Mom Needs Help with Teenager overriding Password

[Irishman]

There are other programs that allow you to access/reset/delete all passwords on a PC that I sometimes use (as geeve420 also said) for repairing PC's whose owners have forgotten their passwords.
If her daughter is using such a program then there's not much that can be done except for maybe putting the PC in a room under lock and key.

 

[geeve420]

Mr. 420: For those of us who don't have the "special abilities" you have:

Please explain how a computer which is clean reinstalled, given a strong password during setup, then only allowed access via a Standard User account can be hacked to bypass the password without reinstalling again.

I am assuming a keylogger or other bypass has been installed which would not be there if a clean reinstall was done. But apparently there are other methods and it would be good to know what they are.

Not "special abilities", just google Check your inbox

Geeve

 

[gregrocker]

Gotcha. Thank you.

OK, there is a possibility your daughter is using a bootable device to run your computer from it's CD/DVD drive or a USB stick.

To preclude this possibility, restart your computer, look for prompt to enter BIOS setup (F2 on Dell), in BIOS setup choose the Security tab, add a strong Administrator password for Power-On.

On the same tab, look for Device Security settings to disable CD/DVD drive, USB and all other devices shown ability to boot the computer without the Admin password.

Save the settings and exit.

If these settings are not easily found, let us know the exact computer model and we will look them up in the Manual to customize these steps.

 

[geeve420]

No problem gregrocker! I wasn't sure how to explain that without getting in trouble

I wonder how long it will be before the daughter shows up on here for help on how to get around what her Mother is doing LOL

Geeve

 

[gregrocker]

How do you think she would get around a BIOS password with boot options disabled?

I don't think she could even reflash the BIOS.

 

[geeve420]

How do you think she would get around a BIOS password with boot options disabled?

I don't think she could even reflash the BIOS.

Sent it to your inbox. I have had to do this as well a couple of times As Irishman said, if she has physical access to the PC about the only thing to do is lock it up

Geeve

 

[gregrocker]

Wow. :shock: I guess you could lock the box itself.

This brings us back to Brink's original suggestion to encrypt with Bitlocker which uses a flash stick key.

I have always clean reinstalled to get past password problems and never messed with hacking them. But I was using a boot disk to rescue the files so I should have realized its potential for mayhem.

Thanks, I learned a lot here. I hope SuperMom has as well and can pull together a strategy.

 

[geeve420]

Wow. :shock: I guess you could lock the box itself.

This brings us back to Brink's original suggestion to encrypt with Bitlocker which uses a flash stick key.

I have always clean reinstalled to get past password problems and never messed with hacking them. But I was using a boot disk to rescue the files so I should have realized its potential for mayhem.

Thanks, I learned a lot here.

Yeah it's scary stuff!! As a repair guy, they are great tools and a dream come true, however as we can see here, they are also a complete nightmare if used for bad

Geeve

 

[FliGi7]

This brings us back to Brink's original suggestion to encrypt with Bitlocker which uses a flash stick key.

I think it would be far less easy to guess a well-picked password than to steal the usb key at some point to boot the computer, based on the accesses it appears that the daughter has.

BIOS password + bitlocker/truecrypt/pgp (whatever you care to use) full disk encryption with password

If that doesn't solve this problem, then you're gonna need to contact your local military enlistment office.

 

[SuperMom]

Hi Supermum...are you reading all the posts and not just the ones you want? Please read my post #38 it explains how your daughter can BYPASS any password you set except the BIOS, but that can be reset by pulling the motherboard battery.

Hi wilywombat! I am reading them ALL. MY final soultion take down the desktop and haul my labtop everywhere Ifor yoo go. Thanks for your input

 

[SuperMom]

The only way I know that she can break your strong password is if she has put a keylogger on the machine. Do you have tight enough control over the installed programs to know that this hasn't been done?

