CyberPatrol's default user account provides restrictive filtering without requiring any configuration. It divides words and URLs into 13 categories so you can customize settings for individual users. You create user profiles and set user options in the password-protected CyberPatrol Headquarters. This interface hasn't changed much since the last time we reviewed CyberPatrol, though it includes new tool tips, hints, and information dialogs, all of which make the program easier to use.

Switching between users is a manual process, as CyberPatrol is not aware of Windows user accounts or Windows XP's fast switching. But we like that the program automatically reverts from the current user to the default user after a set period of inactivity. This prevents kids, for example, from using Mom's unrestricted account if she forgets to log off.

CyberPatrol can filter content in any program. Like Cybersitter with its word-blanking feature, CyberPatrol replaces restricted words with strings of periods. The program's category lists are not viewable, though parents can add specific sites to block or allow. For filtering chat sessions, parents can add words or phrases to ChatGuard's restricted-word lists on either a global or per-user basis.

In testing, CyberPatrol blocked most offensive sites we tried to access; only a few mildly risqué sites slipped through. And it wasn't as overzealous as Cybersitter and iProtectYou, though CyberPatrol blocked a page on Staples' site, indicating it had violated the "weapons" filter. Unfortunately, without detailed reports, we can't know what the specific offense was.

CyberPatrol offers several types of alerts, including a diagnostic screen that identifies the offending page and the category it violates. CyberPatrol also offers a stealth mode, which removes the tray icon and displays "Page not found" errors rather than warning messages.

CyberPatrol's time management abilities are particularly strong. The click-and-drag interface lets you quickly set daily or weekly time limits in 30-minute increments. If your child is spending too much time playing games and not enough doing homework, you can limit specific programs on a global or per-user basis.

Cybersitter relies on an extensive, frequently updated database of sites and word patterns. By default, Cybersitter blocks content related to sex, drugs, hate, and violence, as well as blocking all image searches. But parents can select from 32 content categories—including cults, gambling, file sharing, wrestling, and free e-mail sites—to tailor the filter to their needs. These settings are applied to Web browsing, e-mail, instant messaging, and newsgroups. Or you can simply block all instant messaging, newsgroups, FTP access, and file sharing.

Every Internet application is filtered for inappropriate content and personal information that parents have specified. Unlike iProtectYou, whose brute-force approach shuts down the app, Cybersitter just blanks out the bad words that appear in e-mails and instant messages. Of course, if a Web site has offending content, it is blocked.

Cybersitter offers a good stealth mode, letting parents filter and monitor kids' activities without their knowledge. Cybersitter can record both sides of IM sessions, as well as log all sites visited and any violations. This information can then be automatically e-mailed to you in a daily activity report.

The Cybersitter Remote Control (available as a separate download) lets a parent remotely configure and control Cybersitter from a different machine on the network. This is handy for families with multiple PCs, but a static public IP address is required, so homes with a cable or DSL connection may require a special setup.

Set to normal sensitivity, NetFilter does a decent job distinguishing between good and bad content. For example, it let us look up historic information about the A-bomb but blocked information on building a bomb. It allowed sites about breast cancer but blocked some news and protest sites due to gruesome images. It blocked most extremely pornographic sites but allowed some sites that younger kids shouldn't be looking at.

Installation is easy enough. Like iProtectYou and Norton, NetFilter automatically detects and configures Windows user names, letting parents create a custom profile for each user.

NetFilter places an icon in the system tray, providing access to the admin panel. The initial status windows can be daunting, offering info such as whether a proxy is enabled. But for experienced users, NetFilter's advanced settings offer more granular control than most filters. For example, you can limit downloads by size, file extension, or filename. Whitelists and blacklists for applications and Web sites let parents specify words and URLs to block or allow. And you can place time limits on selected features, such as large file transfers, and allow others, such as general Web access.

NetFilter does not currently offer a stealth mode. And since the installation folder is in the Program Files folder, a savvy kid could potentially cripple the app. But the active files are locked by Windows. And if NetFilter is disabled, it locks the system's browsers.

The program automatically recognizes Windows user names and lets parents put them into groups. There are four "intensity" levels for filtering, which can be assigned by group or user.

Much like Cybersitter and NetFilter, iProtectYou uses filtering patterns and keywords divided into categories: sex, drugs, violence, nudity, indecent, extremism, and satanic. By default, all those categories are blocked, but parents can configure the filter for individual users.

iProtectYou provides very strong filtering of Web, newsgroup, instant-messaging, and e-mail content. Parents can choose to display a cartoon warning, a custom message, or a simple "not found" message when a child tries to access a restricted site. In testing, the filter was sometimes too strong and couldn't discern between good and bad sites based on context.

When iProtectYou blocks content in a program, it shuts down the app. If it finds one bad e-mail message, it cancels the download of all messages. When we turned off e-mail filtering, however, messages were still blocked, because our antivirus program (Norton AntiVirus) was prescanning e-mail and was being filtered. To access e-mail, we had to put our antivirus program on the trusted-application list. Ideally, iProtectYou should automatically recognize such a popular utility.

Parents can receive notifications of violations by e-mail with images of the offending screens. Unfortunately, this doesn't always work if your SMTP servers require a password to log on, but we were able to use this feature with our system. The logs are very extensive and contain entries for each opened program, visited site, and violation.

