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#11
I don't have any suggestions or words of wisdom for you SuperMom (sorry!), but I just wanted to give you some support and a hug for all the frustration you're going through with your teenage daughter. I hope, perhaps, in addition to all the good suggestions by the other posters, you can find some way to reason with her, and/or find some workable motivation for her to respect your wishes and your computer. Good luck, and come back and let us know how you're doing! :)
I agree with this option. ALL PC that I ahve ever used have had a option in the BIOS setup section to enable a BOOT Security password. Without that password the system will not load ANY OS.
The one drawback to this is IF you lose (forget) the password some systems become door stops. IE there is no way to reset it or remove it.
But then some systems have a way to clear the BIOS BOOT password by removing the RTC/BIOS battery and changing a jumper. But to do that you must get to the physical insides of the PC.
You'll have to Drive lock... Other than that, there is nothing you can do that she can't get around (other than taking the pc with you everywhere you go)
Drive lock is disk level passwording/encrypting.
And Yes: Bios Passwording is easily removed (2 minutes tops)
edit 2 : Only available on ultimate and enterprise versions of win 7
If you create for her a Standard User account in Control Panel>User Accounts, then give your own Administrative account a strong password, the only way she can access your account is if she has a keylogger on the machine. You can check that in Control Panel>Programs and Features.
Then go here and set up the boundaries (Click to enlarge):
Jacee does have a good idea.
The only issue with a BIOS pw is if 'mom' forgets it, she's done too.
Well, power cords are cheap or can be "borrowed" from other devices.
My first thought is to use a product like TrueCrypt:
Free open-source disk encryption software for Windows 7/Vista/XP, Mac OS X, and Linux
Main Features:
* Creates a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mounts it as a real disk.
* Encrypts an entire partition or storage device such as USB flash drive or hard drive.
* Encrypts a partition or drive where Windows is installed (pre-boot authentication).
* Encryption is automatic, real-time (on-the-fly) and transparent.
* Parallelization and pipelining allow data to be read and written as fast as if the drive was not encrypted.
* Encryption can be hardware-accelerated on modern processors.
See:
TrueCrypt - Free Open-Source On-The-Fly Disk Encryption Software for Windows 7/Vista/XP, Mac OS X and Linux
Maximum PC | How To: Encrypt Your Entire Hard Drive The Easy Way Using TrueCrypt
Regards,
GEWB