However, we don’t care for content filtering programs which has been shown to potentially block educational or family-friendly material, and which can be a chore to configure. The compromise here is to use operating system monitoring software such as Visikid so that we can watch over what sites and applications he is using.

Visikid is free parental internet control software and works on Windows versions XP, Vista, and 7.

Installation is very simple, and by default, the Visikid monitor will run on your system’s startup. Upon first run, you will be prompted to create an account on Visikid.com, which is free, but has the downside of only displaying the current day’s activities. I’d like to note here that there is a paid subscription version that lets you keep track of your child’s activities over time. This costs $39 per year, or five dollars per month.

Next, you’ll create a user profile for your kids. On Windows, you should access your child’s profile, and login to the Visikid software to create the link.

A record of any sites visited or programs that were accessed under your child’s user session will be made available for viewing that same day on your Visikid.com dashboard. Well-known desktop applications and sites are divided into categories. The option is there for assigning categories such as “education” and “communication” to unknown sites.

Graphs and charts illustrate just how much time was spent on a particular site or application. This is a very good way to make sure that your kids are concentrating on homework, and not social-networking.

Of course, there is no substitute for direct parental supervision, but if you have to leave your child’s side, say, to go make dinner or corral the toddler, then programs like Visikid can act as your third-eye when you’re not available.

Some other good safety practices for kids on the Web are as follows:

• Users of the Mozilla Firefox browser are encouraged to install my three favorite Firefox security and privacy add-ons, as well as an alternate shell like KidsMenu, which I’ve previously reviewed. Please keep in mind that for many sites with kids’ games, you may have to add them to NoScript’s white list.
• Add some bookmarks to your kid’s browser toolbar leading to approved safe sites. One of my favorites for games is Orisinal, reviewed here.
• Teach your kids to only chat with and send messages to friends and family, and not to strangers or bullies.
• Conversely, teach your kids to only accept messages from friends and family, but never to open attachments without asking a parent first.
• Can’t stress this one enough: teach your children to not give out any personal information.

Here are some other MakeUseOf posts on monitoring your children online :

- Protect Your Kids Online With Free Norton OnlineFamily.
- 2 Addons to Add Internet Parental Control to Firefox.
- Let Your Geeky Kids Play Online With KidZui

Do our readers know of any similar free parental internet control apps worth looking into? How do you monitor your child’s activities and keep them safe? Give us some ideas in the comments.

According to our research, many of you want to know how to best install LimeWire and use the program, without getting bit by a virus. Today, I’ll show you how.

How to Install LimeWire & Share Files

The company which makes LimeWire will tell you – this is very important – when you go to download the installation file and install LimeWire, you should only do so from the program’s official site! Doing so makes absolutely sure that you have a legitimate version of the program, without the inclusion of any malicious code. Please don’t download from other sources, especially from other P2P networks.

When you install LimeWire for the first time, it’s a good idea to make sure that the program is set to not automatically share any downloaded files. Despite what is often said in the mainstream (read: non-tech-savvy) press, it has been sharing or distributing files, not downloading or receiving them, that has ended up with so many people being brought into court.

One caveat: That setting doesn’t apply to downloads through the BitTorrent network, which LimeWire also supports. In a BitTorrent network (or "swarm"), everyone downloading a file is simultaneously distributing it!

Search Filtering

Please, make sure "Search Filtering" is on. Click on the Tools menu near the top, then Options. After the Options screen appears, click on Search, then Configure under Search Filtering. Make sure that the settings are such that programs (executable files) are not included in the search results. Virus code spreads easiest in executable files, opened on accident by users who may not know better.

You may think you’re downloading a photograph, but go to open the file, named HotChick.jpg.exe, which ends up, as my teacher might say, barfing all over your system.

Scan Everything!

While your top threat is from executable program files, any file you download can be infected with some kind of code. Remember, you’re not necessarily getting these files from a clean server, you’re getting them from other users, who may be unknowingly infected by something. It’s of critical importance to, before doing anything else with a file, to scan it with an updated anti-virus program. This is especially true for those of you who have enabled program downloads anyway.

If you have an antivirus software installed, be sure to keep it updated. Consult the program’s documentation. If you don’t have an anti-virus installed, try the AVG Free Edition.

