Modification protecting Software

Hi all,

Can anyone help me find inexpensive (read free) software which will return a PC to my original configuration regardless what the kids in our orphanage download or any other changes they make?

I've heard about a program named "deep freeze" which appears to be what I need, but it's pretty pricey for me. Do you know of cheaper?

Thanks,

Scott

Hi Scott,

I would definitely check out Windows SteadyState.  It does happen to be free and is pretty easy to use assuming you're using windows and don't allow users to have administrator rights to the machine.  Search for 'steady state' on Microsoft's site if this sounds interesting to you.

There are a couple of other options you could look into, like using a linux live cd to boot into Ubuntu or another distribution that suits your needs.  This is a nice 'set and forget' solution but sort of assumes you don't really want to make further changes to the system.  You would need to make sure that the system always boots from the CD or could remove the hard drive entirely, but otherwise there wouldn't be much to set up.  Unfortunately, doing this doesn't prevent users from just removing the CD and being left either with an unbootable system or one that boots into your normal OS.

Good Luck,
Jon

Either solution can work.  Windows Steady State is a bit of a bear to set up, but once you have it running you will be very happy :)

If you use Linux, you don't have to make users use a Live CD.  Users by default can't install software, at all.  So...  giving everyone their own username would work.  In a lab situation, you could use Ubuntu server and have 1 place to manage the users in an LDAP system.  However, if you're not experienced in Linux, go with Windows Steady State.

+1 for using steady state.  I've seen it work very effectively in a college computer lab environment.