Windows 10 wipes your child safety settings if you upgrade from 7 or 8 Are you a Windows 10 converts responsible for young computer users? Be on your guard. Child-friendly Family Features from Windows 7 and 8 won’t be recognised or accepted in the new operating system. Rather, children using Windows 10 PCs are seen as standard users; no dedicated child-user account exists. That means any …
Not excusing Microsoft, just a solution for Richard (assuming you're comfortable making Registry changes), you can setup your child's login (or a dedicated Minecraft login) to *only* run Minecraft by changing the "shell" for the user:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms838576(v=winembedded.5).aspx
and finally, disable task manager - so when he gets cheeky he can't Ctrl+Alt+Del > Task Manager > File Run:
http://www.pctools.com/guides/registry/detail/163/
>disable task manager
Does that work for File->Open too?
I've seen lots of citrix installations where the security fails because its in the GUI, not the filesystem. You can't run explorer from the GUI, but you can do file->open (in say, Word) and get to the C: drive that way. You can't run the command shell but you can copy and rename it and then run it.
Microsoft might not care about stopping kids getting into trouble online but it sure as hell wants to know all about it anyway.
Microsoft might not care about stopping kids getting into trouble online [link]but it sure as hell wants to know all about it anyway.
From all the entries there, this looked scary: "Speech, inking and typing". Everyone has idiosyncratic patterns here. Knowledge of this data might make identifying you possible even when not using Windows, or any computer at all. Microsoft might just as well request your fingerprints!
The linked-to article notes "Like it or not, Microsoft isn’t alone here. What Windows 10 is doing has become common and normal across the web, Android, iOS, and other modern platforms." Well, Linux & BSD distributions do not (except Ubuntu tried something with searches sent to Amazon, and sparked a firestorm, not sure if they do it any more). Of course the tattling starts if you run Chrome on Linux, but that is an issue with the application. Privacy conscious people can use some other browser.
Sir,
You are an idiot.
Kind regards,
Jay.
Btw I have an EXTREMELY bright 7 year old, if he could figure this out (he probably would), his friends with less computer-literate parents would be learning about the birds & bees rathermore graphically than a COMPETENT parent/guardian would prefer...
'Why oh! Why don't they think of the children?' after handing the child a loaded handgun. (Ignoring the fact the only place they should get a loaded hand gun is from a railway siding or from a local friendly gang member - or is that porn?. Anyway If you don't understand it, don't give it to your children).
(Nice click bait though).
'We' oldies knew that, but (sadly perhaps), not any more; one rarely finds a slightly wrinkled Galaxy Tab with its cover missing (why was that, anyway?) under a bush. Hedgeporn, like public phone boxes and state pensions, will be an unknown pleasure to current and future yoof....
"[...] not any more; one rarely finds a slightly wrinkled Galaxy Tab with its cover missing (why was that, anyway?) under a bush."
Two sides of my back garden border a pavement and a public footpath. A quiet cul-de-sac but used as a short-cut by pedestrians from pubs and schools etc.
Recently I noticed a rolled up magazine tucked partway under the garden fence. When I eventually went on to the public footpath to do some fence weeding from that side - I picked it up expecting a celeb magazine. It was actually two fairly explicit magazines. I doubt any of the neighbours' kids stashed it there - although I'm sure the soon to be teenagers would have thought it an interesting find.
Putting it in the landfill bin I had the mixed emotion of being a responsible adult - and an old spoilsport.
Chances are that the covers were ripped off and mailed back to the printers, as shipping unsold magazines was too heavy a cost burden on those running the magazine racks. After 'stripping' the books/magazines, the retailers were honor-bound to destroy them.
How they wound up under the bush is a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, covered with flaky crust and baked until golden brown.
"Hedgeporn, like public phone boxes and state pensions, will be an unknown pleasure to current and future yoof...." -- Tim Jenkins
Well, they certainly don't have to go outdoors to find it! But weirdly I still come across it walking the dogs --- I've actually found digital hedgeporn, too in the form of DVDs!
"
after millions of man*-hours testing, is this only news now.
A week after the launch date ?
* I may have just answered my own question ...."
Simple really, parents want other people to make sure their children are safe. But those other people don't care about other people's children.
>Simple really, parents want other people to make sure their children are safe. But those other people don't care about other people's children.
Still not reading the article?
This is more like having your swimming pool refurbished and finding they've walked off with the safety-fence.
But no matter, because they are "continuing to roll out safety-fence measures."
Gosh, how about starting by not breaking something that is already in place that people are (apparently) happy with ?
Only in the software business will you see a company completely uproot existing functionality and replace it with something totally different without giving either heads-up or time to adapt to its customers.
How much would it have cost to keep existing functionality and trumpet a "new, enhanced user mode specifically made for protecting children" ? How is it possible for Microsoft's PR department to NOT have thought of doing that ?
It seems Microsoft is intent on providing us with the Universal HandBook Of How To Annoy Your Customers. Keep at, Nadella, you're doing great.
I assume they had absolutely no idea how to make child accounts work (legally and technically) given that Windows 10 is an extension of their online services and phones home with as much personal information as it can and I suppose they were also unwilling for people to use child accounts with Windows 10 to protect their own privacy.
Agreed, although it seems obvious that to make such an account type work, any responsible adult would neutralize the "phone home" part and cut the online OS-level chatter to a level that can be justified to child services - and if that means zero that's no wind out of my sail, if you get my drift.
