Best free parental control software?

[pctutor]

Actually it doesn't necessarily need to be free, but I just need something for a client that simply wants to block access to porn sites - that's it. I usually use K9 for this, but I have tried installing it twice and it comes back as the installation is corrupted for some reason. What is the simplest way to just block porn sites from being accessed?

 

[TechLady]

Seems to me OpenDNS might be just the ticket...

 

[16k_zx81]

Opendns and MS Family Safety on each PC

 

[pctutor]

OpenDNS looks like it might be the answer. I will definitely check into it. This is for a client who is a single man, lives alone, not computer savvy. He wants me to block his own computer from being able to see porn sites (only I would know the password, so he won't be able to get around it).

 

[cyabro]

I use the Norton Family online saftey program for this.
I like it as it is all controlled via the web, with just a small app installed on the machine itself.
You can have different settings for different users on the one machine, which is great for parents and those with kids of different ages.

 

[rsarceno]

Check Awareness Technology Web Monitoring. MSRP is $25/yr + hosting but you can get it for retail at $17 with free hosting.

I also use K9 and OpenDNS and it work goods but I prepare Awareness Technology because it can also be part of Managed Services. Dashboard Branding is free.

If your interested contact Colleen O’Day, Channel Account Manager of Awareness Technologies, Inc. (310) 822-4557 x426

 

[MobileTechie]

What's wrong with the Microsoft one?

The advantage it has over opendns is that it also locks the search engines so porn sites don't even show up. For younger kids I think this is vital as there is enough in a search return to disturb them.

 

[pctutor]

What's wrong with the Microsoft one?

I think the reason I passed on that one was because I would have to make the guy a non-administrator user on his own computer. Still might do that though.

 

[katz]

I've used a couple of the popular ones in past years, they didn't really seem to wot at blocking porn all that well. It could easily be bypassed by using search terms that didn't sound like full-on porn - something like "Alice in Wonderland" or "Hot Chrissy", etc.

You could alse very easily view all kinds of stuff from online photo albums such as Tumblr, Picasa and the like.

I stopped recommending any software to parents because the kids could so easily defeat it. Also, one kid was in a Cyber School/Homeschool and whenever he would try to log in & access different parts of his schooling site, the stupid software would flag it & not let him in - go figure!


Are the newer programs any better at stopping results from search terms like this?

 

[pctutor]

I stopped recommending any software to parents because the kids could so easily defeat it.

Same here. With this particular client, he would not be able to figure out how to defeat it. But for most of them, any kid can search on "how to bypass <software name>" and get step by step instructions on how to get around the filters.

 

[rsarceno]

I stopped recommending any software to parents because the kids could so easily defeat it. Also, one kid was in a Cyber School/Homeschool and whenever he would try to log in & access different parts of his schooling site, the stupid software would flag it & not let him in - go figure!

This is why I like Web Monitoring by Awareness Technology. Even a technicians can't easily uninstall the program. You can re-install the OS but how many kids will do that. No option to disable unless you remove the program.

The program doesn't show up in Task Manager. Nothing in add/remove program. if you run process id, it's disguise as one of the windows process.