If you got kids that surf the Internet from your home and you don't want them to look at particular sites, here's a quick, easy way to get that done.
Parental Control Applications
You can go out and purchase a parental control program to block and monitor the sites your kids visit. Here are some:
- NetNanny
- Safe Eyes
- KidZui
- CyberSitter
Most run from $10 to up to $110. Seems steep price to pay.
Block From Router
Another way you can block Internet access is to handle it from your router.
For example, on Linksys routers, one can go into the administration program and enter in sites to block. But if you aren't that technically savvy, this one is probably not going to be for you.
The Free Parental Control Software Solution
Here's the easy way. Go to your Windows/System32/Drivers/etc/hosts file and use Notepad to edit it. By default you will probably see something like:
# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host
127.0.0.1 localhost
What you can do is route all the websites you don't want your kid to look at to localhost, the local IP address that goes nowhere. Type into Notepad like what I have below:
# Block these sites.
127.0.0.1 www.facebook.com
127.0.0.1 facebook.com
127.0.0.1 www.myspace.com
127.0.0.1 myspace.com
You must provide both the www and non-www version. Now when your child attempts to surf to the website, they will be shown an empty page. So here is a free, easy way to block out websites without having to purchase parental control software.
About Kerry Kobashi
Kerry is the founder of KerryOnWorld. He lives in Silicon Valley and has worked as an engineer and project manager. He owns Kobashi Computing a consulting company.
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