NationStates Jolt Archive

Alright. I'm 14 years old, and am in possession of a crappy but functional $300 Dell laptop. I use it a lot, and have touched the home computer maybe once since I got the laptop almost a year ago. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that my parents are checking my computer history. I've already downloaded an alternate web browser, turned off system recovery, delete my history, cookies, transfers, and everything else imaginable that I know how to do.

My question is: Am I being paranoid, or is this a reasonable suspicion?

Alright. I'm 14 years old, and am in possession of a crappy but functional $300 Dell laptop. I use it a lot, and have touched the home computer maybe once since I got the laptop almost a year ago. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that my parents are checking my computer history. I've already downloaded an alternate web browser, turned off system recovery, delete my history, cookies, transfers, and everything else imaginable that I know how to do.

My question is: Am I being paranoid, or is this a reasonable suspicion?

Ah, the paranoia of a teenage boy over the porn in his internet history. That takes me back.

That is pretty much all I can think of to do to "cover your tracks". I think it is possible to ask the ISP for internet history, but I doubt your parents will go to that extreme.

Your parents check what you do on the internet????

I cant even convince my mother to read the short stories I write...

Porn among other things. I don't think my parents learned about system restoring until I accidentally crashed a school server.

Password protect? That would normally stymie them, given that they're probably not particularly computer savvy.

Done that too. One of my parents might know how to get past it, but I doubt he'll be able to get anything from the computer itself anyway.

But back to the original question: Is it likely that they are checking the history?

Have you considered unplugging stuff when you leave it?

Perhaps tying an angry ferret to it will be sufficient deterrent.

Download a bunch of hardcore gay porn. They will never want to discuss it with you, or check up on your computer, ever again.

Of course, depending on how homophobic they are, they also may not love you anymore. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for your porn.

But back to the original question: Is it likely that they are checking the history?

No, you're getting into tinfoil hat time.

You know, unless tonight's dinner conversation was 'So Siph, what sorta porn were you looking at last night, shemales and horses again?'

If they're checking your history and haven't said anything to you about the pr0n, maybe they don't care.

They might not care, but they've hinted that they know.

Download a bunch of hardcore gay porn. They will never want to discuss it with you, or check up on your computer, ever again.

Of course, depending on how homophobic they are, they also may not love you anymore. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for your porn.

LOL, That's good. :D

They might not care, but they've hinted that they know.

Then they know.

What kind of hints are we talkin' 'bout here?

What kind of hints are we talkin' 'bout here?

That's what I'm wondering.

I would make a new user account, watch porn or do whatever, than I would clear the history and delete the account. Whenever I wanted to watch porn again, I would just do the same thing but come up with a new name. I'm not sure how effective this is because whether my parents caught me watching porn or not they never told me.

I would make a new user account, watch porn or do whatever, than I would clear the history and delete the account.

Using a portable browser on an USB thumb drive is less hassle and more secure. Assuming you do not leave it lying around ;)

One could of course also simply make a live cd, boot from it, and run the browser from there. On crappy hardware Damn Small Linux might still work, on better better hardware one can look at the more serious linux flavours and BartPe for windows.

To the OP: define the signs that make you think that. Without them we cannot tell you if you are a paranoid fruitloop or actually on to something.

Am I being paranoid, or is this a reasonable suspicion?It's both.

Talk to your parents about it. If they're fit to be parents at all, they'll know full well that part of having a teenager, is being responsible for a human being in the process of realizing it's sexuality. So don't worry about the porn.

If you don't talk to them about it, they'll have to rely on their psychic abilities to prevent you from putting yourself in harm's way. And those psychic abilities just aren't very reliable. You're all far better served with being honest and open with eachother. It lets you know where you stand.

And kid, you're 14. As much as you probably loathe to hear it, you're simply not capable of excercising sound judgement yet. Most parents I've met don't like that part of the job description, but making sure people your age don't inadvertedly hurt themselves, is part of being a parent. Not just morally either. In many cases, they're legally liable for you.

So you're paranoid, because if they are doing it, they're doing it solely for your benefit. And it's probably not the most amusing chore in the world. And while they probably do check once in a while, it's not very likely they do anything more than try to get an impression of your habits. Kind of like mail. They might pay attention to where it's from or where yours is going, but it's not very likely they'll attempt to read it, unless you convince them they don't have a choice.

Ahh, hiding the porn... that takes me back... to about yesterday :p

Of course, my parents are really un-savvy, so all I do is hide the pictures and delete the history, never mind cookies or any of that.

My brother is a different story however... he already ratted me out to mum once :(

I never hid my porn. My mom found it one day and said, "so how much porn do you have on your computer exactly?" I was like "About 30GB last count." "Oh, I see."

I never hid my porn. My mom found it one day and said, "so how much porn do you have on your computer exactly?" I was like "About 30GB last count." "Oh, I see."

Wow... impressive. My computer doesn't even have 30gb free space :p

Use Firefox, hit Ctrl+Shift+Delete (Or just go Tools > Clear Private Data) after every, erm... session, check all the boxes you feel paranoid about, hit 'Clear Private Data Now', wipe down keyboard, walk away.