Once the download is complete, right-click the file listing in your Library, then select Locate on Disk. This will open up your file manager and highlight the file. Right-click on that file, and select the appropriate command to scan your file. Your anti-virus will report to you any infected files, and prompt you to delete said file.

When scouring P2P networks like LimeWire, it pays to play safe. A few preventative steps, plus some common sense, adds up to a safer experience.

If you have any important tips for potential downloaders, please feel free to sound off in our comments.

One problem, though. Hulu videos stream in Flash video, and there wasn’t any way to download and save programs for mobile viewing. That was true until I read up on the appropriately-named Hulu Video Downloader, a simple yet powerful little program, for which I have yet to find a free equal.

Using HVD couldn’t be much easier. Once you navigate to your desired program in your browser of choice, highlight and copy (Ctrl+C) the page’s URL. If it’s from a supported site, it will appear in HVD’s top field automatically. From there, you select the format for your target file, and click Add.  HVD takes over from there, downloading and converting the video file.

Video formats available in the free version include MPEG2, AVI, and native FLV. To convert to other file formats, such as iPod or PSP, we suggest the recently-reviewed VideoSpiritLite. The GOM Player can playback FLV video files without conversion.

Once the download’s complete, you simply open the resulting video file in your favorite media player. Now you need not worry about episodes of your favorite show “expiring” from the site. I wish now that I had found this program before Dollhouse episodes started disappearing.

If you want to download HD versions of the shows, or download more than one show at a time, you’ll need to upgrade to the pro version, which lets you pull videos from a dozen other sites besides Hulu.

There’s more Hulu on MakeUseOf, right this way. How do you archive your favorite shows? What are some can’t-miss shows on Hulu? Play program director and let us know some of your favorites in the comments.

When signing in to Windows Live, make sure that SSL encryption is enabled so that your login and password are encrypted before sending them out. Also, please make sure that both “remember” check-boxes are cleared, unless you’re certain that nobody else will be using the PC which you are using.

Editor’s note: These days, modern browsers have the ability to “remember” login credentials. When checking your email from a public computer, never allow the browser to save your login and password.

Once you’ve gone through your Hotmail sign in, we suggest changing your current password into something more secure, especially if you’re the type of user who uses the same password for other services. Click Options in the upper-right of the screen, then Windows Live on the next, then Password on the next screen. This is where you’ll change your password. You’ll have to type it twice to get it right. Also, it’s suggested to check the box to make your password expire after 72 days.

For a good, secure, random password, view Stefan’s posts on 5 free password generators that helps you to create nearly unhackable passwords or visit GRC’s Password Generator, then highlight 7-16 characters anywhere in the randomly-generated strings, then copy (Ctrl+C) and paste (Ctrl+V) them into your new password field. The only thing I suggest you don’t do is use any of the strings in the above screen-shot.

Finally, just in case you may forget your new password during your Hotmail sign in, you may set a secret question which will allow you to reset your password. From the Options screen, under Manage Your Account, select to edit your personal information. Choose to add a password-reset question, then select your question and type the answer. This should be something that, much like your password, nobody else knows.

Editor’s note: After you’re done checking your email, remember to log out. Optionally, you may clear the browsing history and empty the cache or restart the computer altogether. If you’re really paranoid about security, try using a portable version of Firefox, which you may find here.

I hope that these tips will prove helpful for you and your Hotmail-using buddies. We have many more email tips on MakeUseOf, and we welcome any tips and suggestions in the comments.

Have you ever asked yourself, “How do I make a background on MySpace?” Well, today I’ll show you how to find, create, and use a custom background on your MySpace profile.

Your source image could be from your personal photo collection or some wallpaper made available for free download from a site like Customize.org, one of my favorite sites, Digital Blasphemy, or Google’s Image Search (we suggest using the Advanced Search to narrow it down to non-commercial-licensed content).

When selecting your image, keep your audience in mind. Does the image provide a pleasing pattern or illustrate a great moment? Will it distract from your profile’s content? Is it age-appropriate, considering your friends? These are all things to consider, as well as image size. If your image is larger than, say 1024 pixels in length, we suggest using a tool like Resizr or any image resizer to shrink the image down.

Rather than linking to the image as hosted elsewhere, it’s good etiquette to save a copy of the image and upload it to a free host such as PiccDrop, and also to give credit somewhere on your profile to the artist or photographer. For demonstration, I’ve chosen this photo by Tim Snell. Once you’ve uploaded your image to your host, make note of the image’s URL (copy it into Notepad) for future use.

