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01/03/2009 03:43:17 PM · #1 |
I have a 15 year old boy that has found every way to bypass both my wife a my password protected computers. He likes to play in rather dangerous areas of the internet and just does not get how much it could cost us.
What I need is computer lock that is simple but effective, as in the little shit can't get in. Yes I have read, and read, 5 hours this morning, and now I have a headache. I don't mind spending money although less than $50 for two computers would be nice.
OOPS, windows XP
Message edited by author 2009-01-03 15:45:38.
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01/03/2009 03:48:03 PM · #2 |
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01/03/2009 03:48:35 PM · #3 |
You can "forget" to pay the internet bill!
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01/03/2009 04:04:25 PM · #4 |
LOL, I don't want to control his access, I don't want him to have access at all. If he wants a computer he can get off his lazy butt and buy his own. Oh and replacing the computers are not a option..
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01/03/2009 04:11:55 PM · #5 |
| You're going to laugh, but I had so many problems with my daughter when she was a teenager with the computer, that I would just take the keyboard and mouse with me when I left for work. When I was home it wasn't a problem, since she couldn't be on it without me seeing when I was home. Cheap, simple and very effective. |
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01/03/2009 04:12:43 PM · #6 |
Just encrypt the PCs. TrueCrypt is pretty good, its free as well. Once the password is set up there is NO WAY he can crack it. Just make sure you never let him see the password.
Or good old fashioned discipline.
Message edited by author 2009-01-03 16:16:56. |
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01/03/2009 04:15:01 PM · #7 |
You could also set a BIOS password and just remember to turn the computer(s) off when you're done with them.
There IS a way to get around it, but it's hardware related, and if he's doing that kind of thing, then I think it's time for boot-camp. |
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01/03/2009 04:17:13 PM · #8 |
If he's computer savvy there's really no 100% sure way to lock-down your PC. If you lock it at an OS level, then all he's got to do is find a Linux Boot CD.
You could remove the CD drive, block the USB ports etc. But that's a bit extreme tbh. The best way is to disable wireless access (to prevent him logging on with a wireless device) and put the PC in the kitchen or somewhere where it's within plain view.
ETA: Ah, I see - you want to prevent access altogether. hmmm... take your router with you when you leave the house? :-p
Message edited by author 2009-01-03 16:18:54. |
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01/03/2009 04:17:45 PM · #9 |
Vista, Install Vista
You can lock his computer time and he can't get past the welcome screen. Also change your passwords to something only you and your wife know. |
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01/03/2009 04:20:46 PM · #10 |
Originally posted by JH:
If he's computer savvy there's really no 100% sure way to lock-down your PC. If you lock it at an OS level, then all he's got to do is find a Linux Boot CD.
You could remove the CD drive, block the USB ports etc. But that's a bit extreme tbh. The best way is to disable wireless access (to prevent him logging on with a wireless device) and put the PC in the kitchen or somewhere where it's within plain view. |
Thats why Truecrypt is so good, it locks it before the OS loads. If he doesnt know the password to unencrypt the harddrive on the fly, then he has NO WAY of accessing it period. Also, when choosing a password, choose a passage from a favourite book or song, not just a word or date, and then change all the letter A`s for the number 4 and all the letter L`s for the number 1. |
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01/03/2009 04:21:12 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by Dirt_Diver:
Vista, Install Vista
You can lock his computer time and he can't get past the welcome screen. Also change your passwords to something only you and your wife know. |
crackable with a linux boot disk is about 20 seconds. |
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01/03/2009 04:26:07 PM · #12 |
Originally posted by Simms:
Originally posted by Dirt_Diver:
Vista, Install Vista
You can lock his computer time and he can't get past the welcome screen. Also change your passwords to something only you and your wife know. |
crackable with a linux boot disk is about 20 seconds. |
hahahah if that |
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01/03/2009 04:29:42 PM · #13 |
| Putting a password on the bios isnt gonna stop him, he can take out the battery backup so the bios resets. My idea would be to install a removable hard drive bay for the os drive. I doubt he will ever get his hands on a linux boot cd. I believe it is possible to boot from the thumb drive as well. Everything I can think of, I can also think of a way around it. We need to know how smart he really is. |
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01/03/2009 04:35:33 PM · #14 |
| Take the power cord with you when you leave :) |
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01/03/2009 04:38:23 PM · #15 |
Originally posted by Dr.Confuser:
Take the power cord with you when you leave :) |
He could take one from his friend, school. Only other thing I can think of is to take the modem with you. |
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01/03/2009 04:44:14 PM · #16 |
Originally posted by Simms:
Originally posted by JH:
If he's computer savvy there's really no 100% sure way to lock-down your PC. If you lock it at an OS level, then all he's got to do is find a Linux Boot CD.
