Till Windows XP the restrictions and other security settings were controlled by the browser but in Windows Vista the contents which you view in your browser is filtered and controlled by the operating system. In Windows XP if parent blocks several websites in Internet Explore then children can view the same websites using some other web browser and it cannot be controlled. But in Windows Vista if the administrator blocks a website then it cannot be opened on that system at all. You can use any browser but it won’t open because it is being filtered by the operating system and not by the browser. This level of security policy in Windows Vista is really appreciated as it gives liberty to parents to block sites based on their category or directly by websites name.
All this can be done from the Parental Control section of Windows Vista and here we explain you how to do it.
Open the Control Panel by clicking on Start and then Control Panel. In Control Panel under User Accounts and Family Safety you will find a link for Set up parental control for any user. Click on this link. After clicking on this link you will get the list of all the users present on your computer. Please make sure that you are logged in with an Administrator account and the accounts on which you are going to apply the restriction is not an Administrator. Now from the list of user click on the user name on which you want to apply the security. On the next page you will see that the first option is to turn the Parental control ON. Turn it ON. Under that you will see several options like Windows Vista Web Filter, Time Limits, and Games etc but since we are up to blocking the websites so will only discuss the Web Filter. Click on Windows Vista Web Filter and you will be taken to another page. Here you first need to select Block some websites or content. Then click on Edit the Allow and Block list. In this Window you can specifically mention the name of Websites which you want to allow or you want to block. This filter works on the Websites name or the URL. Once done close this window to return on the last screen. You can also set the restriction level for this user so that the websites gets filtered depending upon their content or their category. To know more about what categories get blocked in what level click on “How does web filter work?” Once done close the windows.
Now when the user on whose account you have applied the restrictions will try to open any website which you have blocked, he will get a message in the internet explorer or any other browser that “Windows Parental Controls has blocked access to this webpage”. Browser will also give this user an option to ask the administrator to unblock it by providing his Admin password so just sure that your password is not known by anybody otherwise applying restrictions will be of no use.