Password protect? That would normally stymie them, given that they're probably not particularly computer savvy.
But then they might ask...
"Why do you have a password, what do you have to hide, son of mine?"
Dun dun dun...

Ahh, hiding the porn... that takes me back... to about yesterday :p

Haha, I was caught out once by files I accidentally saved to My Pictures without noticing - I usually kept them in a 'Faxes' folder under /WINDOWS/System32. All was fine until my mother went to change the wallpaper and got a few choices that weren't quite stock.

I learnt my lesson.

Haha, I was caught out once by files I accidentally saved to My Pictures without noticing - I usually kept them in a 'Faxes' folder under /WINDOWS/System32. All was fine until my mother went to change the wallpaper and got a few choices that weren't quite stock.

I learnt my lesson.

You have to change the names and file extensions, too. Otherwise a simple file search will turn them up. Alternatively, you could store them in a zip file so the searches would miss it.

They might not care, but they've hinted that they know.

They might be bluffing.
Anyway, they haven't taken action so far, so either they don't know or they simply don't care (mine never cared).

You have to change the names and file extensions, too. Otherwise a simple file search will turn them up. Alternatively, you could store them in a zip file so the searches would miss it.

Oh I'm fine now, I use Linux and on the few occasions I go home the chances of my mother finding out how to get into my Home folder is unlikely ;)

But for others, this is good advice - my parents didn't go searching that deeply though, the few times I did get caught out was when I was stupid and left autocomplete on in the browser, or the previously-mentioned tits-as-wallpaper-choices incident.

you could get a keystroke logger and turn it on when you leave the computer. that'd pretty much prove it one way or the other i guess (assuming it can log mouse movements too)


but i wouldn't worry... if they haven't said anything yet then you're probably safe


mine never cared hehe

My question is: Am I being paranoid, or is this a reasonable suspicion?

This why you set a password so they can't even log on.

They might not care, but they've hinted that they know.

You're a fourteen year old boy. Of course they know. It's bloody obvious! :D

And you might want to turn System Restore back on, just in case something fubars. Might be quicker than a reinstall.

I am a Mum, and am wondering what the hell your parents THINK that you, as a teenage boy are going to look at? Unless you are looking at illegal and depraved or disturbing stuff ( I am talking sex with dead people here, or pro ana sites, or bomb making hints) then you are.....

NORMAL!

What's pro ana?

What's pro ana?

I think it's "pro anorexia", which sounds pretty icky, so I've never looked it up.

I'm so sorry I asked.

Pro anorexia it is, and they are very disturbing and no normal person should look at them, search for them or condone them.

Pro anorexia it is, and they are very disturbing and no normal person should look at them, search for them or condone them.

Unless you're a bit fat. Then after a gander at them, when your knees get fatter than your legs - start eating cake again.

My question is: Am I being paranoid, or is this a reasonable suspicion?


It's probably a fact of life.
They can't talk about it, though, without putting a finger in their eye.
Make a website yourself telling your parents to keep their bleedin' hands off your stuff and visit it often ... Don't forget to think of an intriguing name for it.

Make alternate folders for no reason whatsoever.

Multiple profiles.



And maybe try downloading gay russian vampire porn, that will traumatize them so they won't wanna know.

Come to think of it: this may help ...

Start
run diskmgmt.msc
rightclick partition you want to hide
remove

disk should be partitioned, of course; doesn't work on partition containing the system and boot program

same procedure to undo hide: reassign drive letter

You could just not look at porn. Then you have nothing to hide.

You could just not look at porn. Then you have nothing to hide.

Are you mad? Telling a 14-year-old boy not to look at porn is like telling him not to breathe.

Are you mad? Telling a 14-year-old boy not to look at porn is like telling him not to breathe.

Encouraging a 14 year old boy to look at porn is like encouraging him to have sex with donkeys.

Think about that for a minute.

Encouraging a 14 year old boy to look at porn is like encouraging him to have sex with donkeys.

Think about that for a minute.
I did. Does not compute.

I did. Does not compute.

Porn = sex.
Watching porn = encouraging to have sex.
Donkeys = animals that have sex.

Therefore, watching porn equals sex with donkeys.

Porn = sex.
Watching porn = encouraging to have sex.
Donkeys = animals that have sex.

Therefore, watching porn equals sex with donkeys.
Ah, sarcasm.

Ah, sarcasm.

The first comment was genuine. I just have neither the time nor the desire to enter into a long debate about it right now.

Damnit! This thread's making me feel so deprived. Not only didn't I know what skeletor porn was, I've never heard of russian vampire sex, and I haven't even sodomised a dog, let alone a donkey.

I'm curious though Philo. Do you tie it up first or what? I imagine a swift kick from a donkey might distract one from thoughts of bestiality for a while. A good long while.

Bestiality sure is a fun thing to do
But I have to say this as a warning to you:
With almost all animals, you can have ball
But the hedgehog can never be buggered at all. (http://www.lspace.org/ftp/words/songs/hedgehog-song)

*Checks*... Hmm, can't see any mention of donkeys. No advice here, sorry :(

But then they might ask...
"Why do you have a password, what do you have to hide, son of mine?"
Dun dun dun...

"My diary. It is private."

Wow... impressive. My computer doesn't even have 30gb free space :pLol, I have one 120GB hdd and another 360GB.