After I had first used the software for a few days I needed to tweak the settings a little so that my kids could go on pages that happened to contain words that Sentry picked up as violations. It took a little bit of time, but now I have had no problems with monitoring and blocking. The program works great and I already have some ideas for when to use those little extra features that came with Total Family Protection. One such example is to use the recording feature to make sure my son is doing his homework instead of playing video games.

All in all there hasn’t been too much going on with the software aside from it working perfectly and as I had expected. If I happen to come across any problems or big changes I will be sure to post here and let it be known!

One of the big issues with letting my kids use the internet is the inevitability that they will  come across inappropriate material, accidentally or through curiosity; either way, it is something I feel needs to be blocked, or at least monitored.

I had first heard of Sentry Parental Controls from a friend who had download the free Sentry: Lite version of the software that allows you to monitor your child’s computer and their instant messengers. I decided to try this for myself and went to the site, www.sentryparentalcontrols.com, to download the software. I wanted to install the software on my kid’s computer, but I wasn’t exactly sure how to accomplish this. I went to the site and called the tech support employees who walked me through the installation process and even gave me a few quick tips on using the program. They even helped me to turn on Stealth Mode which allows the program to run without showing any signs of it running on the computer. After the initial installation, I started using the program to monitor my kids internet usage.

It worked amazingly! I was able to monitor browsers visited and and chats they had from my own laptop computer at work. I tried the program for a few months and when I decided that I loved how easy it was to use, I decided it was time to upgrade to the full version of the program, Sentry: Total Family Protection.

Compared to the free version this had everything I could ever want in monitoring and blocking websites. I was able to set the program to take a snapshot of any inappropriate sites that my kid came across and then save the snapshot to a special file, which was pretty cool.

One option I have not fully used is the ability to control the internet and computer usage. I realize that as my kid gets older, a common problem parents have with kids is their inability to separate their homework time, with their fun on the internet time. When the time comes for me to use this feature, I can set certain times for my kid to use the internet and the computer. When it is late at night and he needs to go to bed, I can set the computer to lock him out so that he can not use it past that time.

The ease of use and the total control this program offers is what inspired me to inform other parents about this product. Take a look at the different version of the product they offer you to decide for yourself it it is the program for you.

http://www.sentryparentalcontrols.com