Windows 10 Child account problems

Question

I have a laptop that was running Windows 8.1 that I've recently upgraded to Windows 10 Pro. I had to delete my six year old son's local account because Child Accounts now have to be Microsoft accounts. That means changing his password to something that's going to be difficult for a six year old to remember, oh well.

I've got a couple problems now. The main thing my son used to do in his account was to watch YouTube videos. We did bing video searches for kid-friendly terms and would then pin them to the start screen. I'm able to do pretty much the same thing now, but he can't watch any of them. We can see the preview of the videos in a bing video search if we hover over them, but when we actually try to view them we just see a blank white square. Also, if I try to visit youtube.com by typing that in the address bar in Edge or IE it seems to run forever, almost like a DNS problem. This was with "block inappropriate sites" set to off in family settings. I've turned it on, but it didn't help.

With 8.1, it would filter some YouTube videos, but it would see a message on the screen to that effect. My recollection with 8.1 is that you could set various levels of blocking set, this seems to be gone now. In general the family settings in 8.1 offered much more control, but there's no message on the page. I'm afraid that if I add youtube to the allowed list, it won't block ANY youtube videos, which would be BAD.

Another problem I'm having is that Windows 10 seems to have lost the ability to ask a grownup for more time. I've allowed my son 1 hour per day (previously 45 minutes, but the new Family Settings time limits aren't as granular as before.) When he ran out of time in 8.1 it would offer me the chance to log in and give him more time. I've been eating up my son's computer time trying to troubleshoot these problems, but I haven't found any way to give him more time. The message that's displayed on the screen when he's running low on time implies that this is possible, but I don't see how.

Answer 1

Let me try to answer this by problem raised

Password to hard to remember:

You can opt to have a pin number as well. This is only 4 digits and is in the accounts settings of "Signing In".

Watching over Child's account:

You will need to have an email address for the child. Sounds weird but mine have multiple accounts already for when they grow up (Toddler, Child, and last is a family emergency contact where it never gets used or stored except close family). So kids having emails is not unheard of especially due to the email addresses now being like an SSN for the IoT.

Once that's done you setup a Microsoft Account using that email (Or use theirs.. MS's.. if you like) as a child. This add account is in control panel for those not knowing and reading this as a "Help". Go through the steps and make sure when you set it up, watch what's going on and read. Dont just click through. You'll start to notice they are making it so if the child logs in under their name on this computer or any computer your settings you have picked are enforced no matter the system.

Then for the fine tuning goto:

Family Settings on the web.

This will have all the needs you are looking for. It has setting screen times on certain days as well as certain times and also allowing or disallowing websites. So if you find a link to a certain YouTube you can allow it or through his account and email make it so Youtube also helps block by listing the account as a child.

Later as the child grows and you share products like office with them they can use it since they are linked.

Another nice feature is it can track them and useage as well as "Locate" them to see where they are if logged in. (While some claim "OMG MS IS SPYING"... for a parent this can be one heck of a piece of mind feature which also can be turned off. As with most "OMG SPYING" features).

What this also allows is if you travel or they go to a family member/ Friend house. They can still login but it will immediately have the settings you want and you dont have to worry.....much.

This was to answer how to do this in Win10. I use multiple systems and OSes and havent had the "Problems" that most have with Win10. Also to note my one 5 year old uses this and settings but also Linux (Very basic setting with MATE) since he likes the Tux mascot. So I know everything mentioned can be done like you would like since ive done them on his Win10 Rig.

Hope this Helps.

Answer 2

If you have a DNS problem, you need to switch to the Google Public DNS.

YouTube videos with mature content can be blocked.

Be sure that Windows Update works properly, is activated and downloads updates from all Microsoft products. You can also force an update by clicking on update now.

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I would also add Jack White's notice :

My opinion is that setting hard limits on children may be a perlious strategy that places a lot of unnecessary stress on them, and [will] be incorrectly interpreted. If in doubt, consult your psychologist.

Answer 3

Time extension feature was (re)added in Windows 10 November 2015 update.

Installing the november update

If the PC has internet connection, the update should have downloaded and installed itself long ago.

To check, press the 'start' button, type winver, and press Enter. OS build should be listed as 10586.3 or higher.

If you do not have the update, check that the PC has internet connection, you firewall does not block microsoft update websites, and you didn't disable Windows Update somehow.

If the PC still does not update, you may need to refer to following article to update manually: http://www.groovypost.com/howto/install-windows-10-november-update-1511-manually-media-creation-tool

Adding time

After the update is installed and system rebooted, as soon as you child uses up their time, they should recieve a window with two buttons: Switch users or turn off PC and Get more time.

The last button should send an email to the mail address associated with your parental online windows account.

You are then able to click a link in the email to give your child additional time: 15 or 30 minutes or 1, 2 or 8 hours.

After you click the link, your child should be able to resume work in a few seconds.

This is how it should look like: http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow/342148/microsoft-family-safety-for-windows-10/5?backTo=342148

Troubleshooting

Unfortunately, microsoft family is not very stable as of now.

A lot of people report that the email never arrives. That may be a bug, but first try to turn off firewall and/or antivirus on child's PC and see if the email arrives this time.

Also confirm that the email you are checking is the same one that is tied to a parent account for your child.

Creating a new account for you child might also help.

If it still doesn't work, I'm afraid I can't help you. Contact MS technical support. I found a lot of forum threads, this one for example, but they generally do not have many useful troubleshooting tips: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-security/windows-10-family-safety-extend-time-for-child-not/e85eb78b-92f0-40b2-8f4d-c177f611c6ec?page=5

Disclaimer

My opinion is that setting hard limits on children may be a perlious strategy that places a lot of unnecessary stress on them, and may be incorrectly interpreted. If in doubt, consult your psychologist. I'm only answering a technical question here however.