Does anyone know of a program that I can install in an Me machine that can block downloading, but be enabled via a password? My daughter has roommates that use the computer but I don't want them to be able to download anything.

By "block downloading" do you mean block ALL downloading or block executable and media files? Blocking downloading would make browsing the web impossible. Since ME has almost no security and is essentially single-user, you have few options. Even if you found a program, the rest of the system would have to be insanely locked down or it would be easy to bypass. What's wrong with the "break my rules and you can't use my computer" method? A roommate relationship should be based on trust. If you can't trust roommates, computer issues should the the least of your worries. The roommates should use Mozilla or Mozilla Firefox so they don't unintentionally install spyware/adware/trojans.

WinGuard is a good password protected program.Im not sure if it protects downloading itself but it can block any application that is on your computer itself such as Internet Explorer or My Computer and etc... ~White Hat~

Best route to folow would be to get rid of ME and install Windows 2000 Professional. Set an Administrator password that only you and the wife know. Set the daughter up with another user ID and password and give her administrative rights. Then enable the "Guest" account, make it "restricted". Restricted users are unable to install anything! Be sure to tell the daughter to NEVER give out her password or change the guest account and all should be well. Doing this in anything less than 2kPro is a waste of time, as 16 bit passwords are just a bunch of smoke to make you think you're accomplishing something. _________________________ The internet is no longer a toy, it's a COMBAT ZONE!

stopIT http://www.welshware.co.uk/%5CWelshware/stopit.asp Freeware . stopIT is your very own Police Force for Windows 95/98/ME/WinNT/Win2k and Windows XP. Get your head of the clouds and prevent unauthorised access to site(s)/pages from your desktop PC . ======================================= How can I prevent users from downloading files from the Internet? http://www.jsifaq.com/SUBK/tip5300/rh5307.htm ===================================== WinGuard Pro 2004 Free Edition Lock your programs & files for FREE! http://www.winguardpro.com/ http://www.all4you.dk/FreewareWorld/links.php?page=12&cat=006 Works for all versions of Windows®

Thanks everyone for the ideas, I will try the programs out and see what happens. I don't want to buy a new operating system unless I have to. I would put a boot password in this machine so they can't use it before I would do that.