Your next step varies based on what type of MySpace profile you’re using. There are two versions of your MySpace profile. If you’re a long-time user and haven’t switched, then you’re using Profile 1.0. Here’s how to determine what type of profile you’re using. When you login, click the “Edit Profile” link next to your MySpace URL. Then, select “Customize Profile.” On the next screen, your profile type will be displayed at the very top of the page.

If you’re using “Profile 1.0“, follow these directions: Hit your “back” button to go back to the original profile editor. Use this background generator with your image’s URL to create the HTML code, then copy that code into the profile editor’s “About Me” box. Save your changes and check your profile.

If you’ve upgraded your profile to “2.0“, the process is easier. First, select your basic theme. If you have a dark image like mine, for example, it’s important to pick a dark theme to start with. In your customize menu, click Advanced Edit, then Background, and then paste your image’s URL into the URL field. Publish your changes and check your profile.

If everything worked, you’ll have a custom background for your MySpace page to show off to your friends (my profile is here). Feel free to share in the comments about any profile-customization tips you may have. There’s more MySpacey goodness on MUO here.

The Recovery Console is a special command-line interface for Windows XP which allows an administrator to identify and locate drivers and files which are problematic, as well as troubleshoot system settings. It’s recommended by Microsoft only for advanced users (in other words, that nerdy kid down the block), and only when Safe Mode (pressing the F8 key at boot-up) is not working.

To install the Recovery Console, you will need your Windows XP CD. The version of Windows XP on the CD must match or surpass the version installed on your PC, thus a Service Pack 3 disk is recommended. If you don’t have one, try to borrow one from a friend or co-worker. If you can’t find one, you can download setup disks or disk images from Microsoft.

For demonstrative purposes, we’ll assume that you have a Windows SP3 CD loaded into your CD drive at drive-letter D:

To install the Recovery Console, follow these steps (lifted from this Knowledge Base article):

1. Insert the Windows XP CD into the CD-ROM drive.
2. Click Start, and then click Run.
3. In the Open box, type d:\i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons  where d is the drive letter for the CD-ROM drive.

   

4. A Windows Setup Dialog Box appears. The Windows Setup Dialog Box describes the Recovery Console option. To confirm the installation, click Yes.

   

5. Restart the computer. The next time that you start your computer, “Microsoft Windows Recovery Console” appears on the startup menu.

The black screen with white text can be intimidating, but if you’ve ever played with the command line, you should feel right at home here. If you need help, just type “help”, and optionally, the name of the command you’re curious about, like “help fixmbr”.

I’ll run down the highlights of what commands you’ll most likely use:

“Bootcfg“ recovers the Boot.ini file.

“Chkdsk /r“ looks for bad disk sectors and attempts to recover any information which can be read from them.

“Copy“ copies a file to a target location.

“Delete“ deletes one file.

“Disable“ disables a Windows system service or driver.

“Enable“ restarts a disabled service or driver.

“Diskpart“ manages hard disk partitions. Be very careful using this!

“Expand“ decompresses a compressed file. This is good for getting files off the installation CD if needed.

“Fixmbr“ repairs the boot code on a hard-disk. If your operating system “cannot be found” you’ll likely use this command, along with little brother “Fixboot”.

The Recovery Console is scary but helpful, and you’ll be glad that you’ve installed it on your hard disk before Windows gives you any trouble. If you have any system recovery tips, please leave comments below.

Image credit: Paul Boxley

First off, we suggest uninstalling iTunes from the Add or Remove Programs Control Panel and then installing the latest version of iTunes downloaded from Apple.com. This may fix some issues with older versions. Apple also suggests keeping your anti-virus software up to date. Now, on to some more-specific issues.

Problem #1

Certain iTunes screens are pink. (Note: Only a problem if you don’t like pink.)

Cause: Windows is set to display a low-quality color palette, and thus cannot correctly render the iTunes window when it demands a high-quality color.

Solution: Make sure Windows is set to display 32-bit color in the Display Control Panel. This will be under the Settings tab, as “Color Quality.”

