7 Reasons Why You Should Never Download Free Parental Control Software

Most parents agree parental control software is a necessity on children's computers to ensure safe internet practices. A question often asked is, why buy parental control software when you can get it for free? Unless you are extremely computer savvy, then cheap or free parental control solutions will cost you a lot more than just money.

Parental control programs can be obtained from a number of sources. Buy and download quality "software" from a reputable company, buy and download parental control "shareware" (cheaper cost), download parental control "freeware" (free), or use the mac OS x parental controls or the windows parental control XP version that comes with your computer operating system.

So if you can get it for free, why buy it? Its similar to buying a camera or computer without the instructions, support or guarantee. Here are 7 reasons why you should never to use free or cheap parental control software.

1. Free Trial Period and Guarantee
Before you buy parental control software, most quality software offer a free trial and money back guarantee. This can help save a lot of time and money to make sure you get a product with the specific features and flexibility you need. If it doesn't offer a trial period, then why not? Parental control freeware and shareware generally don't come with free trial periods or guarantees.

2. Support
One of the main reasons people buy parental control software is that it comes with 24/7 ongoing support. This can be by way of phone, email, online live chat, online resource centers and more. Support is extremely important especially if it is your first time using this type of software. Parental control shareware and freeware products do not come with ongoing support so if you have questions you may not be able to get the answers.

3. Instructions/Set Up
All Parental Controls need some initial set up or instructions on how to use. Often anti-security or anti-viral applications needs to be deactivated prior to install, then reactivated. Parental control software comes with very thorough instructions and support that make it very simple to install and use. Parental control freeware and shareware come with minimal or no setup instructions. If set up is run incorrectly it could cause access problems to certain sites or programs, seize your hard drive or worse. The cost of fixing a computers hard drive is significant compared to what is costs to buy parental control software, not to mention wasted hours and potential downtime.

4. More Features and Options
Parental control software comes with a lot more features and options than freeware, shareware or operating system programs. So you are more likely to find one to suit all your computer filtering and monitoring needs with better reporting capabilities and ease of use.

5. Good Parental Control Software is Harder to Manipulate
A huge amount of money and man hours go into creating and developing quality parental control software. Version updates keep abreast of new problems, making it a lot harder to bypass or manipulate.

6. Configuring an Operating System is Hard
Some features of internet filtering come with a computers operating systems like Windows parental control XP and Mac OS X parental controls. Be warned, they are limited in features, easy to bypass if kids are computer savvy and take some expertise and time to configure correctly. Support is for the whole operating system and not specific in the area of parental control.

7. Price
Quality software doesn't need to be expensive. Parents can still buy parental control software for under $50.00.

CONCLUSION:
If you are computer literate and know your way around a hard drive, then you may be alright with parental control freeware or shareware. If you only need minimal filtering features, then windows parental control XP or mac OS X parental controls may suit your needs. Otherwise, when you buy Parental Control software, it's best to pick best breed over price. Parents only have one chance to get it right. If the first computer spy program is detected or goes wrong, the chances of the ever catching questionable activity will be greatly reduced. Most parents would agree their child's safety is worth the investment.