Time of day restrictions

Hi,

Thanks,

KatieQ

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andrew_d wrote:

Can you confirm if someone was acutally on the computer for longer periods of time? 

Message Edited by andrew_d on 05-05-2009 01:13 PM

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Here is the activity log for the same time period.

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I am having the same problem.  Whenever he logs out and logs back in (to the same computer), he gets more time.  Below is a screen shot of the log.

Is this something that's being fixed in an upcoming version?  If so, any idea when, roughly, that might be?  This is the primary feature that causes me to want to use this product.

Also, if I could make a suggestion, I would love to have an option to limit time by week, rather than by day.  For example, I'd like to limit him to ten hours per week, so he can spend that time however he wants.  To me, that would be a more practical way to limit it so that he can use it more on days when he has more free time or has something he needs to work on, but still limit the total time over a week.  Just a thought....

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Hi grimm1,

Thanks for your feedback.  We are working on this actively.

Thanks,

Katie

Matt --  I've had this problem that they're speaking of since day one.  I've posted a few times but haven't gotten any responses, or responses that have done anything.  Basically, when the prompt comes up that the child has 60 seconds to log off due to time restrictions, the child will lock the account (not log off, but just switch user or "lock").  Then the child will log back in and the prompt will no longer be there.  I have seen a few instances where, at this point, it will lock again (I think this may be when the 60 seconds finally times out), but it won't log them off, it'll only lock it again.  They can then "unlock" it and get back in.  Then the child will get a prompt stating that in 15 minutes they'll be logged off.  After 14 minutes, they'll get the 60 seconds prompt again, and the whole process starts over.  The child (my child) doesn't necessarily have any "evil" intentions, but has definately put in the hours figuring this one out.

I apologize for what appears to be a "late in the game" response, but like I said earlier in this message -- I've posted before but have not gotten any decent response.  This situation would work great for a child perhaps 6 and under (at that age, they'll just go to the parent and say they got "logged out"), but once they get above that age, they're figuring out this kind of "shortfall" on their own.

In looking at some of these logs we have determined that children are continuing to log back in after being locked out. The software is allowing the 1 minute grace period after logging back in to allow them to save any work they may have been doing. After that they will then be locked out again after another minute passes.

So if a child is locked out, then logs back in, they have 2 minutes, then they will be locked out again. If your child is willing to repeat this process for hours, it's probably time to have a discussion with your child. The software is not intended to be "big brother" and control your children, but to allow you insight as to their behavior and interactions while on the computer.

There is a bug right now where we are not showing all of the lock outs that are being reported by the child's computer, we are working on an update for that issue so you would see that every 2 minutes they were actually locked out.

If you have any other suggestions please let us know.

Matt

The reasoning behind locking instead of logging out was for the purposes of not losing data. Imagine your child just spent the last 1/2 hour working on a paper in Microsoft Word. Then we log them out, they have no option to save their document, and the lose all the work they had done. What kind of conversation would we be having then on the forum?

So we opted for a much more user friendly solution to lock them out but allow them to get back in if necessary for 1 minute, to save whatever work they were working on and then lock them out again.

The wording you suggest "Lock and Allow Login" is not what actually happens, as we do lock them out again, but only after a grace period. This is the intended behavior.

I understand it's a battle, I have kids myself and those type of conversations (ones about rules, and why we have them) can be difficult.

Other than perhaps spelling it out more clearly on the time settings page, if you have any other suggestions please let us know.

Matt

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Matt_Boucher wrote:

The reasoning behind locking instead of logging out was for the purposes of not losing data. Imagine your child just spent the last 1/2 hour working on a paper in Microsoft Word. Then we log them out, they have no option to save their document, and the lose all the work they had done. What kind of conversation would we be having then on the forum?

Other than perhaps spelling it out more clearly on the time settings page, if you have any other suggestions please let us know.

Matt

Message Edited by Matt_Boucher on 06-10-2009 08:29 AM

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I've suggested before (in email) that what this program needs is to be able to control access to the PC and access to the internet seperately.  For example I may want to give my child up to 3 hours of time on the PC on a school night but limit their access to the internet to only 1 hour.  The only way I can limit their access to the internet now is by limiting their access to the PC.

This would also solve some of the issues with kids logging back in every few minutes.  If the access to the internet is blocked then logging back in isn't going to get them back on the internet it will just let them access the PC so that they can save and close whatever they were working on.

I agree with grimm1, shut off the Internet when they get their grace period of 1 minute (or so).

I have a child who follows the rules, logs out and then leaves.  I also have another (ADHD) who doesn't mind the interruption and will log in and get their one minute, get logged back out and then just log in again...over and over and over.   It is summer vacation and I can't be there over their shoulder all the time, I still have a job even if they are out of school.  This product looked great since I could open the admin web page from work and see what they are up to.

There must be a product out there that will just shut them off cold until their window opens up again.  Computers are patient and won't lose their data if the document isn't saved until tomorrow morning.  If they need an exception they need to come to the parents (or system admin) and ask for their permissions for the exception.

btw, XP in this case.

Some users love the way how the time restriction feature works because it allows a kid to log back in to save the work the kid has been doing.  We understand you may prefer a more strict approach to the feature.  OnlineFamily.Norton team has been working hard and trying to come up with an alternative way to handle it in a future release.

Thanks,

I had this same problem when my dad ask me to install the program for my younger bro. somehow, he managed to do just that. So for those who know abit about windows, can try to disable Fast User Switching and Lock Computer.

This will make sure the kids can't exploit the glitch with ease as they can only log off after the time is up. And when they re login, they will need to re open what they have done before the 1 min is up again.

Hi,

What tis the status of this thread? As the program really not log out the user but only locks the computer/screen to get a new minute is just a second away. No programs stop and it's just a minor disturbance.

I would like to have an option that gives you three warnings with lock out (daily), after that the computer should be forced to shutdown entirely, or at least log off for real (the you can e.g. trigger a logout script in XP Professional)

As is now I must figure out a way to check if the screen is locked and trigger some script to shutdown th PC for me until you solve it.

Hope you put your best effort in this,

/ Carl

Matt,

When will the time allowance and blocking update be provided? I'm using a fresh XP Pro install with 360.

My kids are driven enough repeatedly to log in, especially since all they need to do is touch their finger to the built-in biometric on the keyboard. It's a snap. Without the finger print reader, I would consider forcing a really long password to retype.

Currently most important:  I want to deactivate my kids' accounts so they can't log in at all. The blocking period is set from 7 am to 6 am. I can't see how to block 24 hrs. The activity report shows the user (without admin rights) signed-in during curfew hours. I'm ok with giving them an hour between 6-7 am, but would rather be able to outright block them.

Thanks for making this software better and better!

-Greg