Best PC User Time Controller?

[Betsy]

Please bear with the length of this question.  I just think that I need to explain my situation clearly so that people will understand exactly what I'm hoping to find.

I have three children, two of whom have autism-spectrum disorders and ADD.  They love their computer time, and would spend all day with their noses in the monitor if I would let them.

We have determined to limit them to 2 hours per day during the Summer months.  But they keep "losing track of the time," or "not hearing the timer go off," or "forgetting to set the timer," etc.  We tried using Stickies (www.zhornsoftware.co.uk) and setting them to pop up on the screen when their time was over, but on certain graphics-intensive games, the sticky won't come to the front. 

Since all three boys like to divide their two hours into 4 half-hour chunks, you can appreciate that it's difficult for me to keep on top of it all.

I'm really hoping to find a program that can do the following:

-Require each boy to enter his own password to access the computer
-Allow parents to set how much time each password can access the computer per day
-When time is up, divert the child to some sort of screen, which is all they will see for the rest of the day
-Automatically reset the timer every day for each child
-Allow the child to "log off" to stop his timer whenever he leaves the computer
-Auto logoff for that password if unused for a set period (for when the child forgets to log off)

Does anyone know of any program that can meet that need?

Thanks,
Betsy

[mouser]

Good question,  I hope you get some recommendations for software -- and/or report to us what you find on your own.

[jcriver]

I have tried Watchdog with excellent results. It is not freeware but it is the response for your(mine) kind of needs.
Regards
JC

[blisdom]

i'm looking for this kind of software too...
i had try a lot, but none satisfied me completely .
I'm using Usefulrest now to prevent RSI(i'm skilled enough to kill it when i am in break ,so it's not perfect ) .
Child Control 2008 and Time boss both is good but high cost ..

[app103]

I may have found something you can try.

Kids PC Time Administrator


From what I understand, this will allow you to set a restriction of between what hours your kids can use the PC, what days they can use it, the total length of time they are allowed to use it each day, week, or month, and it will not allow them to log in unless it is between approved hours and on approved days, and it will log them out if they hit their time limit or run into an unallowed time. The scheduling appears to be very flexible.

It can be set up for multiple users and each person would have their own settings, and you can use the computer any time you want without any time limits by not setting restrictions on your own user account.

It also restricts them from being able to change the time/date on the PC, restricts access to folders you set as off limits, restricts the installing/uninstalling of software, restricts access to control panel and task manager. That way they can't cheat, can't kill it, can't change it, can't uninstall it...they are stuck with what you set.

30 day trial, depending on your payment method it costs around $20 for a single PC, discounts for multiple PC's. Site licenses and discounted educational site licenses are also available.

This seems to cover everything you wanted except maybe the auto log off, which if it doesn't, you can get a utility or screensaver that will log off after a set amount of idle time. (has skrommel made one of these?)

[TinaD]

I think I can help you. It seems to me that parental control software will do the trick for you Ez OFF

List of features from their web site:

+   Auto Shut Down, Auto Reboot, Auto Lock PC, Auto Log OFF, Auto Suspend or Hibernate PC
+   Protects your computer even in Windows Safe Mode
+   Keeps computer Shut OFF or Locked Automatically. This is a unique feature, only Ez OFF® can keep PC turned OFF or locked for as long as you need it
+   Separate schedule for each day of the week
+   Separate schedule for each PC user
+   Multiple schedules per day
+   Time accumulation, maximum allowed time control
+   Precise turn OFF / turn ON time
+   Free household license up to 3 PCs per house per 1 purchased license
+   Protects from changing PC System Time
+   Protects Task Manager from unauthorized access
+   Ez OFF is password protected
+   Modern skin support
+   Customizable Parental Control notification PC Shutdown message
+   Windows Vista, Windows Vista 64 bit edition, Windows XP 64 bit edition compatible

Here is address http://www.yoursafet...guide.com/ezoff.aspx

I know the company cause I use another parental control software - Ez Internet Timer (http://www.internettimer.net). Really good software for parents. This is the perfect program for me because my daughter gets on the internet the minute she gets home and it is interfering with her school work. If you have the same problem, you can use Ez Internet Timer to schedule when your users (all 3 children) can access selected Internet activities such as Web Browsing, Instant Messenging, Email sending or File Sharing. As for me, I often set Ez Internet Timer to turn off Skype and MSN  while my kid does her homework.

[x16wda]

Betsy, were you able to try any of the options from here, or did you find anything else that works for you?  I know a lot of families have the same issues, and sometimes having the technology enforce limits makes it easier.

I'm tempted to try the Kids PC Time Administrator that app mentioned above, looks like it could do a great job. What's missing is granular control over Internet sites.  In our house the kids could surf Youtube all day, it would be nice to have some capability to control the maximum Youtube time per day the same way it does computer time.

[Deozaan]

I'm tempted to try the Kids PC Time Administrator that app mentioned above, looks like it could do a great job. What's missing is granular control over Internet sites.  In our house the kids could surf Youtube all day, it would be nice to have some capability to control the maximum Youtube time per day the same way it does computer time.

-x16wda (April 05, 2014, 10:32 AM)

In that case, I'd look around for browser extensions. For example, on Chrome there's an extension called StayFocusd which will limit the time you can spend browsing, with a whitelist which allows unlimited time for certain sites.

[x16wda]

For example, on Chrome there's an extension called StayFocusd

-Deozaan (April 07, 2014, 01:50 PM)

Thanks for the tip - I could probably use this for my boy's pc for awhile (he's 6 so he may take awhile figuring out how to get around it) but I'll need something else for my girl's pc since she already has several different browsers in use.  I'll look around though -- excellent suggestion!