Well, we have rules at the Forum that prohibit discussion of such things and I personally am no expert, but ... if someone is knowledgeable and determined and has physical access to the computer in question, nothing can be done to stop them. No key-logger is necessary. It's a game of determination - you may try new tricks and hope that they give up, deciding that it's not worth their effort, but apart from that ... Let's be honest, all the advice about passwords and parental controls implicitly assumes that the daughter is a beginner as far as computers are concerned. Is that really so? No offense to the OP, but it certainly looks like her daughter knows more about computers than she does. So it's a losing battle she's fighting here.

This is clearly a parenting issue and the real solution lies outside of the realm of passwords and encrypting. I think the OP has to understand clearly what is it that she wants to achieve. What she wrote so far - and we know nothing else - she's trying to prevent her daughter from using the Internet. I don't think that can be done by setting a password, since she can always go to a friend, neighbor, or a library, making all these efforts futile.

Thanks for your input and I read every word just thought windows 7 form could help some, however you are correct it is a parental issue yet a scary issue. I may have to take the advice of one of the members and purchase Windows Ultimate but in the mean time. I have just taking down the desktop and taking my laptop where ever I go. I ve also learned how to take down my network so that helps. Again thanks for all of your input I really do appreciate it.

 

[SuperMom]

I might be the only one to dissent here, but I would ask this question: why do you want to forbid your daughter to use the computer in the first place? Is that really working out for you? And even if you throw away your desktop, so there won't be any computer in the house for her to use, how can that preclude her from going to a public computer in any library, internet cafe or her school?

If you want to keep her away from certain dangerous web sites - which would be the only reasonable goal here in my opinion as a parent (no offense) - you'd have to blacklist the IP addresses of the sites and then encrypt your system drive with a strong password. If she can go around this - which is certainly possible - then I'm afraid there is nothing you can do except to talk to her and explain the dangers you're trying to protect her from. You might of course use the "physical" methods to prevent her from using the machine - remove the cords, drives, etc., but just remember that yours is not the only PC in the neighborhood.

Otherwise, just to sort out the technical part of the issue, I do agree that you have to tell us which passwords your daughter is circumventing (and why do you think IE temp folders have anything to do with it).

Unifex no offense taken, bottom line here is bad grades no internet no computer. Making her a standard user and only allowing her to use word was not working as she was overriding it going to websites that were blocked in parental controls. I have no idea why ie temp folders would have anything to do with it I just assumed that if something was deleted on my end then perhaps she could not override the system. Whatever the case I have just decided that if she has a school project she can go to the library that should assist me. Thanks for all of your feedback I really appreciate it !

 

[minigamer]

suggestion get k9 web protection and put it on the highest lvl possible. then even if she does get on the computer going ton the internet will not be possible. K9 is freeware and I use it on my 1 machine.It works amazingly well and you can hide the install file in another file so she can't find it. It's password protected so unless you use the same password for everything she can't turn it off or change the settings. K9 Web Protection - Free Internet Filter and Parental Control Software | Free Internet Filtering and Parental Controls Software

 

[Xyphus]

Supermom --

As an IT Tech Support Specialist, we use several utilities here that allow us to bypass pretty much any form of password protection, whether it is BIOS passwords, or Windows Passwords. If she has access to utilities such as these, which unfortunately are sometimes quite easy to find on the internet, it really doesn't matter which version of Windows you are using. The utilities will bypass all of these pretty readily.

You may need to go with a hardware solution such as one of the USB Key methods, or possibly invest in a biometric solution such as a fingerprint reader or facial recognition (which are increasingly being added as features to new laptops).

I've recently helped out my in-laws by locking down their network for their teenage son. Granted, he doesn't appear to be as computer savvy as your daughter, but he does have his own PC which I've restricted in the router by MAC address to only allow access during certain times, and to approved sites and applications. With no access to the router, he has no way of overriding the settings.

This may be an option as well. However, if you all use the same PC, the restrictions will have to apply to all users, so that may not be as attractive of a solution. But it is one way to get around the computer password issue. She may get into the PC, but not able to go anywhere online that you don't want to allow...