Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: How do I protect my parents from the internet?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

191–200 of 221 posts

Re: Ask HN: How do I protect my parents from the internet?

#191

Post by SpiderHam »

ChrisNorstrom wrote: post #154

I've got 2 computer-illiterate parents and I can confirm the following works very well: 1) Create a user account in Windows that is NOT an administrator account, that way they can't install things without an admin username and password. The PCs admin account should be password protected. 2) Enable the highest level of windows alerts (those "this program wants to make changes or modifications to this PC, cancel or all…

I agree with a lot of these steps, although if you're considering putting Deep Freeze on, there's a few other similar programs that I find work just as well but are free. Comodo Time Machine is one, Reboot Restore Rx http://horizondatasys.com/reboot-restore-rx-freeware/ is another.

Re: Ask HN: How do I protect my parents from the internet?

#192

Post by Tinned_Tuna »

The best thing I can suggest is regular, invisible backups. Ensure that it's very difficult for them to avoid doing the backups, and make sure that what ever holds the backups is a battle-hardened.

Social engineering is a broad problem right now, and all you can really do is be prepared to pick up the pieces after the fact.

Re: Ask HN: How do I protect my parents from the internet?

#193

Post by pc86 »

i336_ wrote: post #113
ralphc wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also assuming you live close enough to your parents that you can go over and physically revive a bricked computer.

I just thought of a bizarre but interesting idea - an i3/i5-capable server motherboard with IPMI, and a rock-solid router running OpenVPN in front of the IPMI port. Maybe fractionally higher power consumption, and perhaps you'd need a GPU for it, but if both ends have really decent internet, that could very legitimately work.

> a rock-solid router

Make one of these and you'll end up with a lot of money.

Re: Ask HN: How do I protect my parents from the internet?

#194

Post by vortico »

kleigenfreude wrote: post #169
Someone1234 wrote: post #109

Chromebooks cannot print. Everyone loves to recommend Chromebooks to older/less digitally literate people, and they're right to do so in most situations. However Chromebooks have one huge downside that makes them non-starters for some of that demographic: Printing is a no-go. And don't tell me about "Google Cloud Print." Cloud Printing requires a PC or Mac connected to the printer and a copy of the Chrome browser run…

You don't have to run Chrome OS. You can install Elementary or another Linux distro.

Well, that defeats the point of making an easy sandboxed OS for elders.

Re: Ask HN: How do I protect my parents from the internet?

#195

Post by vortico »

PascLeRasc wrote: post #131
Someone1234 wrote: post #109

Chromebooks cannot print. Everyone loves to recommend Chromebooks to older/less digitally literate people, and they're right to do so in most situations. However Chromebooks have one huge downside that makes them non-starters for some of that demographic: Printing is a no-go. And don't tell me about "Google Cloud Print." Cloud Printing requires a PC or Mac connected to the printer and a copy of the Chrome browser run…

Chromebook ($200)+ wifi printer ($50) is still cheaper and smoother than a workable Windows laptop.

$200 Windows laptops exist and work perfectly fine, having the same specs as the Chromebooks.

Re: Ask HN: How do I protect my parents from the internet?

#196

Post by tpoindex »

hawski wrote: post #182
colanderman wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My mom has one of those, a Brother model that loudly proclaims it supports Google Cloud Print. Doesn't work with her Chromebook at all. (Unfortunately we bought it well before she owned a Chromebook so returning is not an option.)

There is API for printers on ChromeOS - printerProvider. There are some apps that use it, maybe something will work for you: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ipp-cups-printing-... https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/wifi-printer-drive...

I used the IPP / CUPS extension for a while, but now use the HP Print for Chrome application. Obviously this is an HP-only printer solution, but seems to work a little better for me. I had to route IPP / CUPS through my Linux home server running cupsd. The HP Print application prints directly to the printer, one less thing to go wrong.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hp-print-for-chrom...

Re: Ask HN: How do I protect my parents from the internet?

#197

Post by Too »

* Set a password on UAC (windows sudo equivalent) and teach him that if the background ever goes black and asks for a password he should be very aware. The default is just a yes/no popup and is very easy to just click yes, even accidentally for tech savy users. For extra protection, don't give him the password.

* Remove the anti virus and tell him that you did so. It just gives a false sense of security and introduces more popups which teaches users to ignore prompts. If he knows it's not there he might be more careful.

* Install ublock origin. It blocks known badware domains and reduces the amount of clutter/ads on almost every web page you browse, making it easier for him to identify weird stuff.

Re: Ask HN: How do I protect my parents from the internet?

#198

Post by vortico »

Someone1234 wrote: post #109

Chromebooks cannot print. Everyone loves to recommend Chromebooks to older/less digitally literate people, and they're right to do so in most situations. However Chromebooks have one huge downside that makes them non-starters for some of that demographic: Printing is a no-go. And don't tell me about "Google Cloud Print." Cloud Printing requires a PC or Mac connected to the printer and a copy of the Chrome browser run…

Since the kernel is Linux, can you access USB devices in /dev/? In theory you could design a userspace generic driver which just sends Postscript to printers. Advanced features wouldn't be supported, but basic PDF printing would work. So it might be technically feasible to print from ChromeOS---someone would just have to build a friendly wrapper around it.

Re: Ask HN: How do I protect my parents from the internet?

#199

Post by colanderman »

hawski wrote: post #182
colanderman wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My mom has one of those, a Brother model that loudly proclaims it supports Google Cloud Print. Doesn't work with her Chromebook at all. (Unfortunately we bought it well before she owned a Chromebook so returning is not an option.)

There is API for printers on ChromeOS - printerProvider. There are some apps that use it, maybe something will work for you: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ipp-cups-printing-... https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/wifi-printer-drive...

Thank you for those suggestions, I will try them.

Re: Ask HN: How do I protect my parents from the internet?

#200

Post by hayleox »

zupreme wrote: post #163

There are some good suggestions here but I will give you one based on the assumption that your parents won't want to leave the familiarity of Windows. 0) Deny them admin rights to the machine. 1) Create a second profile for each of them 2) Write a quick batch or PowerShell script to copy the contents of their Desktop, Documents, Favorites, Pictures, Music, and Vidoes folders (not the entire profile) from their profil…

I'm gonna have to disagree with this one. There are tons of great, battle-tested backup tools out there -- rolling your own solution seems to just be asking for something to go wrong.
Post reply on HN