I have a computer which I share with my boyfriend. His brother sometimes uses it also. That's fine, but I worry that either of them might download stuff that's not safe or make changes I don't want to the computer. None of us are extremely knowledgeable about these issues, but I am certainly thinking about it more than they do.
I've already made my account the admin and set up a seperate user for them to log in under. I am currently using Windows Vista. I have McAfee Internet Security suite. I would also like any tips that pertain to Ubuntu Linux as I am planning to switch soon. I am not even sure they have a feature to set up several users? My questions are:
Can I make it impossible for them to change the preferences as far as internet goes (history, security level, etc.) in Firefox? Can I somehow stop them from using Internet Explorer? I don't have it installed currently, but I wouldn't put it past them to do so because it's familiar.
Can I make it so they cannot download files? Is there an automatic way to determine what files are safe and only allow those?
Do they have the ability to change their own user password? If so, wouldn't that mean I am unable to monitor whether they are doing anything that would harm the computer or change settings I want?
I don't care what they search for on the internet, so I am not looking to block certain sites by keyword or content, just to prevent them changing any of the settings on the computer or downloading dangerous files.
Any help will be appreciated. Maybe you can answer a question I didn't even ask as far as keeping my computer safe and keeping my settings intact.
Maybe I am being too paranoid, you can tell me that too
. Thanks!