How to Make Internet Access Password Protected?

[p_l]

What's a good way to make internet access password protected on a wireless computer running XP? I'd like the user to be able to log on to Windows without needing a password and also to have access to other computers on the network, so as to share files, but if the user wanted to go on the internet, a password would need to be entered.

Thanks for your help.

[bazooka]

I don't know of a password method to prevent access but if you have a firewall or router, you can prevent that computer from accessing the net.

[p_l]

Thanks for the reply. I don't want it to be prevented from accessing the net, and I know I can block it in my router's firewall, but I'd like access to be password controled.

Here's another thought: Could certain XP login accounts have internet access, while others would not?

[ViRaL1]

Don't know about free, but I believe Norton Internet Security will do it, and there are several other parental control programs around.

[p_l]

NIS Parental Control, from what I understand, can block certain sites or categories of sites. What I'm after is something that requires a password to be entered for access to the internet in general. Is there any such setting within Internet Explorer?

Would any of these firewalls, preferably free ones, have that feature?
I'd prefer not to install another firewall on that computer, as it currently already runs XP SP2's Windows Firewall, but if it's the only way, I will.

Or is there a way to allow only certain login accounts in XP to have internet access?

What I'd really like, though, is just like a simple, little utility that requires a password to be entered before internet access can proceed.

[bazooka]

I am not aware of any password feature to block net access.

Even a guest account in xp has net access.

[Shadow57]

This is the first thing that popped up on Google.

I didn't have time to read all of it though.

http://www.blumentals.net/inetprot/

Karen

[rkr1958]

I haven't tried this but ... I using ZoneAlarm Pro ... I believe there's a free version. Anyway, ZoneAlarm Pro has a Program Control Feature that allows the user to set which programs can and cannot access the internet. Also, ZoneAlarm Pro has a password feature that only allows users with that password to change its configurations. You could set up a user account, disallow net access for IE and any email programs and password protect ZoneAlarm Pro. What's unclear, and iffy, is if you could set up different ZoneAlarm Pro configurations for different uses (i.e., allow some uses IE and email access to the net).

[bazooka]

This is the first thing that popped up on Google.

I didn't have time to read all of it though.

http://www.blumentals.net/inetprot/

Karen

You have to buy it.

Why are you so bent on password lockout of net access?

Why not just block that computer until you want to reach the net by using a firewall?

Passwords can easily be bypassed if you know what you are doing.

[Shadow57]

This is the first thing that popped up on Google.

I didn't have time to read all of it though.

http://www.blumentals.net/inetprot/

Karen

You have to buy it.

Why are you so bent on password lockout of net access?

Why not just block that computer until you want to reach the net by using a firewall?

Passwords can easily be bypassed if you know what you are doing.

Hi bazooka,

I posted that link because I was only trying to help the original poster.

Best wishes my love!

Karen

[ViRaL1]

This is the first thing that popped up on Google.

I didn't have time to read all of it though.

http://www.blumentals.net/inetprot/

Karen

You have to buy it.

Why are you so bent on password lockout of net access?

Why not just block that computer until you want to reach the net by using a firewall?

Passwords can easily be bypassed if you know what you are doing.

Hi bazooka,

I posted that link because I was only trying to help the original poster.

Best wishes my love!

Karen

As rude as he can be at times, I don't think the last part was aimed at you, but rather the original poster.

(I could be wrong, it's happened one other time.)

Another option is setting up a proxy server and assigning usernames and passwords for access. This will also allow you to track who goes where. Another option might be to set permissions on the executable for files like IEXPLORE.EXE and other web enabled apps.

[bazooka]

This is the first thing that popped up on Google.

I didn't have time to read all of it though.

http://www.blumentals.net/inetprot/

Karen

You have to buy it.

Why are you so bent on password lockout of net access?

Why not just block that computer until you want to reach the net by using a firewall?

Passwords can easily be bypassed if you know what you are doing.

Hi bazooka,

I posted that link because I was only trying to help the original poster.

Best wishes my love!

Karen

As rude as he can be at times, I don't think the last part was aimed at you, but rather the original poster.

(I could be wrong, it's happened one other time.)

Another option is setting up a proxy server and assigning usernames and passwords for access. This will also allow you to track who goes where. Another option might be to set permissions on the executable for files like IEXPLORE.EXE and other web enabled apps.

I don't mean to be rude at all.

Sometimes, I type b4 thinking.

[ViRaL1]

I personally didn't think you were being rude to her, but I've been around you enough to know your manner.

[Shadow57]

[bunyip]

OK - Getting back to the original question. :P
Generally, to control internet access you channel all internet access through a proxy server that supports user authentication (many businesses use this method). There are several freeware proxy servers available but off-hand I'm not aware of any free windows versions that include user authentication, you usually need to purchase a commercial version for this or use open source versions available for Linux (e.g. 'SQUID') that support this.

The proxy server can reside on the same PC or any other networked PC, but you would also need to configure your firewall to allow internet access only via the proxy server, so no-one could set the browser to by-pass it.
You could have a look around http://download.com and see if there are any that will do the job.

[p_l]

This is the first thing that popped up on Google.

I didn't have time to read all of it though.

http://www.blumentals.net/inetprot/

Karen

Thanks, that's just the type of thing I was looking for. For now, the solution needs to be simple more than it needs to be foolproof. I appeciate the suggestions for using ZoneAlarm (which I do use on my main machine) and for using a proxy server, and perhaps eventually I'll implement that sort of measure. But for the time being, iNet Protector will do just fine.

Also, thank you for reminding me that Google is my friend.

[Shadow57]

[doppletwo]

You can remove access to the network drivers for their profile.

And put passwords on the profiles that you want to have internet access.