Protecting the PC - Boot Menu

[sevenxbmc]

hi guys,

i've setup a media pc for my family and kids, which boots into win 7 ultimate and then eventually into XBMC. My question relates to windows....

I want to stop kids/family from accessing the boot menu, which shows in the event of a crash or by them pressing F8.

How can i stop them from accessing the boot menu? Can i password protect it? What do you recommend?

 

[gregrocker]

You'd have to password the BIOS in BIOS setup, which means the password needs to be entered every time at every reboot.

I know of no way to password the Advanced Boot Options.

 

[sevenxbmc]

thanks for clarifying that mate. Its just that i have 2 user accounts. One is admin (password protected) and the other is a mediapc account which has been setup to automatically login and run xbmc. My worry is that the kids maybe able to bypass that by going to safemode.

i do have different question, but i'll start a new topic for that.

cheers

 

[sevenxbmc]

Sorry if i thought this was answered earlier, but rather than start a new topic, i'll ask here:-

I know that i can't protect the boot menu with a password, but if the pc crashes, i get the safe mode boot menu which has a countdown timer of 30 seconds. How can I:-

1. Reduce the timer to only a few seconds?
2. Is there a way to disable the boot menu totally?
3. Remove some of the options?

 

[gregrocker]

What Boot Menu is this? Do you have a Dual Boot menu to boot your choice of more than one OS or installation?

Or are you referring to the Log-in Screen for the two accounts?

The only settings which may apply of which I'm aware are at Control Panel>System>Advanced Systen Settings>Startup and Recovery. Check those out to see if you find what you need. Otherwise I'd start a new thread with a descriptive title to catch someones' attention who might know in our busy General forum.

 

[UsernameIssues]

greg's way is the way I usually change the boot menu timeouts - there are two via that gui
here is another way from MS
Changing the Boot Menu Time-out

 

[sevenxbmc]

@ greg - its regarding the boot menu, when you press F8 or when windows crashes.

Thanks guys for the helpful links. Hopefully this should be fine for the time issue.

Is there also a way of Disabling certain options or forcing safe mode to load a few programs, without bypassing them.

You must be wondering, why on earth i want to do this, but its because when windows crashes, I get the safe mode menu. This allows my kids then to bypass any security features i've implemented to lock down the media pc account, such as child control, internet time limiter or parental controls. I somehow want to either force safe mode to still load these programs, or simply not exist.

 

[UsernameIssues]

I've changed what runs in the safe mode so that I could still have remote control - but only on a XP box.

A simpler method might be to prevent an automatic reboot - the computer would just sit there with the BSOD.

I'm trying to recall - I think that some BIOS that I've seen can disable the F8 boot menu... look around in there.

 

[fafhrd]

It appears that you have issues running XBMC under Windows - hence the "crashes"! It is a rare thing for Windows to crash nowadays, in my experience.

No doubt you have your reasons, but why not run XBMC within a Linux shell instead of Windows?

It is then possible to have the boot managed by the GRUB bootloader, which can be passworded (e.g. Grub 2 Password Protection - Ubuntu Forums), and have Windows 7 chainloaded as a boot option only for the users with the right credentials.

Any "crash" would then return the system to the GRUB menu, on restarting, with no simple option to bypass security.

 

[sevenxbmc]

@ Usernameissues - thanks..i've had a look at the bios, but i can't find any option which allows you to disable the F8 key.

@ fafhrd - It crashes sometimes because some of the XBMC plugins are unstable...sometimes they work perfect and then at other times they crash, causing the user to reset the computer manually. This then leads to the "recovery menu" where windows asks what mode we want to boot into...
I would have loved to used linux, but its way too complicated for me as well as time-consuming and i have setup XBMC to run as a SHELL instead of Windows Explorer.

 

[fafhrd]

@ fafhrd - It crashes sometimes because some of the XBMC plugins are unstable...sometimes they work perfect and then at other times they crash, causing the user to reset the computer manually. This then leads to the "recovery menu" where windows asks what mode we want to boot into...
I would have loved to used linux, but its way too complicated for me as well as time-consuming and i have setup XBMC to run as a SHELL instead of Windows Explorer.

It looks like the following might be worth a try - it says "XBMC Live is the XBMC Media Center software bundled with an embedded operating-system, all pre-packaged for that set-top-box feeling.":

XBMCbuntu - XBMC

It can be run from a CD, as well as being installed to the hard disk or a USB drive. There are many commercial set-top-boxes etc running Linux without exposing any of the embedded Linux OS to the user. Android is getting more popular too.

IMHO, though, if you are crashing, better to solve that rather than have the family messing about with the OS, when windows frustratingly dumps them back in safe mode.

The plugin crashes may be originating from a less than optimum graphics driver - latest is not always best - Guru of 3D: PC Hardware Reviews and tests is a great place to start for downloads and there's a HTPC section on the forum there.

On your original question - To reduce time to display recovery options when needed from the default of 30 seconds, you can go to System Properties (Start Menu, right-click Computer, Properties, Advanced System Settings, Startup and Recovery Settings...,System Startup, Check the box for Time to display recovery options when needed: and reduce the setting from 30 seconds. There's always the chance that you won't be able to boot at all if a bad crash happens, though!

If it's set up and running from a remote, and not crashing, do you need a keyboard connected all the time at all? If you do, another partial solution that springs to mind is to disable the F8 key - try it with an old keyboard if you have one - all you need is a screwdriver, and a small piece of sellotape to cover the contact on the circuit board - some keyboards are easy, others frustratingly hard to reassemble. But they are pretty cheap! Then, when you need to, you can use Msconfig.exe to get the System Configuration to start the next boot in safe mode, under the Boot tab, check Safe boot, Minimal, and there's another Timeout: [30] seconds box to mess with. There's also a checkbox for Make all boot settings permanent, which I would leave alone at present.

Another way to achieve safe mode is to interrupt the normal boot process, by pulling the plug during the time when Windows is loading - I don't know a way around that one.

 

[sevenxbmc]

thank fafhrd mate. I already have tried xbmc live. I know how to run it, but then I have to setup apps, plugins etc and that is a daunting task as i hate to learn the commands.

But on your advice, i have now set the boot menu to only show up for 1 second and also disconnected the keyboard. The only reason i wanted a keyboard is so that when i launch a basic internet browser, the keyboard is much easier than a remote.

I believe the kids do exactly that - pull the plug, whilst windows is loading. This then brings them to the safe mode menu. However if the safe mode menu loads for only 1 second, I think its safe to say they won't be able to do much.

Thanks again mate...your a star!