real quick...

[jay78]

how can i lock my girlfriends family out of my computer?

whenever her sister and mom come over they jump online without asking right in front of me!
its like christmas morning for them because they lack a computer and online access. i dont really have anything to hide on my pc but its still kind of disrespectful in my eyes. plus its my computer and i pay the $50 a month for service.
they think im being a dick because i have unplugged wires when im leaving to prevent use, and then i come home and there plugged back in.

i cant stand up and say how really i feel because then im attacking them, in my old ladys opinion.

[Ghostyman]

Easiest way is to password protected the BIOS. That way, it can't be booted up without a password. You can do that by hitting Delete, F1, or something similar to enter the BIOS setup screen during boot. From there, you should see something to put a password on either the boot process itself or just the BIOS setup. You want to password protect the entire boot process.

This requires you to turn your computer off when you expect them to come over. You can also password protect your Operating System but either way you're going to run into one simple problem:

They'll just ask you for the password.

You'll either have to give it to them or tell them why you put it there (which you seem hesitant to do.)

[stewie]

when they plan on comming over, take the case off the tower thingy, and pull the hard drive out and say theres a virus on it, its in the shop getting fixed, and pc wont work without it...so gotta stay off the pc for now..

[Ghostyman]

when they plan on comming over, take the case off the tower thingy, and pull the hard drive out and say theres a virus on it, its in the shop getting fixed, and pc wont work without it...so gotta stay off the pc for now..

LOL, that's a lot of work just to pull one over on the possible-in-laws. Especially since they don't sound too computer-savvy

Hardware-wise, pull the case off any just disconnect either of the two cables going to the main hard drive. This will let the computer turn on and then fail with an error. You could also disconnect the power supply from the motherboard.

These are very easy (and quick) to do and can be reversed a lot quicker than taking out a drive. Unless they're qualified to diagnose and fix this, you've got them beat. Since they don't own a computer, I'm guessing they can't fix a computer.

The thing is, eventually it will become glaringly obvious what is going on. Your GF will know, and her mom will find out too. Then you've got to explain yourself.

[ACCORDianate]

Why not just tell them that you don't appreciate them coming over and hopping online? Then tell them that you've password protected the comp for the time being until they get it out of their system. Tell them most public libraries offer free internet access.

Will it upset them? Sure it will, but they'll get over it.

[SteveB]

I'd be VERY careful cutting your GF's mom off. Could be some serious repercussions, any way you chose to do it.

[JaK FRoSTWhiTE]

Its just the internet, who cares?

Now, if they are downloading shit into your computer, then thats different.

But if they're not, then who cares.
I wouldnt mind.
But they better give up the seat when i want to use it tho.

[Dom]

first off what version of windows are you using??
if it is xp go into the control panel.
click on switch to classic view if you havent already,
then click on user accounts,
click change account
click on your account
click change your password or create a new password!!
then click okay and close the wondow!!!
go to your desktop and right click, choose properties
then click screensaver
make sure there is a checkmark in the little box that say on resume password protect
put in how long you want it to automatically lock the computer and pick a screensaver that will more then piss them off and viola your done.

dont forget you password!!!!!!!

[accordaffair]

Yeah when something like that happens I put the password back on my account and create a very limited guest account for whomever to use. Now if you don't want them even turning on the computer, the bios password would be a good idea.