Plan Wizard - Blocking Applications
In this tutorial we are going to be using the Focus Plan Wizard to explore the Applications Section.
On initial review you will notice two options: Block Selected Applications OR Block All Applications, as well as an Add App option. As you can see, we currently have no applications on our blacklist or whitelist tables. We are going to populate this with relevant information.
In our example situation, we find ourselves surfing the internet, on both Chrome and Firefox, for many hours a day. Unfortunately, we have an important paper due in one weeks’ time and need to finish it. We can’t do that wasting time surfing the web. The application blocking feature will fit this situation well, as it provides several solutions. Our goal in this video is to eliminate access to both Chrome and Firefox, via the Installed Application viewer. We will finish by practicing blocking all application access, while whitelisting only Microsoft Word to provide a distraction free environment. So, let’s get started!
With the Block Selected Apps radio button toggled on, click the Add App button. You will be greeted with four tabs: Process, Installed, Windows, and Custom. For the purposes of this tutorial, we want to target both Chrome and Firefox and we will accomplish this by finding them in the Installed tab, as they are currently installed on this machine. So, click on the Installed tab now. From here you will see three columns including icon, application name, and process path. We are going to scroll down until we find either Google Chrome or Firefox.
<PRO TIP CALLOUT ON SCREEN: If you hold the control key, you may select multiple entries simultaneously>
After selecting both Google Chrome and Firefox from your installed list, click Done at the bottom right.
This returns you back to the Applications screen, with updated entries for both programs. We have successfully added the two programs to our plan and are ready to apply further schedules and protection to this plan.
And finally, we’re going to discuss the Block All Apps feature. When the block all apps radio button is selected, it will prevent access to all applications on the machine, except for specific applications that are whitelisted. This feature is especially useful if you want to concentrate on only one application, and for our example, that would be Microsoft Word. To start, make sure the Block All Apps radio button is selected. You can see we currently have no applications listed on our whitelist table.
Before continuing, make sure that you have Microsoft Word open on your machine.
In order to add a white listed application, click on the Add App button in the top right.
Under the process tab, you will need to locate Microsoft Word. OK, we found it! Listed under WINWORD.exe and application name Microsoft Word. Go ahead and select that entry and again click done on the bottom right corner.
Terrific! We have just created a plan that will eliminate access to all applications on your machine, except for Microsoft Word. When this is enabled, only Microsoft Word will be allowed to open. This should really help you concentrate and focus your time on that important paper that is due soon.
Thank you for joining us on this video and we look forward to seeing you in the next one entitled “Plans – Focus Types”.