Problem #2

Error messages as follows:
“iTunes might be unable to launch or communicate with iPod or iPhone.”
“The iPod (Customer’s iPod) cannot be updated. An unknown error occurred (-50)”
“The iPod (Customer’s iPod) could not be restored. An unknown error occurred (1418, 1429, 1430, 1436 or 1439)”

Cause: This symptom may be caused by an issue with the digital signing of Windows XP drivers.

Solution: Re-register Certain Windows XP Drivers
(Copied from source: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1539)

1. Disconnect the iPod from the computer and close iTunes.
2. Highlight all of the following 10 lines of text that begin with regsvr32 and then choose Copy from the Edit menu of your web browser:
   

   regsvr32 /s softpub.dll
   regsvr32 /s wintrust.dll
   regsvr32 /s dssenh.dll
   regsvr32 /s rsaenh.dll
   regsvr32 /s gpkcsp.dll
   regsvr32 /s sccbase.dll
   regsvr32 /s slbcsp.dll
   regsvr32 /s mssip32.dll
   regsvr32 /s cryptdlg.dll
   regsvr32 /s initpki.dll

3. Open the Notepad program by navigating to:
   Start > All Programs > Accessories > Notepad
4. In Notepad, choose Paste from the Edit menu. Note: make sure that the text that appears in Notepad is the same as what is shown above.
5. From the File menu, choose Save As.
6. In the File name field type appleipod.bat and save the file to the Desktop.
7. Close Notepad and locate the appleipod.bat file.
8. Double-click the file and you will see a black window appear on the screen for about a minute. Wait until the window automatically disappears and proceed to the next step.
9. The appleipod.bat file can be deleted at this time.
10. Open iTunes and connect the iPod.
11. When the iPod appears in iTunes, restore the iPod and resync your content.

Problem #3

iTunes will not open or unexpectedly quits

Cause: Corrupted preference files or possibly out-of-date plug-ins.
Solution: Remove Preferences and Third-Party Plug-ins. Delete the following folders:

Problem #4

Error messages as follows:
“iTunes cannot run because it detects a problem with QuickTime”
“iTunes cannot run because it has detected a problem with your audio configuration”
“Error (-200)”

Cause: Apple doesn’t provide a cause for this issue, but it appears to have something to do with QuickTime Player’s audio preferences.
Solution: Reinstall QuickTime
Click Control Panel from the Start Menu then select Add or Remove Programs.
Select QuickTime from the list then click the Remove button to start the uninstall process.
Download and run the QuickTime installer without iTunes from here.

There are other problems like broken iTunes links but Saikat’s got that covered.

How frequently do you face the above issues when using iTunes for Windows XP, and how do you normally deal with them? Ever had to “roll back” to an older version of iTunes? Any problems from Mac users? We’d love to hear about them in the comments!

BTaccel, a browser-based and remotely hosted BitTorrent client, can help to make things far easier. Feed it a link to a torrent and it does all of the P2P wizardry automatically, downloads the file and prepares it for you to grab off their servers via HTTP.

In order to use it to download torrent files, you’ll need to sign up with an invitation. Lucky for you, I’ve managed to get 150 free invites just for MakeUseOf readers! You may get it at the end of this article but continue reading to find out what BTaccel can do.

First, the user interface is Google-simple. You have an account link at the top, and a box in the center where you enter a URL or keyword. You can search by keyword, browse a website by proxy or paste in a direct link to a .torrent file.

Browsing torrent tracker sites via the proxy is a bit hit-and-miss in this alpha release. Sometimes, it will pick up a clicked torrent link, but not always. Your best bet is to browse the tracker in a separate window, copy the torrent link’s location and paste it into BTaccel.

After you’ve chosen a torrent, the next screen you see will be a summary of the torrent’s contents. Once the download from the swarm is complete, you can be alerted by email, and then you may download torrent files individually, or download a single compressed ZIP of all the files packed together.

To view the torrents currently in your download queue, hit the Home page and you’ll be presented with a list of your torrents and their progress.

What makes BTaccel so great is the fact that your system won’t be bogged-down with uploading and downloading. Once the torrent is finished, you’ll have a direct download from BTaccel’s servers (which must be completed within 72 hours). Another advantage is the fact that you can start a torrent from any computer with a browser and then finish the transfer at home, when it’s convenient.

In comparison to using a traditional BitTorrent client, BTaccel offers users an advantage on ease-of-use. For those interested in the protocol, we have plenty of BT-related material on MUO, especially The Big Book of BitTorrent, which I consider a must-read. How do you like your BitTorrent? Let us know in the comments.

