Funny Question (PC)

[RibZe]

My sister has decided to use the family computer (my computer) as her primary computer now. She watches hours and hours of TV shows online so it's a major pain.
Since it is the family computer i don't have any real leverage in kicking her off.

So basically i would like to know if there is someway i can make her life on this computer difficult for her so that she goes back to using the laptop. By difficult i mean discreetly blocking her websites/her facebook (not mine), that sort of thing.

Using Windows 7 (64 bit).

[mkid]

take a screen shot of the normal desktop
thenset it as the the background then go into options and turn off desktop icons
it will look normal but she wont be able to get into anything
done it to heaps of my mates pc's so funny to watch as they try to figure it out
if your good with pc's you could setup a shortcut to shut down the computer
takes a while to explain how to do it tho

[wheeler33]

could just make yourself administrator on the computer and then make her computer have jack all privileges...

[Ice88]

Theres lots you could do, but most of the fun stuff would require some technical know how.

Things like random opening of CD draw is fun for a while. Ribze why not buy a WDTV unit or something and hook it up to the TV, get your computer back and you can watch your stuff on the TV too :)

Or buy your own computer, or use her laptop?

[Kat X]

just get your own computer ;) I'd guess the machine would end up in the shop if things stopped working for your sis

btw why does she need to stream tv on the pc? the lappy should be able to handle that well enough..

[phildough]

To block websites on your home computer without investing in expensive software, here’s the trick (for Windows PCs):

Step 1: Click the Start button and select Run. Now type the following text in that Run box:

notepad c:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

Step 2: You will see a new notepad window on your screen containing some cryptic information. Don’t panic. Just goto the last line of the file, hit the enter key and type the following:

127.0.0.1 orkut.com
127.0.0.1 facebook.com
127.0.0.1 myspace.com

Save the file and exit. That’s it. None of the above sites will now open on your computer.


Its a brilliant trick and will get her off your pc and back onto the craptop.

[Ice88]

I'd add some wild cards in there, i forget how pedantic the hosts file is but by modifying the address in any way, would mean that its outside the rule thus enabling her to browse.

Still think your best option is to talk with her, explain that she has a laptop she can use to watch stuff and if she says no ask if you can use the laptop instead? She cant have it both ways :)

[RibZe]

Her doctor said to help her sleep she can't watch things in her bedroom, so she figures she may as well watch it on a 22" screen.

This computer is 7 months old, cost $1700 and i choose every component lol, so getting my own computer is out of the question.

I'll try the 'Run' way if i have to.

Hopefully when she gets a macbook she'll be inclined to use it for everything.

[70NYD]

stilnox will also help get her to sleep :p

[mikey_something]

hosts file is a good idea.
if u have a router block the websites through there so she can't fiddle with them.
or set up time restrictions on internet usage.

as for whoever suggested the annoying opening of the CD drive, i made a virus-ish program that does that if u would like.
makes itself 1px by 1px, moves to a random part of the screeen, turns invisible, hides itself from task manager, terminates all task managers that it detects, starts a 10 minute timer and opens the CD drive every 10 minutes. ;) its good for a laugh.

to go further on mkid's suggestion. kill explorer.exe from the process list to make it more authentic and make her truly unable to do anything.

make the link to internet explorer a shutdown as suggested.
Right Click Desktop -> New -> Shortcut -> C:\Windows\System32\shutdown.exe -s -f -t 10 -c "System Shutting Down Due to Fatal Error"
then change the icon to the internet explorer icon, rename it to Internet Explorer and have some fun.


any other suggestions i can think of i'll post

[Kat X]

stilnox will also help get her to sleep :p



haha unless you fight the urge to sleep. you end up hallucinating :\

[Ice88]

haha unless you fight the urge to sleep. you end up hallucinating :\

Some one has experience :P

Just give her menintonin(sp?)

[RibZe]

Tried the 'run' option, it says i need don't have permission, contact the admin.

