Is it possible to lock the dock in OSX so icons cannot be dragged off?

We just gave my grandpa our old mac mini running leopard. He is constantly dragging the icons off the dock by accident, deleting them. This is his first computer so he doesn’t have the know-how to get the icons back, or to even follow the directions for doing so over the phone. Can the icons in the dock be locked down so that you can’t accidentally drag and delete them?

It sure is.

Here’s how to lock down the Mac OS X Dock, all of these commands need to be issued at the command line via the Terminal, so once you’re there enter the appropriate command:

Lock the Dock to Prevent Changes to Contents
defaults write com.apple.Dock contents-immutable -bool yes

Lock the Dock to Prevent Changes in Size
defaults write com.apple.Dock size-immutable -bool yes

Lock the Dock’s Position on the Screen
defaults write com.apple.Dock position-immutable -bool yes

After executing any or all of these commands, you’ll want to relaunch the Dock by killing it:

killall Dock

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