Setting Up Windows 8 Family Safety (part 3) - Setting time limits

3. Setting time limits

To specify times when the child is allowed to use the computer, click Time Limits on the User Settings page (see Figure 2 to see what the User Settings page looks like). The Time Limits page opens, which is shown in Figure 6. This page has the following two options:

FIGURE 6 The Time Limits page

• Set Time Allowance: Enables you to specify if a user can use the computer all day, or only for a specified number of hours and/or minutes per day. For example, you might allow your child to use the computer one hour a day during weekdays, but then allow them three hours a day on weekends.
• Set Curfew: Enables you to specify only during specified times during the day.

Use the Following steps to set a time allowance for a user:

1. Click the Set Time Allowance link to view the Time Allowance page.

2. Click the <username> Can Only Use The PC For The Amount Of Time I Allow link (Figure 7 shows an example of weekday and weekend time limits).

FIGURE 7 The Time Allowance page

3. To set the same time amount for every weekday, use the Hours and Minutes drop-down lists to the right of the Weekdays: Mon-Fri label to indicate how many hours and minutes to allow this user to use the computer. Do the same for the Weekend Sat-Sun setting.

4. If you want to specify different time limits for each day, however, click the down arrow to the left of the Weekdays: Mon-Fri label or Weekend: Sat-Sun label. You are shown options for each day of the weekday and weekend.

5. Click the back button at the top left of the page when you finish.

Another way to regulate user access on a computer is to specify the actual time of day a user can be on the computer. Family Safety provides the Set Curfew option to control time of day access. Click Set Curfew on the Time Limits page to set a computer curfew.

In Figure 8 you can see the Curfew page. On this page, you see a grid of days and times. Initially, all squares are white, meaning there are no restrictions. You can click any time slot for which the child isn’t allowed to use the computer to turn it blue. Blue indicates that the time is blocked and the specified user (in our example Wesley Tidrow) is not allowed to be on the computer during that time. You also can drag the mouse pointer through a longer stretch of time to block more time.

FIGURE 8 The Curfew page

Optionally, you can place the mouse pointer in the upper-left corner of the grid and drag down to the lower-right corner to block all times. Then drag the mouse pointer through the times that the child is allowed to use the computer. For example, in Figure 9, the user is allowed to use the computer from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday; 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday; 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Friday; and 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Saturday.

FIGURE 9 White squares indicate when your child is allowed to use the computer.

Click the back button after setting allowable times. You can change those settings at any time by clicking Time Limits. For example, if the child needs a “time out” from the computer, you can block out all the times so that the child can’t use the computer at all!