I'm sure this is a basic question, but I've never had to do anything like this before.

Today I set up a user account (Win XP) for my 5 yr old daughter so she has her own login and such. She's marked as a "limited user" instead of "administrator", but she still has access to the C: drive, and I don't want her to screw anything up.

How can I restrict her access to the C: drive?

Break one of her fingers every time you catch her doing it.

Right click, Folder Properties. If I recall, you can set who can access the C: folder.

But I'm on Vista, so I can't go check to be sure.

XP has that, but you have to enable the options I think.

Is it XP Home or Pro? If it's pro you can use GPEdit to create a policy that applies to the limited user group to deny access to write to C.

This would only apply to network sharing, and not local access. C is available to all users as a central repository for storing files. The only way to change that is with a restrictive policy or with 3rd party parental control software on XP.

On Vista, the parental control software that's built in also has this feature.

You know, if you don't let your kids **** around on your computer and **** it all up, they'll never really learn how to use it. Half of finding out how to use a computer is searching in how to fix it--and trust me, if you break a 500+ dollar machine you'll try to fix it as fast as possible before your parents got home.

How I learned most of what I know in using windows *shrug*.

In all fairness we all learned on Windows 98. Which routinely broke itself without user intervention.

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

This will solve all your problems. Your kid will hate you for it.

That's pretty sweet...I'm surprised that I haven't heard of it yet!

Most helpful post ever for a guy who is trying to prevent a five year old child from deleting/corrupting critical data.

Yeah, I'm not sure why it isn't promoted more heavily. But it's really powerful, stupidly easy to use, and highly recommended by the folks at SH/SC.

That's how most of us learned, including me. However, until I build a simple machine for the kids to use, I don't want them screwing up my PC. When they have their own to use, they can screw it up all they want, and I'll just write an image file over it or something.

But for now, we only have one PC, and I rule it with an iron fist.

DL'ing SteadyState now. Looks useful.

If it's really CRITICAL it should be backed up. This I also learned at a very young age. Harddrives can die any time.

And seeing as how you didn't grow up with a computer and, I assume, are one of those users who barely know how to use the one they own now, I don't think you could relate/comment in all fairness.


Fair enough I just figured you may not know that, and growing up til you're 16 without knowing how to use a computer in this day and age...well it'd be suicidal for your career.

If a file doesn't exist in 2 places or more, it might as well not exist.

lol yo mama exists in two places at once or more.

She must because you keep saying you got with her last night when I know I wasn't running a train on any females last night. So either you're lying or she broke the space-time continuum.

More like I broke yo mama.

All valid points

Damn! Burnsauce!

Give me a break. He is trying to introduce his five year old to the computer and simply wants to protect his hdd from unnecessary damage.

I know exactly what you're talking about when it comes to learning about ****ing up your computer. I learned that way too. A couple fond memories of mine, in this regard, are learning how to write autoexec.bat's to get old dos games, specififally X-Wing Collector's CD-ROM, to run on my Windows 95 machine. Or when I had to search Compuserve to find out how to get my Microsoft Sidewinder 3D Pro to work with TIE Fighter CD-ROM and then search for how to use the .zip file I found and then search for how to use the command line PK Unzip program.

My first computer was a Timex Sinclair 1000, then a Tandy Color Computer 2, I took a computer programming class in the ninth grade (1985) and then purchased, as an adult, my first real computer circa 1995. Of course I have and still do own several at this moment in time and have had to do various tweaking to them all.

So while I am sure that I am far from the genious expert you are with computers why in the hell would you off handedly dismiss any knowledge I might have about computers without even knowing me? Especially when someone my age has probably spent much more of their life around them than a younger person such as yourself.

Anudder question:

Even when she is set as Admin (w/o SteadyState running), she can't open her My Documents folder. It says it's restricted.

Where do I "unrestrict" it?

