Dzero said:
My roommate has been changing my desktop background and my internet home page
to pics of porn and porn sites, respectively. I know it is stupid and
childish, but it is a danger to the saftey of my computer. I want to know if
there is a way I can password protect these two items. I dont know if you
need this info or not, but I am using the basic Windows Vista program on my
Gateway laptop. Thanks.
How does your roommate get into your computer in the first place? Yes,
you can lock down the background and the homepage but wouldn't it be
better to make your computer off-bounds so s/he doesn't mess with
anything else? See the following general security information:
Any computer running any operating system can be accessed by someone
with 1) physical access; 2) time; 3) skill; 4) tools. There are a few
things you can do to make it a bit harder though:
1. Set a password in the BIOS that must be entered before booting the
operating system. Also set the Supervisor password in the BIOS so BIOS
Setup can't be entered without it.
2. From the BIOS, change the boot order to hard drive first.
3. Set strong passwords on all accounts, including the built-in
Administrator account in XP. Note that this is disabled by default in Vista.
4. If you leave your own account logged in, use the Windows Key + L to
lock the computer (and/or set the screensaver/power saving) when you
step away from the computer and require a password to resume.
5. Make other users Limited accounts in XP Home, regular user accounts
in XP Pro. In Vista, you should be using a standard user account
yourself but don't forget to create an extra administrative account
since the built-in Administrator is disabled.
Please understand that these are technical responses to what is
basically a non-technical problem and there are ways around all of these
precautions. This is a family/interpersonal issue that can't be solved
by technical means.
Malke
