i m the mom of the youngest of 3, a 17 yr old who is cracking all my password efforts.
i would change the password for his account sign on, as well as my own password, to
control how much he is on my imac when he does not do well in school. over the last
couple of days, i changed the passwords twice and found him on anyway. when asking
him how he is doing this, his reply is “i know at least 3 ways to get around your password
changes”. heck i don’t and i thought if the admin changes an accounts password, then
locks up the changes, that was that. any suggests to really lock him out when i need to?
He’s probably resetting your passwords from the install disk. If the computer is booted to the installation disk then anyone can change anyone’s password. However, you can boot to the install disk yourself and set a firmware password on the computer to prevent anyone from doing this without yet another password.
If you have 10.4 or 10.5, boot to the install media and from the Utilities menu pick Firmware Password Utility. You can set the password here.
Also, you need to go to the Accounts section of System Preferences and ensure that there are no accounts created that you haven’t made yourself. He could be using another account with administrator rights in order to undo settings you’ve made. Ensure his account doesn’t have administrator rights as well.
Let me know how it goes, and don’t be too worried. I was that kid once myself.
well, i know for a fact he does not have access to my installation disk and also he does not have another account that i don’t know about. will gladly try what you suggest though, thanks
i hate you.
PS: it’s not a commentWho cares what hes doing, don’t cyber-parent him just beat his ass, you shouldn’t have to put a password on the computer for him not to go on.
lol thats hilarious. u are so right. he doesnt need to have a password to prevent him from gettin on. after his brokin fingers heal then he will prolly learn a lesson. DONT FUCK WITH MOM!!!!
You are not addressing the real issue by simply trying to block him from the computer. You are only setting yourself up as the “adversary”, and causing further distraction from his doing well in school. If you are not willing to do what is necessary, including giving him the necessary attention to stay on track in school, then you can only blame yourself. You need to make sure he understands you just want to see him succeed and are not just trying to ruin his fun. If he is just a lazy bastard, then it can be very difficult breaking through that and it probably developed over years due to lack of personal attention from you. Again, it goes back to parenting, but now you have to find a way that works to fix the situation now. Enforce at least one hour for homework per day. Have him do the work as fast and as well as he can in that time. If he gets stuck, have him skip it and indicate the problem. Then you will need to go over his homework and see what he is having difficulty with. Hopefully it is not a work load issue, and hopefully, you know enough to be able to help. If you are not willing to do this, you are not acting as a good role model to him and you will only reinforce his own attitude if you yourself say things like “I don’t have time to look at this with you” or “This is too hard for me.” I had parental tutoring at certain difficult points in my education and it helped push me past those hard times, since I too valued my free time over my school/homework time. If he does not enjoy doing his homework, it could be bad teaching in the class, or maybe he is just not getting something, and you or someone will need to help push him through to the point where he can or will start to carry himself. Supporting your kids through school is part of the job, if you care about their success, that is, and are not a lazy bastard.
wtf, she never asked for your parenting advice she wants to know how to block the computer
Don’t listen to those idiots above who say you have to lay the smack down and show who is the mom. You will only reinforce your image as the “bad guy”. You have to be understanding and supportive and have patience and not look for a cheap way out, or resort to punishment because that will not work and only brings resentment; the “mom doesn’t care at me she’s just out to ruin my life” kind of attitude. Good luck.
Hide the keyboard. lock the room the computer is in. If you really want to send a message delete his user account and erase his personal files.
E-Parenting and Psycho-analyzing.
This gave me the best laugh I’ve had all day.
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