Parental Controls in WMC? - Not allowed to watch TV until 5

[T Rush]

I had this simple rule when I was a kid
my folks wanted my brother and I to find something productive to do after school and weekends; be active, go outside, do homework, make friends, etc etc...basically just not plop down on the couch and rot our brains on crap TV shows until they were off work and could somewhat monitor what little media we had for my generation

So skip ahead 30~40 years to now, and I want to pass this condition along to my kids....somewhat(times and media are very different now) all I'm asking is not to fire up the big 70" HDTV Home Theater system and be slugs
...heck, they have iPhones/Pad, laptops, and even their own gaming computers with 24" screens plus running WMC on attached 32" 1080p Smart HDTVs in their rooms...they can do whatever they want in their own space(we had a little problem with late night MMORPG, but they got better so I don't even have internet time restrictions on anymore)...I'm only drawing a line where it comes to the common area of our house and watching junk during the day where everyone has to be subjected to it, or sucked in...apparently this makes me the biggest a-hole parent in the world and its so effed-up that they should have to wait until 5pm to watch Trailer Park Boys on Netflix at full volume

anyway, is it possible to have Win7 lock at the logon screen during the day, but have it automatically unlock at 5:00pm? and then stay unlocked for the night

[T Rush]

I'll add a little more info

I had my Windows 7 Ultimate HTPC set to just 'turn off display' after 5min of inactivity... So the computer was always on to record any scheduled live TV shows and share all media files on our network....this was fine as all you had to do was press any button on the remote and the screen would light up to WMC
...I even hacked together a little code to make a WMC menu item that would stop playback and turn off the display if that was needed: my "Off Button" http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... f=5&t=5293
But otherwise Windows would reboot to Media Center running, and stopping any playback or coming to the end of playing a movie file or Netflix; and the TV would go black after 5min

So today when when I came home from working on our boat and the kids were watching Wolf of Wall st at 3 in the afternoon, I simply added a password(using the key pad of the remote) to the single admin account on the HTPC
...the problems with this I'm expecting are:

1) if Windows is restarted, it will no longer fully load and allow Media Center to record its schedule of any live TV nor be on the network to share media files....it will just sit at the logon screen waiting

2) I will have to enter the password every time anyone wants to watch, even after 5min of a paused movie or looking at the Guide...the computer will keep locking during the times when we should be free to use it without hassle

3) it doesn't help with the time restriction exactly


OK, so there is the Parental Controls to set hours that you can logon
http://windows.about.com/od/securitypri ... Ctrl_4.htm
...kinda might work except:

1) still doesn't fully boot the computer to a full running WMC and file sharing during the day

2) at the end of a session, automatically it only does a 'user switch' type state where playback could still run? vs a full 'log off'

3) you would have to select that account on the lock screen(won't work with the admin account and requires a second normal user account) and keep reselecting/entering passwords any time the HTPC was left inactive for 5min and locked

[SilverRubicon]

Wouldn't it be easier to do some parenting and state "no TV until 5pm"?

[T Rush]

Wouldn't it be easier to do some parenting and state "no TV until 5pm"?

So are you just suggesting that I simply tell them:
" hey guys, so here is the deal, you can't use the Home Theater until after 5:00pm; this way we will make sure you have plenty of time to get your chores done, do homework after school, don't have the distraction so you can find more creative things to do in the daytime, and aren't just laying around in the family room distracting other people ...but if there is something special you need to watch, and it doesn't work to watch it in your room on your own system; just ask me first and we can work something out "
Yes, I've already tried that; and it has worked "OK" for about 15 years, other times it hasn't and has become a bigger problem than it needs to be with people getting their feelings hurt

Now I'm after a fail safe solution, that doesn't have be an issue of 'trust/not-trusting" nor enforcement and obedience; basically it would remove the opportunity to have a problem...not that I need software to do my parenting for me, and take the place of a child's development of self-control or experiments in trial-n-error; just in these very modern times, some things only need to work or they don't and we shouldnt have to question everything...there are more important fish to fry so we all can move on with our lives and not sweat the little things

[signcarver]

How much setup does the TV have to do if power is removed as I might look into a timer that keeps it off until 5:00. What type of tuner is it (or do you mean all TV)? As one might block the tuner from passing through the firewall during those times, but allow playback of things recorded or if no playback move those files to a nas and block access to it during those times.

If they are getting some out time and exercise (depending on area you may be better keeping them in the house, as times have changed) I actually think they will have more friends allowing some gaming on that 70" during that time.

