Hello everyone,
I know this is something of an odd request. I am looking for a way (or
a program that will do it) to impose the same kind of restrictions you
get under parental controls, but to an administrator account. See, I am
an adult and the primary user/owner of the computer, but I want to be
able to use the parental controls to block *myself* from certain content
(mostly so that I don’t link to it accidentally - I just don’t want that
stuff in my head) and to block the computer at certain times of day to
help me use my time more effectively (I’ve tried just straight
willpower, and frankly I don’t have enough). I have a roommate and
recently worked it out with her that she would have the admin account
which imposed the controls I wanted on my (now) standard account.

However: my roommate is NOT computer savvy, and generally I do all the
admin-y stuff on the computer. It is a real pain not having admin rights
for anything (particularly program installations and working with
folders, sharing and so on), especially if my roommate is not at home to
enter her password (which is a pain for her too).
_Is_there_any_way_that_I_can_keep_my_admin_status, _but_give_another_account_the_ability_to_impose_re strictions_on_me?_Or_give_my_standard_account_almo st_all_the_privileges_of_an_admin?_Can_anyone_reco mmend_a_program_that_could_do_it?_
I’m a generally competent computer user, but not savvy enough to hack
into something that made it sufficiently difficult.

I tried straight willpower, I tried reminders, I even tried guilt. I
have tried just having two accounts, and trying not to use the admin
account except when I need to, and I’ve also tried software that works
on all accounts, but the problem was that I knew the passwords and
didn’t have the willpower not to use them.

I don’t want to impose any restrictions on my roommate, and so a
blocking program that blankets all accounts is out. All the web
filtering/parental control programs I’ve looked at so far require to be
run from an admin account.

Another option I’d be happy to try is software designed for people
self-limiting. I’ve seen a couple references to such, but none that were
(apparently) vista-compatible. I’d especially like this for my laptop
(which my roommate doesn’t use, and which travels with me). Does anyone
know of anything like this - designed for people who want to limit
themselves and not be able to work around it?

It’s a conundrum - I want to be able to limit myself in a way I can’t
work around - but be able to pull an ‘escape hatch’ if needed. If I can
find a solution that doesn’t involve my roommate, that would be best,
but she’s willing to hold the passwords if necessary.

Any and all suggestions welcome.


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catachrest