We’ve got your hookup for the first 150 users to sign up with alpha invite code “100GBmakeuseof150″. If you’ve missed out, follow @btaccel on Twitter for a chance to score a code.

Although the following fake viruses may seem malicious to the unsuspecting, they are non-destructive to your computer system. So you don’t have to worry about anything else and just enjoy the fun of making someone else panic!

Mix it up a little, don’t forget to check out other “prank” posts on MakeUseOf like 4 Really Popular Prank Call Websites & How They Work and Two Great “˜n Simple Nerdy Office Pranks to Play On Friends!

Let’s get pranking, shall we?

(1) Fake Virus Batch File

I got this prank from WikiHow. I love it because it looks the most like an actual attack. Copy and paste the following into an open Notepad window, then save the file with any name you choose and an extension of “.bat”

Here’s the code:

cls
:A
color 0a
cls
@echo off
echo Wscript.Sleep
echo Wscript.Sleep 5000>C:sleep5000.vbs
echo Wscript.Sleep 3000>C:sleep3000.vbs
echo Wscript.Sleep 4000>C:sleep4000.vbs
echo Wscript.Sleep 2000>C:sleep2000.vbs
cd %systemroot%System32
dir
cls
start /w wscript.exe C:sleep3000.vbs
echo Deleting Critical System Files…
echo del *.*
start /w wscript.exe C:sleep3000.vbs
echo Deletion Successful!
start /w wscript.exe C:sleep2000.vbs
echo:
echo:
echo:
echo Deleting Root Partition…
start /w wscript.exe C:sleep2000.vbs
echo del %SYSTEMROOT%
start /w wscript.exe C:sleep4000.vbs
echo Deletion Successful!
start /w wscript.exe C:sleep2000.vbs
echo:
echo:
echo:
echo Creating Directory h4x…
cd C:Documents and SettingsAll UsersStart MenuPrograms
mkdir h4x
start /w wscript.exe C:sleep3000.vbs
echo Directory Creation Successful!
echo:
echo:
echo:
echo Execution Attempt 1…
start /w wscript.exe C:sleep3000.vbs
echo cd C:Documents and SettingsAll UsersStart MenuProgramsStartuph4x
echo start hax.exe
start /w wscript.exe C:sleep3000.vbs
echo Virus Executed!
echo:
echo:
echo:
start /w wscript.exe C:sleep2000.vbs
echo Disabling Windows Firewall…
start /w wscript.exe C:sleep2000.vbs
echo Killing all processes…
start /w wscript.exe C:sleep2000.vbs
echo Allowing virus to boot from startup…
start /w wscript.exe C:sleep2000.vbs
echo:
echo:
echo Virus has been executed successfully!
start /w wscript.exe C:sleep2000.vbs
echo:
echo Have fun!
start /w wscript.exe C:sleep2000.vbs
pause
shutdown -s -t 10 -c “Your computer has committed suicide. Have a nice day.”

Here’s how it will look like once it is launched:

Your victim’s PC will display messages as in the above image, and then initiate a shutdown sequence which can be stopped by entering “shutdown ““a” in the Run command box. It looks bad, but is otherwise completely harmless.

(2) EICAR Test File

This test file, while harmless, will set off any good virus scanner. It’s a test file to make sure that your anti-virus is vigilant, and is great for sending in an email.

(3) Fake Format

I remember getting my brother once with a similar program. This cool fake virus perfectly simulates the Windows disk-format dialog, and cannot be closed or halted until it’s ran its course. Once it’s done, a message will be displayed informing the user that it was just a joke.

(4) Fake Delete

This is my favorite because, like its formatting counterpart, Fake Delete mimics the Windows file-delete dialogs. It even goes as far as using your actual file list instead of generic filenames! This also has the “it-was-all-a-joke” screen after it’s done running.

When executing these pranks, please be considerate to whether your intended victim is mildly-panicky or really panicky, and whether your mark has some kind of panic disorder or heart problem. It’s all fun and games until someone goes to the hospital. Otherwise, have fun!

Are you familiar with any cool fake viruses? What are your favorite computer pranks? Give us some of your most evil, yet good-natured, ideas in the comments.

Image credit: rmkoske