There is only one account on this computer??? Therefore it is the admin.

[mikey_something]

Tried the 'run' option, it says i need don't have permission, contact the admin.

There is only one account on this computer??? Therefore it is the admin.

*buzzer* wrong answer.
computer comes with a built in administrator account by default.
which you can deactivate... which you shouldnt deactivate unless you really know what you are doing.
check that ur account truly is an admin and not a "power user" or some crappy term such as that

[SLY 323]

*buzzer* wrong answer.
computer comes with a built in administrator account by default.
which you can deactivate... which you shouldnt deactivate unless you really know what you are doing.
check that ur account truly is an admin and not a "power user" or some crappy term such as that

Depends which windows your running ;)

Your default account, that is the one you first create with windows 7 is by default an admin :)

[Cosmo Dude]

Remove Windows and replace it with Linux.
Run Windows in VM.

Or buy a cheap PC.

[mikey_something]

Depends which windows your running ;)

Your default account, that is the one you first create with windows 7 is by default an admin :)

net user administrator /active:yes

even in windows 7.

[SLY 323]

I know, most of the time the hidden admin account will show up in safe mode, or when you enable it like you said. But obviously there can always be more than one admin account.

[mikey_something]

I know, most of the time the hidden admin account will show up in safe mode, or when you enable it like you said. But obviously there can always be more than one admin account.

ok i dont get it then... exactly where was i wrong?

[Ice88]

Your not wrong, except that the account that was created at install should be admin. Its more likely that he needs to run as admin as opposed to normal user.

Hes trying to edit a protected system file afterall. Im not positive however as i run a custom win7 install.

[mikey_something]

yeah i've messed with so many permissions i don't know whats its like to work on a locked down computer anymore... except at school of course

[RibZe]

When i use Spybot i have to right click > run as administrator so i can immunise my system after an update. However, that function is not available when i go to 'run'.

Well that being the case - what other viable options do i have in terms of blocking her websites?

[mikey_something]

parental controls?

[SLY 323]

ok i dont get it then... exactly where was i wrong?

Never said you were wrong :)

[gtarone]

Ah the joys of sibling wars. So glade I'm old enough to not worry about it, i used to get up to this type of naughty **** to annoy my sisters into getting off. Basically what ever you do will attract the attention of your parents when it turns out everything stopped working after you got off the PC :P

Probably worth dropping the whole mission, did you try reasoning with your parents into allowing ample time for each of you to use the PC?

Good luck with which ever option you choose, but Linux will work on the oldest of hardware, I'd be inclined to wipe her laptop and load Debian. I contradict myself too much.

Steve.

[KorruptByte]

Take out the ram and tell her that she's ruined it. Tried that on my family and works if they are PC illiterate.

[mikey_something]

Take out the ram and tell her that she's ruined it. Tried that on my family and works if they are PC illiterate.

by same token pulling the power plug half out of the PSU
will give it an unstable voltage and then it will just POST beep and flash the red power light.

[Ice88]

by same token pulling the power plug half out of the PSU
will give it an unstable voltage and then it will just POST beep and flash the red power light.

At the risk of damaging your gear though :(

[KorruptByte]

I would not condone leaving your power outlet halfway as it is an unstable current and may brownout your gear. Another way is to remove the power cable on the motherboard for the on/off switch.

P.S Got my greens today :)

[mikey_something]

At the risk of damaging your gear though :(

fair point. i've never had any problems with it though :p

[Clean_Cookie]

unplugging the button to turn the pc on at the front is a good one, unplugging hdd power etc....

[70NYD]

or you could allways reprogram the boot to not recognise the button but rather a combination of keys on the keyboard ;)

[mikey_something]

set the boot sequence to preferably boot from the Floppy/CD drive.
then stuff a blank cd or blank floppy in it.

[Ice88]

Nah plug a usb in with like DOS or linux bash terminal type stuff and set it to boot from USB.