You could remove the CD drive, block the USB ports etc. But that's a bit extreme tbh. The best way is to disable wireless access (to prevent him logging on with a wireless device) and put the PC in the kitchen or somewhere where it's within plain view. |
Thats why Truecrypt is so good, it locks it before the OS loads. If he doesnt know the password to unencrypt the harddrive on the fly, then he has NO WAY of accessing it period. |
A Linux boot CD needs no access to the harddrive. It boots off the CD, loads into memory, and gives the option of mounting the HD as a device - although you don't need to. The only potential block is if there is a BIOS password (which can be bypassed on most motherboards by taking out the battery for a few minutes, or flicking a jumper switch)
Most Linux boot CDs let you access the internet (firefox etc.) directly from the CD.
A BIOS password and physically locking the system case might be a solution. |
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01/03/2009 04:52:30 PM · #17 |
Originally posted by incubus:
Putting a password on the bios isnt gonna stop him, he can take out the battery backup so the bios resets. My idea would be to install a removable hard drive bay for the os drive. I doubt he will ever get his hands on a linux boot cd. I believe it is possible to boot from the thumb drive as well. Everything I can think of, I can also think of a way around it. We need to know how smart he really is. |
Well, this is kind of what I meant by boot-camp. If the kid is going into the physical box and tampering with jumpers/battery to get around passwording, then I think there are more issues here than just keeping someone off your computer. Kids. Eesh. |
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01/03/2009 05:18:02 PM · #18 |
Originally posted by Simms:
Just encrypt the PCs. TrueCrypt is pretty good, its free as well. Once the password is set up there is NO WAY he can crack it. Just make sure you never let him see the password.
Or good old fashioned discipline. |
Sorry for the slow response, I was reading about TrueCrypt it looks like the way to go. T^hank you very-very much!!!
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01/03/2009 05:24:56 PM · #19 |
Originally posted by Simms:
Originally posted by Dirt_Diver:
Vista, Install Vista
You can lock his computer time and he can't get past the welcome screen. Also change your passwords to something only you and your wife know. |
crackable with a linux boot disk is about 20 seconds. |
No one said how good he was, Only that he would get his parents passwords. That could be easy knowing the person. I don't know what the kid can and can't do, or how he got his knowledge of a computer but Vista is better than a lot of people think. Yeah it's crackable but the average PC user won't know how to crack it.
Message edited by author 2009-01-03 17:25:18. |
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01/03/2009 06:39:19 PM · #20 |
Originally posted by Dirt_Diver:
Originally posted by Simms:
Originally posted by Dirt_Diver:
Vista, Install Vista
You can lock his computer time and he can't get past the welcome screen. Also change your passwords to something only you and your wife know. |
crackable with a linux boot disk is about 20 seconds. |
No one said how good he was, Only that he would get his parents passwords. That could be easy knowing the person. I don't know what the kid can and can't do, or how he got his knowledge of a computer but Vista is better than a lot of people think. Yeah it's crackable but the average PC user won't know how to crack it. |
The best way to choose a password for high security is to pick a phrase or lyric and change a few of the letters. For example (first line of hotel california)
on a d4rk d3s3rt h1ghw4y cool w1nd 1n my h4ir
granted its a big long, but he'd never guess it and even if he sat over your shoulder and watched you type it the addition of the numbers would prevent him from getting a real good grasp of what it was. Also it would take a brute force attack many months if not years to crack it.
However none of this would prevent him popping a floppy DOS boot disk in and formatting the drive out of spite.
Message edited by author 2009-01-03 18:40:49. |
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01/03/2009 06:48:21 PM · #21 |
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01/03/2009 06:49:38 PM · #22 |
| Well SOB I now need to change my password to log into DPC now that you put it out there for everyone to see. |
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01/03/2009 06:53:36 PM · #23 |
Originally posted by Simms:
on a d4rk d3s3rt h1ghw4y cool w1nd 1n my h4ir
granted its a big long, but he'd never guess it and even if he sat over your shoulder and watched you type it the addition of the numbers would prevent him from getting a real good grasp of what it was. Also it would take a brute force attack many months if not years to crack it.
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OK, I was wrong... :)
Your password is 43 characters long and has 26,658,363,314,874,201,078,794,557,039,459,639,222,162,032,919,714,971,254,784 combinations.
It takes 96,982,560,771,263,528,581,747,075,948,295,384,376,841,076,736.00 hours or 4,040,940,032,135,980,357,572,794,831,178,974,349,035,044,864.00 days to crack your password on computer that tries 137,438,953,472 passwords per hour. This is based on a typical PC processor in 2008 and that the processor is under 10% load.
So thats roughly 11071068581194500000000000000000000000000000 years give or take a couple of days.
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01/03/2009 07:02:35 PM · #24 |
| Put a password on the drive itself... You can add a pw to the physical drive BEFORE it even starts loading any operating system.... I used it a bit in the past for laptops. Encrypt the drive is another option but has other risks. |
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01/03/2009 07:15:01 PM · #25 |
Originally posted by Simms:
However none of this would prevent him popping a floppy DOS boot disk in and formatting the drive out of spite. |
Floppy DOS boot disk? I haven't had a computer with a floppy drive since 1998. ;-) |
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