Oh, and as far as wrecking computers, my first experience was with Windows 3.0 and I was in DOS and saw all these files with gibberish names like "autoexec" and "config.sys" and stuff, so I deleted that crap off the drive. Space was premium then when the newest HDD were 40mb. I thought I was doing a good thing... until the next reboot...

For the same reason you're saying I'm not being helpful at all? I was offering advice, and if he didn't want to take it fine. He didn't need to, I understand, etc.

Also, length of experience != knowledge. I know a lot more about modern day computers than my friend's dad who's worked for NCR since he was 21, and he's 57. It's all in how much information you're willing to soak in and how much free time you have.

And I take my assumption from the **** you've posted beforehand, and the amount I extrapolate you actually know about computers therein. Same as I do with almost everyone. It helps so when they ask a question you know what level you can talk to them on instead of losing them in the technobabble.

I grew up using Windows 3.1. I used it as early as 3.


Yes, I used a computer at age 3. I also never messed it up. Apparently I realized the pwnage of a computer at such a young age, before I could even read. That, or I just pwn.

Reid2.0

...huh?

Right click on her my documents folder, go to properties. Go to the security tab, and make sure her account has full control.

Stupid advice. Implying that it would be best that he allow a five year old to mess up the computer so she can figure out how to fix it on her own ranks among the dumbest things you have ever posted.



Well, duh. But apparently you know him well enough to figure that out. Something you don't know about me.



What **** have I posted about computers to make you think I don't know anything about them? In fact, when I post about anything it is quite obvious that I am conversant in the subject unless I state that it is a subject I am not versant in.

Not really. Ghost your setup, which takes maybe an hour, and then you can restore it later. No harm no foul. It's not like you can fry the hardware through the software (unless you get into overclocking and...well...she's five. C'mon.) Sorry, but it's not dumb--from what I can tell from what everyone else says it seems like common practice.


Trust me, just from your posts I can tell the general level of your knowledge.


I never said you weren't technically apt at all, just that you aren't quite as technically apt as you think you are. Now just admit your shortcoming and be done with it. I can't kill innocent iraqis, you can't troubleshoot a broken computer, we all have our differences.

That's why I'm having trouble giving access. There is no security tab.

This whole permissions arena is a foreign land to me.

There is no security tab on Windows XP Home UNLESS you boot into Safe mode.

However you can hax one in by installing the Windows NT security tab addon. It works just fine under XP.

I have no clue what the filename is now or the name of it or where to download it. I'll take a look and see if I can find it.

Found it: http://www.jsifaq.com/SF/Tips/Tip.aspx?id=9162

Yeah, you and carpking both.

Security tab on XP Home*: <3



* - Your XP Home may not look as awesome as mine, with my Vista-ish Visual Style which both looks like Vista and yet lacks the SLOW.

But I'm using XP Pro version 2002 SP2!

I do beleive it will be the same.

Ah, found. Simple File Sharing was turned on. Turning it off revealed the Security tab.

Why again arn't you just backing up and letting her break it?

Maybe because.. He doesn't WANT to?

When the kids get their "own" machine, they will be free to screw it up.

I think I mentioned that before the flame war started.

Also, the restricted access was a result of the SteadyState proggy. The C: drive was "hidden", and in essence, restricted any access to anything on it while in her account.

Oh, so you suggested that he should Ghost his setup in your first post. Oh, no, that's right. You suggested his five year old should jack up the computer. Moron.



Of course. My philosophical opinions of standing up for the little guy over big government demonstrate a low level of knowledge. Okay, since you interpret things diffently we'll just agree that since I have different opinions than yours I have a low level of knowledge.



I was going to respond to this but since you have so many mistaken assumptions in that paragraph there isn't really anything coherent to reply to. Maybe I'm mistaken and your posts are really only meant to be as truthful as a Michael Moore "documentary". Presuming your original post was serious I have already stipulated that you're right when it comes to how users learn about computers. Still, that doesn't make your original post anything but idiotic with regards to what Chewbubba was inquiring about.

Enough bickering. Seriously.