KidSafe v0.36.0.0

webfork on 27 May 2018
  • 7MB (uncompressed)
  • Released on 24 Apr 2010
  • Suggested by guinness

KidSafe is a computer-locking application designed to keep young children from messing anything up. Although not a high-security system, the tool is useful if you are concerned about having your desktop icons scrambled or your Word document deleted by a child.

Category:
Runs on:WinXP / Vista / Win7
Writes settings to: Application folder
Stealth: ? Yes
Unicode support: Yes
Path portability: Automatic relative path (eg. ..\..\personal\work.doc)
License: GPL
How to extract: Download the ZIP package and extract to a folder of your choice. Launch KidSafe.exe.
Similar/alternative apps: Keyfreeze
What's new? Version 0.36.0.0 (2010-04-20)
  • Improvement: Added auto-updater (thanks to rcmaehl for RFE)
  • Improvement: Activity log now logs attempts to access the Options dialog too
  • Improvement: Added a textbox to the anti-abuse shutdown window; it can be used as a "scratchpad" for solving the math problem (thanks to rcmaehl for RFE)



Version 0.35.0.0 (2010-04-19)
  • Bug fix: Some of the text in the "check for updates" window was run together (thanks to rcmaehl for report)
  • Improvement: Screensaver mode now waits for the specified number of minutes instead of seconds (thanks to webfork for RFE)
  • Improvement: Options dialog now automatically switches to the Password tab if the password isn't set (thanks to guinness for RFE)
  • Improvement: Added activity log to record all password-entry attempts & anti-abuse shutdown attempts (thanks to rcmaehl for RFE)
  • Improvement: Debugging log now shows more-legible entries
  • Improvement: On KidSafe's first run, the main KidSafe window won't be shown; only the Options dialog will (thanks to John T. Haller for RFE)
  • Improvement: Added a button to reset the background image (thanks to rcmaehl for RFE)

15 comments on KidSafe  The Portable Freeware Collection Latest Entries Feed

rmcomputerlover 2011-05-24 12:20

Finalized version in progress. Available here for now: Http://www.fcofix.org/mirror/beta/kidsafe.exe NOTE: This version will NOT automatically update to the latest beta.

V0.36.0.0

webfork 2011-05-11 20:13

rmcomputerlover: good news

V0.36.0.0

rmcomputerlover 2011-05-10 12:02

In case anyone was wondering, we're working on releasing a completely finalized feature packed version by around Late June/Early July.

V0.36.0.0

computerfreaker 2010-03-15 21:57

@Aiadi:
"No worries freaker and thanks very much for your kind reply. The software is still awesome I find and I will definitely continue to use it. "
Thanks for the kind words!

"Would you consider giving the choice of the anti-abuse unlock (math or admin pass) in the options menu?"
hmm, I don't think that's a good idea. It's definitely possible from a programming perspective, but it leaves a troublesome dilemma. If only one anti-abuse option is exposed (via a setting in the Options dialog), what happens when a malicious user sets the anti-abuse method to admin pass, then locks up the system? That brings us back to where we started: with the local admin getting called over to unlock the PC, and probably banning portable apps, PortableApps.com, and/or KidSafe from the PC to prevent any repeat incidents.
If both anti-abuse options are exposed in the anti-abuse shutdown dialog, that brings back the problem of little kids with access to admin rights.

I'm afraid this is one of those situations where there isn't a winning option available.

If you (or anyone else) has any ideas, I'd be delighted to hear them; this has been a very frustrating problem, because every "solution" we've discussed has problems. In the end, we settled on the solution with the fewest problems; as you can see, though, it's very far from ideal.

Aiadi 2010-03-15 21:29

No worries freaker and thanks very much for your kind reply. The software is still awesome I find and I will definitely continue to use it. Would you consider giving the choice of the anti-abuse unlock (math or admin pass) in the options menu?

Aiadi 2010-03-15 14:51

Thanks for the new release but I would have liked the older anti-abuse unlock with the admin password better as I am using it at work and not to protect from the kids. Can you not limit the anti-abuse unlock to forcefully shutting the PC down (i.e. by holding the power button) like would happen when running the portable version?? This will remove the scope for abuse as PC can be disabled by force shutdown but would also mean that all opened programs and documents running will also be closed and therefore secure from being tampered with.

Aiadi 2010-02-20 18:27

Have you seen all the options this offers Richard? also it is small, portable and, unlike normal locking, would not require me to create a password on each computer that I use at work (which my employer won't be happy about).

richard cooper 2010-02-20 16:51

I have to agree with lold, and the reason is that i do not see how this program is different from locking the computer. is there something special that kidsafe does?

computerfreaker 2010-02-20 15:36

@Aiadi: Glad you like it!
If you want to drop me an e-mail (c0mput3rfr34k3r@gmail.com), I'd be happy to take a look at your Windows 7 bugs and see about resolving them.

Aiadi 2010-02-20 09:13

I am loving this software. Its got few tiny glitches with Windows 7 but is otherwise very useful for me to lock the PC at work when leaving my office. Thanks to the Author for the great effort.

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