Kidproof Your Home Office (and Officeproof Your Kid)

Protect Pushable PC Buttons

Now let's consider how to protect your PC. If it's a floor-standing tower, it's probably replete with enticing buttons to push--and the last thing you need is for your pint-size scientist to conduct an experiment that involves pressing the power or reset button. (Now might be a good time to enable the auto-save feature in frequently used programs and set it for, say, every 5 minutes--just to be safe.) A free utility for Windows, Toddler Keys, lets you lock your PC's CD/DVD drive door(s) and the power button. Alas, it can't disable the reset button; if your PC has one, consider taping over it with a small piece of cardboard. (Better yet, turn off the PC, open the case, and disconnect the reset button's lead from the motherboard.)

Likewise, you may want to tape over any exposed slots (like the ones on a memory-card reader) so they don't get stuffed with crackers or small toys. Obviously blocking the openings isn't ideal if you have memory cards you need to read, but it beats trying to extract crumbled Cheez-Its out of an SD slot.

Lock Down Your Keyboard

If your kids are tall enough to reach your keyboard or have demonstrated proficiency in using your chair as a ladder when you're not in it, you'll need a way to lock your keyboard keys and mouse--which children find endlessly fascinating (and fun to bang on). The aforementioned Toddler Keys includes a keyboard/mouse-lock option, but you can also use Windows' own screensaver, which effectively locks the PC until you enter your password. To set this up in Windows XP, select Start, Settings, Control Panel, Display, and then click the Screen Saver tab. Tick the checkbox next to On resume, password protect, and then set the Wait value to your desired interval of inactivity before the screen saver kicks in. When it does, you'll need to enter your existing system password in order to resume working.

In Vista, select Start, Control Panel, Appearance and Personalization, Personalization, Screen Saver. Choose the screen saver you want, set the Wait interval, and tick the checkbox next to On resume, display logon screen. Click Apply and you're all set.

Kidproof Your Software

With young kids, the biggest threat is that they may accidentally delete your files or mess up your system. Older kids who use computers for games, e-mail, homework, and the like present a different set of challenges. Ideally, you shouldn't share your work PC with your family, but if you must, you can take steps to reduce the risk of incursions into your territory.

For example, if your kids are about the right age for Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo, consider installing Peanut Butter PC--a child-friendly desktop environment that acts as a fenced-in computer "backyard." The software provides a cute, easy-to-use interface that permits kids to access parent-selected programs and Web sites. Everything is icon-based, so it's suitable for even the youngest users. And best of all, it protects your files: The software disables Alt-Tab, Ctrl-Alt-Delete, the Start button, and other means of "escape." There's also an option to prevent kids from opening the CD/DVD drive (much as with Toddler Keys, discussed above).

Peanut Butter PC sells for $25, but a fully functional 15-day trial version is available for download if you want to test-drive it before buying.

If your child must have a separate e-mail account, use a parental control service such as Kid-Proof Email. For $10 per year or $20 for three years, this simple service will let you set up lists of approved senders and block unknown senders from reaching your little one. It also lets you set approved recipient lists, so your kids can't send messages to strangers.

Bookmark Kid-Friendly Search Engines

Next, bookmark a kid-friendly Internet search engine like Quintura, which conducts Web searches via a simple point-and-click method. Type in "music," for instance, and related topics (such as jazz, dance, and instrument) appear in a cloud surrounding the original search term. Click any of those results to narrow the search. Because Quintura is powered by Yahoo Kids, it should produce only G-rate search results.

While you're at it, consider installing K9 Web Protection. Available for Windows and Mac systems, this free Web-filtering software promises to block more than 55 categories of undesirable content, from hate speech to gambling to pornography. (The "K9" evidently signifies a guard-dog-style service, not a service that makes the Web safe for dogs.)

Block the Bad Stuff From the Web

Of course, no software program is infallible. For more-serious protection, try blocking the bad stuff at the server level with OpenDNS. It works like this: You tweak your network router (or your PC, if you don't have a router) to access the Web via OpenDNS's servers instead of through your Internet service provider's. And those servers block inappropriate and malicious sites. You don't have to learn any software or set any permissions; OpenDNS does all of the heavy lifting.

The downside, of course, is that you can't exercise control over what gets blocked. But for parents who want fast, effective, easy-to-deploy protection, OpenDNS is a solid option. And it's free, too.