Parental Control Password

Is there a way to set a different password for the Parental Controls which is different from the Administrator password? My wife keeps turning it off for the kids when they need to access sites for homework. I have a specific user account set for homework purposes which does not impose restrictions, but she does it anyway then forgets to turn it back on. Someone please help.

Hi epiotr,

Welcome to Vista Forums!

Sorry, but any Administator can access and change Parental Control settings using their own password - it can't be set to one specific password or even to one specific Administrator (well maybe the latter - more on that below).

There's now another related option available called Family Safety Protecting your kids with Family Safety which does essentially the same thing as Parental Controls but may provide some additional options (and doesn't include all the options available with Parental Controls - so using both together can help refine the alternatives). But again, as with Parental Controls, Family Safety can be accessed and changed by any Administrator and cannot be assigned a specific and separate password or blocked to all but one Administrator (again - more on this below). This does not solve or address the problem you raised, but I thought it might be helpful considering you are in a situation where you are using Parental Controls and this is something new (and free) from Microsoft that might help you improve or refine your constraints.

Actually, now that I think about it there may be a way to block access to all but one specific Administrator - not by creating a special password wihich can't be done - but by amending the Parental Control (and Family Safety if you add that) file permissions to allow only the one Administrator access (you) and remove access from the Administrator group as a whole and anyone else with permissions. Unfortunately, this can be dangerous because if anything happens to that one account (and accounts do get corrupt and I've even seen Administrator accounts change to Standard accounts for no apparent reason), there will be no way to access Parental Controls (or Family Safety) without a clean install of Vista. Even restoring the account won't work as it will have a different security token and the system won't see it as the same account even if it has the same name and everything else. If you do this, create another Administrator Account using your password so you don't forget a different one and give it access to Parental Controls (and Family Safety if you add it) as well and then hide it (so nobody else even knows it exists) - to be activated only if yours has a problem and then you will have a backup to use to access Parental Controls (or Family Safety) in case something happens to your account (and I've seen a lot of corrupt user accounts, so no matter how well you maintain and care for your system, it can happen to you just like anyone else).

Finding the file may present a problem, but if you go to the place you use to access the controls and right click on the icon or link it will hopefully provide you with the file's location (on a shortcut, it would be the target location) - most likely somewhere in properties if it has such an option listed.

Here's some additional information on permissions and ownership that may assist you if you decide to take that route:

To see your permissions, right click the folder/file, click on properties, and check out the security tab. Check to see what permissions you have by clicking on your username (or user group). Here are the types of permissions you can have: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/What-are-permissions. You need to be an administrator or the owner to change permissions (and sometimes being an administrator or even an owner isn't enough - there are ways to block even them from access (though a smart administrator knows these ways and can get around them - but usually shouldn't because they were denied access usually for a very good reason). Here's how to change file/folder permissions in Vista: http://www.online-tech-tips.com/windows-vista/set-file-folder-permissions-vista/. To add take and grant full right permissions and ownership to the right click menu (which will make it faster to get in once it is set up), check out the following article: http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/05/21/take-and-grant-full-control-permissions-and-ownership-in-windows-7-or-vista-right-click-menu/.


To fix this problem with the files/folders, you may need to take ownership of the files/folders (as an administrator) and give yourself full rights. Right click the folder/file, click on properties, go to the security tab and click on Advanced and then click on the Owner tab. Click edit and then click the name of the person you want to give ownership to (you may need to add it if it isn't there - or it may be yourself). If you want it to apply to sub-folders and files within that folder, then check the box for replace owner on sub-containers and objects and click OK. Back out and now there's a new owner for the folders/files who can change permissions as needed. Here's more information on taking ownership of a file or folder: http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/67717-take-ownership-file.html. To add take ownership to the right click menu (which will make it faster to get in once it is set up), check out the following article: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/add-take-ownership-to-explorer-right-click-menu-in-vista/.

While this may be possible, I suggest that the better and safer alternative is to convince your wife simply not to ever use her Administrative access to adjust the Parental controls (or Family Safety) and explain the process you have established and show her why she doesn't need to do anything and (somehow politely and without getting yourself into trouble) remind her that she is forgetting to turn it back on and that's defeating the purpose. Yes, I know, easier said than done (I too am married) - LOL! Frankly, you're going to end up having some type of discussion about it anyway since when she discovers she can no longer access Parental Controls (or Family Safety) she's going to talk to you and you'll have to explain what you did (or come up with some other reason I can't think of) and that may turn out worse than just being upfront about it in the first place. But that's really none of my business and your decision to make - I just know that if I did that to my wife she would be very upset and it would take a long time for her to forgive me for going behind her back and not just trusting her upfront.

I hope this helps.

Good luck!