This will teach me to play around without reading the manual first.
Since my kids are using the net more and more lately, and they are getting older and bolder, I thought it was about time that I ‘beefed up’ net protection before they stumble across things that I may have to explain.
I found a good reference to a program called ContentProtect and downloaded it ready to install later.
Well last night I did install it, and totally trashed my system again. During the install it will ask you for a family name, surname and to select a password.
I use an application called Password Manager XP to control all my passwords. It generates totally random passwords and stores them in the most secure database you could ever imagine. One of the advantags of using this, is that I can create huge long passwords that would take eons to brute force attack. One of the disadvantages is you don’t have a hope in hell of remembering them if say you decide to log into something from another machine. Unless you carry a copy of the application and the database on a memory stick. Anyway, I digress.
I used Password Manager XP to create a 20 character password, which it posts into the password field in the browser window. It also stores it in the Password Manager XP database.
I then selected a username for ContentProtect and the installation continued.
Then all of a sudden it gets to the end and begins to reboot my machine. At which point a dialog box appeared from Password Manager XP asking me if I want to save the changes to the database. Now here is the bummer, it didn’t give me a chance to save the passwords and powered down the PC ready for its reboot.
Which it successfully did, only to find after I logged in that it now totally blocked all network access and was asking me for my adminstrator account to log in using the password I setup during install. You know, the 20 character one that I don’t have a clue anymore since its not been saved in my password manager.
Thats ok, I shall just deinstall the application. Oh, no… to do this you have to enter that password. Bummer.
It does let you open up a help window to their site where I found the support information. Support is based in the US only, and is open from 9am – 5pm Monday through Friday. Another bummer. I guess 2am GMT in the UK is not a good time to find this out. So no 24hr support via phone or email. I used my 2nd PC which shares the network connection to email them via my gmail account to get them to contact me on Monday, when I shall be de-installing it and making sure I install it correctly next time.
But I am typing this message out on the ‘locked’ PC. Because I found a slight hole in their application. I won’t pass it on just yet, because its quite a major one. And if they start getting funny about not helping me out quick enough. I’ll be posting the details to every blog / forum / newsgroup in the world before they can say boo to a ghost (well it is Halloween today)
And I did read the manual and nowhere did it say it was going to autoboot your PC without giving you the option of saving anywork etc. That really pisses me off when applications do that…