Prevent deletion of Firefox History?

DrMorganes · 04-15-2009, 08:09 PM

Yep, you read that right: I want to prevent my teen from clearing Firefox's History. Anyone know of a way to do this?

The laptop in question is running XP Professional (SP3) and is part of a Small Business Server domain that I administer. Switching to IE and controlling via Group Policy is not an option; IE is more trouble than it's worth.

Thanks in advance!

**wmorri** · 04-16-2009, 08:17 AM

Hi,

I am not sure that there is a definitive way to prevent someone from blocking access to the history. I do have a couple of ideas for you though. I don't know if you have tried this but you said that you have a SBS running as home. Have you tried to look at the logs to see if you can see anything that looks questionable.

Another option is to look at the logs of your router. This may be a daunting task but it will get it done for you.

A third option is to set up a proxy. Having a SBS I am sure that you can set up a proxy to allow and deny certain sites or place from being accessed. As a linux guy myself I have some experience with this from a program called Squid. But that is a linux proxy and I don't think that it would work on Windows. I have digressed. I would start with those options and see where that takes you.

If you need some help with any of this just let me know and I can see what I can do for you.

Cheers!

**lorjack** · 04-17-2009, 10:06 AM

The only way i know to do it is with IE using group policies.

DrMorganes · 04-21-2009, 07:27 AM

Drat.

I was hoping that some boy (or girl) genius out there had coded a FF extension for us concerned parental types.

Proxies, etc work great for tracking history when she's at the shop ... but no so much when she's not. However, it's not a huge enough concern at the moment for me to invest in a third-party security package.

**wmorri** · 04-21-2009, 10:29 AM

Why don't you just set up a proxy and then go to Tools -> Options. In Options in Advanced section under the Network tab, you have the option to set up how FF connects to the internet. If you set up a proxy make it so that this user must go through the proxy.
Most of the time people wont even know that there is one in place. This will keep a log of what is going on and you can go from there.

Cheers!

04-15-2009, 08:09 PM	#1 (permalink)
DrMorganes Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 68 OS: Vista, XP	Prevent deletion of Firefox History? Yep, you read that right: I want to prevent my teen from clearing Firefox's History. Anyone know of a way to do this? The laptop in question is running XP Professional (SP3) and is part of a Small Business Server domain that I administer. Switching to IE and controlling via Group Policy is not an option; IE is more trouble than it's worth. Thanks in advance!

04-16-2009, 08:17 AM	#2 (permalink)
wmorri Moderator/Fedora Amb. Join Date: May 2008 Location: /pm/etc Posts: 2,797 OS: Window 7/Fedora 10 My System	Re: Prevent deletion of Firefox History? Hi, I am not sure that there is a definitive way to prevent someone from blocking access to the history. I do have a couple of ideas for you though. I don't know if you have tried this but you said that you have a SBS running as home. Have you tried to look at the logs to see if you can see anything that looks questionable. Another option is to look at the logs of your router. This may be a daunting task but it will get it done for you. A third option is to set up a proxy. Having a SBS I am sure that you can set up a proxy to allow and deny certain sites or place from being accessed. As a linux guy myself I have some experience with this from a program called Squid. But that is a linux proxy and I don't think that it would work on Windows. I have digressed. I would start with those options and see where that takes you. If you need some help with any of this just let me know and I can see what I can do for you. Cheers! __________________ Linux Forever!

04-17-2009, 10:06 AM	#3 (permalink)
lorjack TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Planet Earth Posts: 2,205 OS: Windows 2K, XP Pro sp3, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Ubuntu	Re: Prevent deletion of Firefox History? The only way i know to do it is with IE using group policies.

04-21-2009, 07:27 AM	#4 (permalink)
DrMorganes Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 68 OS: Vista, XP	Re: Prevent deletion of Firefox History? Drat. I was hoping that some boy (or girl) genius out there had coded a FF extension for us concerned parental types. Proxies, etc work great for tracking history when she's at the shop ... but no so much when she's not. However, it's not a huge enough concern at the moment for me to invest in a third-party security package.

04-21-2009, 10:29 AM	#5 (permalink)
wmorri Moderator/Fedora Amb. Join Date: May 2008 Location: /pm/etc Posts: 2,797 OS: Window 7/Fedora 10 My System	Re: Prevent deletion of Firefox History? Why don't you just set up a proxy and then go to Tools -> Options. In Options in Advanced section under the Network tab, you have the option to set up how FF connects to the internet. If you set up a proxy make it so that this user must go through the proxy. Most of the time people wont even know that there is one in place. This will keep a log of what is going on and you can go from there. Cheers! __________________ Linux Forever!