How can I make IE not display a given website?

Are you usign MS Windows?

*shudder*

Software is the best way. I think IE has some parental controls too, but I used software for our son when he was younger. It ran undetected in the background and would just spontaneously redirect to yahoo for sites that were off limits.

It also logged EVERYTHING, but that was just a bonus. I could also check it from my machine. It was called Big Brother or something. It was about 8 years ago.

Don't use IE? The techy boys in the tech forum might be able to help you out.

If you by "a given website" you mean a pre-determined internet address, then yes, there is an easy way. In Notepad, open the file "hosts" in:
C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc

Put in the addresses you want to block like this:
127.0.0.1 the.webaddress.com

So if I wanted to block google.com I'd enter:
127.0.0.1 google.com

That's pretty inefficient, but anything efficient you'll need software for.

There is a 'content' tab in Tools/IE options.


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Wumpus said:

There is a 'content' tab in Tools/IE options.

Click to expand...

Yeah, the problem is that many (most?) sites don't actually rate themselves for content which is the only way that the content tab will do any filtering. You can set it up to not view sites that aren't rated, but that eliminates so many sites that it makes the browser useless.

The RSACi rating system relies on the website to have rated itself and embedded the appropriate tags into the webpage.

In IE, try - Tools>Internet Options>Content>Enable>Approved Sites and type in the websites you want to block, and click on "Never"

You may also be able to add entries in your hosts file to redirect the website requests back to 127.0.0.1 (your own computer) so he can't get to them.

Hosts file ---> C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc

Internet Options > General > Browsing history > Settings > History > "0"

Then you won't see the gay sites in the drop down lists.

If you don't care what he's looking at, and your spyware and virus filters are up to date, then this is the easiest solution.


Edit: Firefox is your friend, btw.

Content aside, I wouldn't let some homeless kid come into my home and have unlimited access to my computer. With thousands of family photos (backed up on an internal drive) information from tax returns for the last several years, personal emails and everything else the last thing I want is someone else goofing up my computer. Setup a profile for the kid and make him log on with his own password to a profile with limited access to your drives and clamp down your security software so that he can't inadvertantly download and install something you don't want.

If he's using another profile you won't see his browsing history unless you log into his profile and look. Look through your ISPs website, most of the bigger ISPs offer free software to filter websites.

Of course nothing is going to be fool proof, if the kid is determined he'll find a way around just about anything. It seems like kids are even better at this than adults who have education and training that is supposed to mean they know how to figure stuff out. Unless you're going to keep the kid off your computer completely (with a lock on the power switch) I'd just give the kid the freedom to visit the sites he wants to, as it doesn't seem like you've got a problem with gay porn. But make him do it on a profile that has limited access to screw up the computer.