Of course, anyone who might actually make a proposal like that in a business meeting these days would probably recieve a slap with a baseball bat made of money, just to set him back on the Golden Path.
The problem is, I am not so much concerned about my own offspring, because, I am not sure why, it is always the odd mate that turns up and wrecks havoc.
For months the system was more or less stable, the protections were in place, then a mate of one of my sons comes along and manages to turn off protections ... he even managed to reset MY PASSWORD, the kid is 12 FFS, and no, they did not know my password. Guess he came with a DVD with password resetting tools. Since then I have removed all protections, if you have physical access, you can do what you please.
Not concerned about my kids watching porn, yes I have explained the basics to them, told them that some people enjoy watching that and that it is meant to be watched by adults. Also told them that that has nothing to do with what you actually do with the opposite sex. After all, porn is just for perverts and the insane.
I do monitor websites they go to, though, on an irregular basis, and they mostly go watch youtube and play flash games on the intertubes with their browsers.
Nicely ripped out of context.
> Also told them that that has nothing to do with what you actually do with the opposite sex. After all, porn is just for perverts and the insane.
I'm not sure that watching other people have sex doesn't fall into the category of "perverted" in that I'm not convinced that "watching other people" is the real purpose of sex. Hands up who wants a 12-yo watching them get it on... anyone? As for the insane - well maybe those who think putting porn in the hands of a twelve-yo is a good idea?
"Cum harder .. I like it a little rough" Porn film dialogue or the words from a song performed by a group at the Disney Radio Music Awards? Run along little boy and get your porn from mtv/vh1 like all the other good little consumers. If you don't get the sex-references, don't worry, there's plenty to enjoy while you're learning to like it with x-factor.
> Nicely ripped out of context.
>> Also told them that that has nothing to do with what you actually do with the opposite sex. After all, porn is just for perverts and the insane.
If he'd left it as just the first sentence, I wouldn't have commented. Adding the second sentence, however, makes a big difference.
Unfortunately you also seem to have missed the point with your ridiculous Straw Man arguments of "Hands up who wants a 12-yo watching them get it on... anyone? As for the insane - well maybe those who think putting porn in the hands of a twelve-yo is a good idea?"
The "sex education" children get here in the UK is mostly useless nonsense, more designed to placate Middle England than actually helping children learn about sex and (more importantly) relationships.
Consequently they *don't know* that porn "has nothing to do with what you actually do with the opposite sex", so they try to replicate that (with all the deleterious emotional consequences that follow) and, because they don't know better, results in increased levels of teenage pregnancies and STIs.
We need to teach children what they need to know *before* they know it and not with the coy and embarrassed "education" they get at the moment. Compare this with countries like the Netherlands which start to teach children about sexuality from about the age of 6 (cue the Mail frothing at the mouth about our children being "corrupted"!) and you might start to understand the situation.
"I do monitor websites they go to, though, on an irregular basis, and they mostly go watch youtube and play flash games on the intertubes with their browsers."
Assuming they know you monitor their online activities - then sleepovers, or other visits to their mates, could provide the necessary opportunities. Like all defences there only has to be one weak link - and kids soon learn and share.
Many years ago when browsing controls were first being installed - young teenagers bragged to adult IT acquaintances about how easily they could by-pass school and parental controls. One kid would take an exploit into school - and everyone else would quickly acquire it
A bit like the childproof pill containers - arthritic grandparents have to ask their 5 year old grandchild to open the box for them.
Humans are smart animals - and children are the smartest at seeing the non-obvious.
"
he even managed to reset MY PASSWORD, the kid is 12 FFS, and no, they did not know my password. Guess he came with a DVD with password resetting tools.
"
Not necessarily. I know a 12 year old who got his father's password by fitting a hardware USB keylogger on the PC his parents use. It's stuff kids learn in the school playground these days.
My view is that so long as you educate your child that porn is entertainment that's as fictitious as a Hollywood movie, it won't cause any harm that a Kleenex can't fix. Leave the PC open and tell the child that you trust them, and you've removed both the challenge to get past the blocks and also the curiosity to find out what all the fuss is about.
Porn filters won't stop online bullying, which is 1000's of times more likely to cause serious psychological harm to your child. Personally I'd allow porn but ban all social media sites and applications if it were practical to do so (which it unfortunately isn't).
Viruses and other nasties are a real concern, and the only effective protection against those is to educate your child about the dangers, and describe to them the various ways that they could be manipulated into installing something malicious. Net-nanny filters offer no protection, and there are plenty of exploits that an AV won't stop.
A far bigger risk however is the child buying stuff using a parent's e-shopping account (which many sites make very easy to do). A 12 year old who has learned how to edit a registry setting and so you think is pretty computer-savvy may not even stop to consider where the money comes from when they hit Amazon's "Buy with 1-click".
@King Stephen
As the Reg reader in question I'd like to say:
I'm not outraged I'm just trying to help by informing others of this issue and my opinion of Microsoft.
There was no "Check Family Safety tip" when I upgraded 7 to 10.
I wasn't "keeping my sprog safe" I was investigating the features of Windows 10 compared to 7 when I found this. This isn't a PC my children use, so that's not an issue.
And I don't think the time I spent was a waste, and it was much more than 5 minutes.
Except perhaps, preventing logins outside of monitored times? Perhaps locking browser preferences preventing browser histories from being deleted and blocking the browser's "porn-mode" or switching on/off proxies.
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