Sharing a Home Computer

It is common to have a home computer shared by everyone in the family or by a number of students. Here are some tips that can help to protect a shared computer.

Agree a principle in how to use the computer, including;

A time limit for each person who wants to use the computer,

A priority list of reasons for using the computer for homework and studies, games, chatting etc., and

Stagger computer use in line with bedtimes.

But you have to ensure that everyone gets a fair deal.

You may need to establish rules or guidelines in allocating disk space, folders, and conditions on what kind of software can be installed. Remind users that some software, like games, may require a lot of hard disk space.

We suggest you create separate system user accounts for individual family members. Each family member can have their own access folders and will not be able to view and access the files and folders of other users.