S
SoldiersFortune
I'm getting rather frustrated with the way Parental Controls and Time Restrictions are implemented in Windows 10. I am trying to do what should be a fairly simple task. I want to allow a child account to run Steam and install/run games without requiring an Admin PIN.
What is currently happening is that Steam checks for updates and installs them whenever it is launched. This action triggers an Admin PIN prompt. The same happens when a new game is downloaded and installed and Steam performs a 'first-time setup' of assets and creates file directories.
The whole idea of creating a child account on my PC was to enable Time Restrictions on games so that my involvement in constantly moderating the amount of time spent on games was minimized and automated. Instead, I continually have to give Steam permission to run, update, and install software. Setting Steam to run as Admin on startup still requires an Admin PIN. This is not ideal. Also, Steam game assets that are installed while logged in as the child are permission locked to the child's user account. So if the game is uninstalled and then reinstalled while logged into the admin account and the file hierarchy is still there, the game will not be able to reinstall because access to those folders is denied.
I'm about ready to scrap Microsoft's built-in feature and go with a third-party software to do what I want because the implementation is terrible. It should have been simple. I should have been able to create a local account on my PC with Power User status but no Admin permissions. I should have been able to go into User Management and place time restrictions for specific users for specific apps/programs or specific groups of programs.
Instead, I had to create a brand-new e-mail address for a new Microsoft account for a child (which is locked to using Outlook or Hotmail). And for some reason the only way to monitor and manage time spent on specific programs is through an online portal. I have looked for ways to use Powershell and Registry Editor to create my own restriction hierarchy and the only two things I can do is restrict access to specific programs and set specific times of day when the user can log on.
This is unbelievably stupid.
Continue reading...
What is currently happening is that Steam checks for updates and installs them whenever it is launched. This action triggers an Admin PIN prompt. The same happens when a new game is downloaded and installed and Steam performs a 'first-time setup' of assets and creates file directories.
The whole idea of creating a child account on my PC was to enable Time Restrictions on games so that my involvement in constantly moderating the amount of time spent on games was minimized and automated. Instead, I continually have to give Steam permission to run, update, and install software. Setting Steam to run as Admin on startup still requires an Admin PIN. This is not ideal. Also, Steam game assets that are installed while logged in as the child are permission locked to the child's user account. So if the game is uninstalled and then reinstalled while logged into the admin account and the file hierarchy is still there, the game will not be able to reinstall because access to those folders is denied.
I'm about ready to scrap Microsoft's built-in feature and go with a third-party software to do what I want because the implementation is terrible. It should have been simple. I should have been able to create a local account on my PC with Power User status but no Admin permissions. I should have been able to go into User Management and place time restrictions for specific users for specific apps/programs or specific groups of programs.
Instead, I had to create a brand-new e-mail address for a new Microsoft account for a child (which is locked to using Outlook or Hotmail). And for some reason the only way to monitor and manage time spent on specific programs is through an online portal. I have looked for ways to use Powershell and Registry Editor to create my own restriction hierarchy and the only two things I can do is restrict access to specific programs and set specific times of day when the user can log on.
This is unbelievably stupid.
Continue reading...