Public PC Desktop 6.23

'Public PC Desktop' is a great solution for restricting user's access. It enables you to customize and deploy a special computer, which is used for accessing only certain content. This program is suited for setting up an Internet Café or a public access terminal. You can access several advanced features, which allow you to disable Windows keyboard shortcuts, deny access to a list of Internet sites, or allow users to access the PC for only a given period of time.

The program's interface is user friendly and each feature is easily accessible. When you first start the program, you are guided through configuring the program. Even though this software does not provide a configuration wizard, it displays dialogs, explaining what you should do next. Before locking your computer, you should specify a master password. This password is used to unlock your computer, so make sure you remember it.

As I mentioned before, the program can give users access for a given time. Therefore, users must enter a special key to use the computer. This key is encoded using a character sequence, which can be defined in the program's password options page (Time Encoding Keyword). Another way of allowing users to access the computer is to ask them for a username and password. These user accounts can be added, modified, or deleted.

Pluses:

Drawbacks / flaws: Public PC Desktop tweaks registry settings to disable access to your original Windows desktop. Sometimes, when you unlock Windows, the computer doesn't work properly anymore. Thus, your desktop doesn't show correctly and the icons are hidden even though you unlocked the computer. The 'Help' button, which is displayed on the configuration window, doesn't work.

In conclusion: This program has nice features, but it's unstable when unlocking the computer.

version reviewed: 4.3