[T Rush]

How much setup does the TV have to do if power is removed as I might look into a timer that keeps it off until 5:00.

that is not a bad idea
Pros:
1) It would render the Home Theater useless: even trying to interface with the Big Screen with remote/mouse/keyboard would produce no visual results
2) attaching another device to the TV would not be a workaround...like if a laptop running WMC on our network or a gaming system were plugged into an unused HDMI, or a divice was used to 'cast' to the Smart TV over the network
3) its simple, and because my TV never really turns off into a standby/powersave mode; it might help extend its life span
Cons:
1) pretty easy for the kids to hack, and simply plug it in without the timer; while at the same time be too much of a hassle if there was a situation where someone needed to use the Home Theater in the daytime
2) might be somewhat of a lengthy start-up process, evolving multiple remotes; or worse, could auto start to a screen of static or TV setup configuration
3) accidental or lucky WMC remote button presses might start playback/recording/deletion/settings changes without visual navigation

...so overall, not what I'm looking for

What type of tuner is it (or do you mean all TV)? As one might block the tuner from passing through the firewall during those times, but allow playback of things recorded or if no playback move those files to a nas and block access to it during those times.

it is a networked HDHomerun Prime along with another older HDHomerun Dual...not only might the main HTPC still need to access the tuners to record, but the other computers in the house should be free to use them during the daytime
The 70" Big Screen is a Smart TV, so it does have YouTube, Netflix, "cast to", etc, and turner capabilities... but the Kids don't know that...I don't leave the TV's remote out(I demand the one remote functionality, and only use a simple Microsoft basic WMC remote)...and this main HTPC contains a RAID 5 will all our photos/music/recorded TV/DVD BluRay backed-up movie files stored locally and network shared
...I'd just rather not get back into network and internet time restrictions again....and hopefully the Kids won't discover that they simply could watch NetFlix directly thru the Smart TV functions or just get the bright idea to plug a game console into it

If they are getting some out time and exercise (depending on area you may be better keeping them in the house, as times have changed) I actually think they will have more friends allowing some gaming on that 70" during that time.

not that I did or would come to the greenbutton forms looking for parenting guidance or advice on the rules we are trying to maintain, I will say that; we've had a number of problems when they bring groups of friends home with them when we are not here...at the same time we find that use of the Home Theater during the daytime when we are here is disrupting to the household....and I'll leave it at that

[sbaeder]

Are you sure the parental / login restrictions won't work? Even if not logged in, WMC will record if the PC is on and booted up. Also, file serving still works well too...You don't have to have the WMC GUI running to record, and AFAIK, you don't have to be logged in either.

So, preventing logins on the HTPC until after 5:00 should be sufficient. Create an account for them, and one for you. You can still have the screen blank stuff set up on YOUR account to not require a password, and you might have to make sure to log out at the end of the night (and maybe log out your kids when you start to watch your own things), but given the situation, I would give it a try.

[T Rush]

Yes, I have now created a new basic user account in Windows
...then from the original admin account I set up Parental Controls in Windows(note to mods that changed the thread title: I'm not using Parental Controls in WMC)
...and there has been some success with just using the logon time restrictions

one nice thing is that I could simply set the time restricted basic user account to not display the logon screen if the screen blacks out after 5min of inactivity, so they can stay logged in the whole time after 5:00, where the password protected admin account would automatically still require a re-login if it is left inactive

Thank you for the information that WMC will still record if no users have logged on after a reboot, but I will have to test that...and I do know that WMC will still record even when it hasn't been previously launched, but don't know how far Windows loads(and what can run) if no user logon has taken place

The first problem I've discovered was that on the timed logon basic user account, it doesn't actually log that user out during disabled times, only a 'switch user' state with everything still running...I tested this Monday night by watching LiveTV and letting that account time out of the login; sound stopped and Windows displayed the logon lock screen, but I noticed the hard drive activity light flickering... So 5:00pm on Tuesday when I was able to log back into that account, the LiveTV was still buffering but in a paused state, so still using one of the turners and the hard drive all day long

I also noticed that logging in to the main admin account during the disabled time restricted hours of the other basic user, and WMC did not show that LiveTV was still buffering...however editing the Guide channels also changed the Guide channels of the other users....so somethings in WMC are handled per user, and other things are global to all users

I might try using the task scheduler next to add some timed functions to stop playback and auto login