Time limit and blocking not working

dtu · ‎02-04-2012

I have Norton Online Family installed on my son's PC where he is a restricted user, but it doesn't seem work properly.

1. I set time limit. When it counts down at last 60 seconds, he can repeatedly click yes to stay on.

2. I have facebook.com in blocking sites, but he can still get on that site.

3. He can have it disabled.

NOF seems to leave holes in protection. What can I do to get it fixed? Thanks.

KatieQ · ‎04-09-2009

Hi dtu,

1. When the time is up or during a curfew period, the child would get an extra 60 seconds plus another 60 seconds while displaying a warning message with 60 seconds counting down. After that, the child is logged out of his/her account. The child is allowed to log back to the PC for 60 seconds and receive another warning message with 60 seconds counting down to finish whatever he/she was doing . Later, the behavior is repeated for the 3rd time, so the child gets about extra 6 minutes, then he/she wouldn't be able to log back to the PC without the email address and password of the Norton Online Family account.

What I’ve heard is some children login again & again (after the exact 6 minutes) using the few seconds right before the program logs them out. One thing you can try is to add a password for the child’s Windows account, so when the child logs back onto the PC diligently each time, it would create more work for the child to do it every few seconds.

2. Please click on Norton Safety Minder icon in the system tray and select Update House Rules to make the change get affected immediately.

3. What is the exact message you get that makes you think he is able to disable the program?

Thanks,

Katie

dtu · ‎02-04-2012

Thanks for the answers. I think I know how he can still go to sites blocked becasue I tested a new account with similar settings. When visiting a blocked site, a message pops up, but after clicking "I want to go anyway...", the person can still go to the site. This really doesn't block.

Also, kid also doesn't bother retyping password in order to stay online when time is up. Is there a way to just log them out and they can't go back in.

I don't know what he clicks to disable NOF, but I get a message in my inbox when it happens.

I think the program might leave some holes and kids could somehow find a way to go around it. I hope I am wrong and would be happy to learn what needs to be done to really force the house rules in effect.

Thanks.

KatieQ · ‎04-09-2009

dtu,

You said "but after clicking "I want to go anyway...", the person can still go to the site"

--You probably have the option for Web Site setting as "Give a warning but allow XXX on the site anyway. Please select "Block the site".

Norton Online Family program was designed as a tool to encourage communication between parents and their children.

To avoid and limit the possibility to tamper/disable the system, please give non-administrative rights (limited or restricted) to your child’s user account and keep the password for your Norton Online Family account away from the child. Otherwise, the child would have the ability to tamper the program. Please also make sure the child doesn’t log onto the PC using a account that is not being monitored.

If the process for Norton Online Family is killed, the process will restart automatically in another 5 minutes. The program sends alerts to the parent when it has been compromised.

Thanks,

Katie

dtu · ‎02-04-2012

Thank Katie.

I do have "block the site" from beginning because I wanted to have them blocked. But it doesn't seem to matter. I have facebook.com in blocked sites for sure, but I watch over his shoulder right now and he is in facebook. How could that be?

KatieQ · ‎04-09-2009

Hi dtu,

Please first make sure the child logs onto the PC with a monitored account.

Also, please also reset the Web Setting. For example, select option "Monitor only (All Web blocking turned off)", then Save the change, then select option "Block the site", then Save the change again to see if these help. Just in case the house rules are not being saved correctly somehow.

Add a few websites to the allowed and blocked list, then later remove them and save the changes.

If above steps don't help, please uninstall/reinstall Norton Safety Minder on the PC (You don't need to reset the house rules as they have been saved on the NOF servers).

Thanks,

Katie

gmeazell · ‎03-02-2012

Katie,

I am having this same problem. I don't really care if the thing gives them a hundred chances to save their work. Here is my problem:

My child goes to bed at 9PM. NOF is set to not allow her to log in until 6AM. However, she regularly logs in at 5AM. I am typing this at 4:45 AM because today I caught her logging in at 4AM! How is she able to completely disregard these rules? I know that she is not logging in for 60-second intervals from 4-6AM. I thought she might have changed the time on her computer, but it is correct. I sometimes get a notification that she has reached her X:YY curfew. However, the time mentioned is in the middle of the curfew period, not at the beginning.

KatieQ · ‎04-09-2009

H gmeazell,

To avoid and limit the possibility to tamper/disable the system, please give non-administrative rights (limited or restricted) to your child’s user account and keep the password for your Norton Online Family account away from the child. Otherwise, the child would have the ability to tamper the program. Please also make sure the child doesn’t log onto the PC using a account that is not being monitored.

Thanks,

Katie