News0 min ago
Blocking Msn Messenger
How can I block this program ,
My 14 yr old daughter has become obssesed with it , I delete it but she just downloads it again .
I am on win 98 , and cannot supervise her 24 hrs a day, I have found she has been chatting to men much older than her ....this must stop,
Please I need help.....
Answers
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Chris
If you block her from using MSN, your treating the 'Symptom' not the problem. She will only find another chat room or program.
Sit down with her and talk to her, listen to why she talks online and why she wants the attention. Children are not just pets that need to be told off, and stopped from doing things. They are human beings and need attention and guidance, so they can make up there own minds.
If you convince her that there are better ways to socialise, and that the men she talks to are most probably peadophiles only interested in raping her, she will not 'want' to use MSN anymore, and you will not need to do anything drastic on your computer.
If you browse to the following Key (replace LOCAL_MACHINE with CURRENT_USER for just an individual)
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Messenger\Client]
Once there right click on the right hand pane and create a new REG_DWORD Value
Call it "PreventRun" without quotation marks and using capital letters where used in the example. Once created click to edit the value, change this to 1 to enable the restriction.
It may be a good idea to also make a key called "PreventAutoRun" and do the same...
From a child raising standpoint, I don't really have an opinion 'cos I don't have kids! Bob A Job's advice seems sound and reasonable to me.
From a technical standpoint, I like jordi2k's solution. However, I have another that you may be able to use for any other web site. Windows has a file called a HOSTS file. It tells web applications where to look for some addresses. More info here.
If you go to C:\Windows\hosts and open up your hosts file in notepad and then, under the last entry, put in "127.0.0.1 messenger.hotmail.com" and "127.0.0.1 gateway.messenger.hotmail.com" and "127.0.0.1 msgr.hotmail.com", all without the quotes, this will redirect any attempt to access the Messenger servers to your own computer. Since that's not where it needs to be looking, it won't be able to log on.
You can also use this method to block advertising sites (links on the page linked to above). Simply redirect any address you don't want available to 127.0.0.1
How much older are these men? Obviously you are worried because of the risk, but most teenagers just use MSN as a modern day version of pen pals. She probably mainly uses it to speak to friends from school.
I understand you are worried but as long as she follows a few very basic safety rules she should be fine. The main rule is never ever meet anyone from the internet, but other safety rules should be that she never tells anyone where she goes to school, where she lives or any plans for the weekend. Explain to her that you are worried, what might happen and that it is because you love her. Really this can be sorted without a big battle.
Good luck!