Be a Better Parent

Kids need structure, otherwise they'll spend hours browsing the Web for dirty limericks. Turn to Vista's parental controls for a quick and easy way to monitor how long they're online—and who goes where. First, create an account for each child in the User Accounts control panel. Then click Set Up Parental Controls to create and set limits. Don't forget to enable activity monitoring as well. It's okay—you're Dad, not Big Brother. You can view them later by visiting the same section of the control panel. But be forewarned: Parental controls are available only to PCs on a workgroup, not those on a domain.