Blocking New Program Installations

Hello folks,

My Dad has a laptop running Windows Vista and he is forever installing
stupid programs which he then gets me to remove as they have messed up
his computer in some way.

With this in mind, I was wondering if there is a way that I can somehow
put a block on him installing new programs on Windows?

Any help would be appreciated.

Gared

"Gared Haus" <> wrote in message
news:00d231a5$0$11953$...
> Hello folks,
>
> My Dad has a laptop running Windows Vista and he is forever installing
> stupid programs

What do you mean by "stupid programs"?

>which he then gets me to remove as they have messed up his computer in some
>way.

What do you mean by "messed up"?

>
> With this in mind, I was wondering if there is a way that I can somehow
> put a block on him installing new programs on Windows?
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
>

Why do you not confiscate his laptop and tell him that he is a stupid old
fart becaue this seems to be your opinion of him.

JimF

You can create a separate "Guest" account for him.

People using the guest account can't install software or hardware, change
settings, create a password, or access your personal files.


"Gared Haus" <> wrote in message
news:00d231a5$0$11953$...
> Hello folks,
>
> My Dad has a laptop running Windows Vista and he is forever installing
> stupid programs which he then gets me to remove as they have messed up his
> computer in some way.
>
> With this in mind, I was wondering if there is a way that I can somehow
> put a block on him installing new programs on Windows?
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> Gared
>

Hi Gared,

See if Microsoft's Windows SteadyState can help you.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pro...s/default.mspx


"Gared Haus" <> wrote in message
news:00d231a5$0$11953$...
> Hello folks,
>
> My Dad has a laptop running Windows Vista and he is forever installing
> stupid programs which he then gets me to remove as they have messed up his
> computer in some way.
>
> With this in mind, I was wondering if there is a way that I can somehow
> put a block on him installing new programs on Windows?
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> Gared
>

On 2009-11-13 23:58:04 +0000, "Dusko Savatovic"
<> said:

> Hi Gared,
>
> See if Microsoft's Windows SteadyState can help you.
> http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pro...s/default.mspx
>
>
> "Gared Haus" <> wrote in message
> news:00d231a5$0$11953$...
>> Hello folks,
>>
>> My Dad has a laptop running Windows Vista and he is forever installing
>> stupid programs which he then gets me to remove as they have messed up
>> his computer in some way.
>>
>> With this in mind, I was wondering if there is a way that I can somehow
>> put a block on him installing new programs on Windows?
>>
>> Any help would be appreciated.
>>
>> Gared

Thanks to Bob and Dusko for the sensible suggestions. I think I'll go
with the Guest account option.

G

Create another user account that is an administrator account, password
protect it and make SURE you document the password for your use. Then change
his user account to not be an administrator. Of course beware this may upset
him as he can not do some of the things he wants but you will have to deal
with that and moderate that.

You may want to install Logmein on his computer so that you can access it
remotely to do repairs/adjustements as that may make life easier for you.
There is a free version available. I use that to help my Uncle remotely. A
HUGE advantage of Logmein is that it works through firewalls and does not
require either end to have static public IP.

https://secure.logmein.com/products/free/

Otherwise your options may be to use System Restore to undo changes he has
made and/or use an image backup program such as Norton Ghost or Acronis to
have images of the whole computer backed up regularly to an external hard
drive and then just restore the image if problems arise remebering to backup
up any data files created after the last image backup first.

Steve

"Gared Haus" <> wrote in message
news:00d231a5$0$11953$...
> Hello folks,
>
> My Dad has a laptop running Windows Vista and he is forever installing
> stupid programs which he then gets me to remove as they have messed up his
> computer in some way.
>
> With this in mind, I was wondering if there is a way that I can somehow
> put a block on him installing new programs on Windows?
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> Gared
>