HP notebooks will be kid friendly, or just the desktops?
willow 08/14/07	@dell-aware You do realize this is a DELL web site? Why not ask what kid-friendly notebooks DELL offers! Besides, HPs stink
christiangarwood 08/21/07	Looks like a lot of family/child friendly ideas on this board. I like them. Good thinking. A lot of us early Geeks are now with offspring... party's over :-)
tomkesler 08/22/07	Got my vote.
jdelidc 08/22/07	make sure it's optional. back in 95 i got a packard bell with navigator on it. it drove me nuts until i saw how to keep it from starting
ron.calhoon 08/23/07	Agreed. Would be cool to be able to get it configured for "Family Use" when ordering. You pick the games pre-installed and this Peanut Butter PC software to manage it all.
yesmathew 08/24/07	Great idea! Ubuntu does it already. Just create a separate use account for your child. Buy Ubuntu Dell computer, a child safe computer :)
kalstolyn 08/24/07	Or just use the parental controls in Vista to decide which programs your child's account has access to, and turn on password protection on your own files...
jdelidc 08/24/07	i'm happy to say i no longer HAVE vista (and will never get it back) but it can control where you can go and what you can do
jdelidc 08/24/07	no. but between vista being hard to use and having it on a sucky computer, it became a horrible nightmare. (it was a gateway laptop)
jdelidc 08/24/07	actually you're not too far off. i knew when i bought it that gateway sucks
ron.calhoon 08/24/07	kalstolyn,.chris, I'm curious about the issues "randomthoughts" raised. Does Vista cover all these bases? I like the idea of running Virtual PC. Does it use a lot of memory? Can you boot directly into it?
jdelidc 08/24/07	i was an idiot that day @ ron.calhoon : virtual PC uses whatever memory the guest OS needs. so if you got vista running and wanted to run XP on top of vista, you would need the 1g for vista + the 256 for XP. i have not been able to boot directly into it. and about vista-- when you want to do an administrative task, it prompts you to confirm (if admin) or type the password (everyone else) and blocks you out of other user's folders (except admin)
lenacook 08/28/07	Glad this is "under review"
twocows 09/01/07	I still hold to my comment that you could just establish a guest account for your children. I personally would have no reason to use such a feature. However, as long as it doesn't slow my computer down, I'm fine with it.
bren50c 09/05/07	as long as this does not come pre-installed by default, its a good idea. As long as those that want it can select it as an option when ordering their dell because I think the majority of us dont need this kind of software preinstalled and bloating up the pc startup.
winoffice 11/25/07	I read lots of books but no words on how to do what randomthoughts asked for. I actually think that it might be easier to use a third-party utility (like the Peanut Butter PC program mentioned in the idea) until Microsoft develops a comparable program that I thus far could not find from Microsoft.
jrbenning 12/05/07	This thing has been Under Review for some time. What's the outcome? DOA?
jeremy_f Apr 10	We agree that child safety issues are very important, and industry-wide there is room for improvement. We constantly evaluate products that can improve data safety, Internet Safety and access controls. Specific to protecting files, Vista does have a straightforward user account creation as well as parental control functionality. Creating a separate user account as a “limited users” for children, implementing passwords and activating parental controls will go a long way toward protecting your files (click here to learn more). As for parental controls, all our security partners’ products have additional functionality to block inappropriate sites. Finally, our DataSafe product allows customers to back-up critical files. As new Dell action happens on this topic, we will update the community.
jervis961 Apr 10	Thanks jeremy_f nice to see some feedback on this one.
kara_k Apr 11	Changed status to REVIEWED.

Please log in to post a comment

last 100 promotions:

recently demoted by:

Status

IdeaStorm Team

How IdeaStorm Works:

Categories

Status

IdeaStorm Team