Locking down a PC to stop child messing it up

datunwalnut · 19 Nov 2023

HI,
My wife runs a small charity preschool and they are looking to buy a small PC for the children. The building doesn't have internet access and she doesn't want or need it.
Presently there's a XP machine but I'm constantly being called to fix it as one of the little darlings (3 year olds) has accidentally done something I didn't know was possible like turning the display up side down or making hundreds of short cuts. the list of things they do by just hitting a keyboard randomly is amazing.
So the new machine will be a small form factor one that sits behind the monitor (possibly a touch screen to help kids with lesser motor skills)
I'd like to set up a kids account so that all the kids can see are some icons of the old 16 bit educational games. I'd like to stop the kids doing anything other than that as I'm sick of being called in.
Any ideas how that can be achieved?

Thanks

dalchina · 19 Nov 2023

Hi, just a quick thought or so:

As they are 16 bit games, you would need to install 32 bit Windows.
Also, you'd need to check their compatibility.

1. If it's a Pro installation you can use Group Policy to lock down many things. That would make things much easier.
Policy Plus (free) is a group policy editor with a search feature.

Amongst other things you can disable certain context menus e.g. explorer's, the taskbar's, lock the taskbar, prevent access to the control panel and Settings, block desktop shortcut creation
etc etc...

A few random examples:

Locking down a PC to stop child messing it up-1.jpg

2. Preventing the use of the Start menu seems harder. I found this, but am unconvinced.
3 Ways to How to Disable the Start Menu on Windows 10 - Saint

3. You'd need to disable a LOT of hot keys.
One way to do that is with Autohotkey (free scripting language)- one line per key.
E.g.
#::

disables the Win key

^+esc::

disables CTRL SHIFT esc
etc.

You'd just need a long list in a .ahk file which can be run directly with Autohitkey installed, or compiled to create an exe file (1 click compilation).

4. And you can create a child account of course.

5. Recovery:
Obviously create a 3rd party disk image you can restore as necessary.
Make sure you have a System Restore point available - quickest 'repair'.

Hearsepilot · 19 Nov 2023

My first thought was use a Virtual Machine and keep a copy of it handy ready to mount it when the little darlings blow it up.

dalchina · 19 Nov 2023

- still needs to be resilient during period of use so 'failure' is an exception...

Hearsepilot · 19 Nov 2023

dalchina said:

- still needs to be resilient during period of use so 'failure' is an exception...

Stop kids using it is the only option, they can break anything lol

dalchina · 19 Nov 2023

Locking down a PC to stop child messing it up-index-2.jpg

Locking down a PC to stop child messing it up-images-2.jpg

You'd need a good test regime before deploying it...

User2468 · 20 Nov 2023

Windows 10?

Microsoft Intune From Zero to Hero - YouTube

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/wi...-specific-apps

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/me...kiosk-settings

For a single App.

User2468 · 20 Nov 2023

This might be easier, but is limited from what I can see in the screenshots. FrontFace Lockdown Tool - lock down a PC as kiosk terminal

dalchina · 20 Nov 2023

Hi, if kiosk mode only gives access to one app, how will children access several games as required? Thanks.

Bree · 20 Nov 2023

datunwalnut said:

Presently there's a XP machine but I'm constantly being called to fix it as one of the little darlings (3 year olds) has accidentally done something I didn't know was possible like turning the display up side down or making hundreds of short cuts. the list of things they do by just hitting a keyboard randomly is amazing....

In XP the keyboard shortcuts to change the screen orientation should be Ctrl+Alt+(one of the arrow keys). It's Ctrl+Alt+Up to get normal landscape mode back.