Time management options are easy to configure. Uniquely, iProtectYou also lets you set a limit on the total number of bytes kids can download. As with the time schedule, you can set a maximum daily usage limit—in this case, up to 100MB—before a user's Internet access is blocked.

For parents just cutting their teeth on computers, the simple installation and automatic creation of a default user offers immediate protection without requiring configuration of a lot of settings. Unfortunately, we found it fairly easy to access explicit images without being blocked.

Net Nanny is the only product in this roundup that lets you view its built-in lists of permitted and restricted sites and words. Parents can add to either list. But unlike Cybersitter, Net Nanny doesn't categorize sites; instead the blocked list is just one big pool of restricted URLs, making it difficult to customize settings for individual users.

Word filtering works on Web browsers, IRC chat sessions, unencrypted e-mail messages, and newsgroups. (Filtering does not work, however, on AOL Instant Messenger or MSN Messenger.) Net Nanny replaces objectionable words with pound signs. This may block certain words, but in many cases you can still get the message, and this doesn't help block pictures at all. Occasionally we were able to get to explicit images in newsgroups, though the more offensive words were blocked. If parents are concerned about what their kids may be exposed to in newsgroups, the best solution is to block newgroups completely.

Parents can use Net Nanny to log and review their kids' activities while filtering content. Alternatively, they can run Net Nanny in stealth mode, which monitors but doesn't block content. The software can record every site a child visits and send e-mail reports to the parents on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.

This activity log is the most detailed in our roundup. It includes the number of online sessions, visited Web sites, traded files, and filter violations. Parents can choose to log violations only, log all activity, or turn off logging altogether.

For the youngest kids, parents could get away with Net Nanny as a set-it-and-forget-it solution. For older kids, though, they'll need to do more monitoring and be vigilant about configuring program settings.

The component called Parental Control can import Windows user accounts for fast configuration of multiple users (and support for fast user switching). With the exception of the administrator, all accounts default to the most restrictive protection. Accounts can then be individually configured, but you can't change settings globally.

Norton's site filtering is strict. Similar in breadth to Cybersitter, Norton offers 31 filter categories, 18 of which are selected by default, including all 7 related to sex and nudity. Norton blocked most offensive sites we tried to access, and it allowed most good sites. Parents can add sites to be blocked or allowed, or they can opt to block all sites except ones they add to the list.

Some features overlap between Parental Control's tools and other parts of NIS. For example, in Parental Control parents can allow or block up to 11 types of applications, including IM clients and network games. But to add or remove apps on the list, they must open the program control in the firewall component.

NIS also lets you specify private information to be blocked from being shared online. Like filtering, this can be applied on a per-user basis. There is no word list for filtering words in e-mail or other apps, but you can block words by adding them to the privacy control. Blocking profane words isn't the primary purpose of the privacy control, but nonetheless it works in all apps.

Norton does not have a stealth mode; blocked Web pages always display the URL and the category of the violation. When a user enters private data that is blocked, a dialog box similar to a virus warning pops up. Norton's comprehensive statistic screen shows how many sites and programs were blocked or permitted.

Parental Control can be disabled in NIS, and you can run any other product in this roundup alongside the rest of the suite. If you want the absolute best parental filtering available, we recommend Cybersitter. But we like that Norton Parental Control is part of a comprehensive security suite.

Setup is easy. But if there's a firewall, you may need to configure it to work with Safe Eyes. Parents can customize settings for multiple users, choosing from among 36 different categories to filter. By default, the program filters sex, nudity, pornography, and tasteless content for all users. Unique among the products in our roundup, Safe Eyes does not let users surf unfiltered; they can't disable the four default filtering categories. If a child visits a restricted site, the program displays a full-screen alert with the offending URL and category violated.

In testing, we found the filter very restrictive, although it did allow access to sites about breast cancer. The interface is intuitive, with few settings other than the categories. Parents cannot view the list of blocked sites, but the Test a Site feature lets them check whether a URL is blocked, and if so, in which category. Safe Eyes doesn't filter content in applications or let users specify personal information to be blocked. But it can block access to IM, e-mail, newsgroups, FTP, and file-sharing programs. Safe Eyes also comes with a pop-up blocker, which can be configured for users individually but not globally. Strong filtering at a one-time price makes Safe Eyes a good, low-maintenance choice for parents with younger kids. As kids get older, however, you may find that you need features like personal-information filtering, activity logging, and time management settings.

Most of the programs—even the non-monitoring applications—provide tools for monitoring what users do online. They can log what sites have been visited, capture chat sessions, and take screenshots. To rate monitoring abilities, we evaluate how much information is captured and how well each program organizes the data. We've seen reporting handled in a variety of ways. Some programs will automatically e-mail reports to parents, while others require access to the child's computer. For this category, we rate options for accessing reports and how much detail each report provides.

One of the most critical tasks these programs perform is Web filtering. We rate each solution's ability to block inappropriate Web content, as well as to recognize and allow access to good content. This rating also reflects the ability to customize filter settings for individual users. For the application filtering and blocking rating, we look at each program's tools for blocking applications from being used, and the ability to filter out bad language in programs like instant messaging and e-mail clients.

For time management, we evaluate options for specifying when particular users can and can't use specific programs. Privacy control tools let you specify information that can't be sent out over the Internet, preventing a child, for example, from giving out a phone number online. For this rating, we look at how easy it is to specify information and how well the program handles blocking personal data.