How to Bypass McAfee Parental Controls

Sometimes your parents feel just a little too overbearing when you’re 16 years old and you are almost an adult at this point. Maybe you’re just a bit sick of being locked out of your PC due to bad family situations that you have no control over – it’s not my place to say what’s right and wrong from a professional standpoint, but things happen. This guide is to show you just how to get around a system that is frequently used, called McAfee – like a pro.

                McAfee is often used as an antivirus and an anti-malware protection program. However, it has a parental controls option where parents can “protect” their child even further, and sometimes that can feel like a bit too anxiously and unnecessarily protective on their part.

You can break down McAfee’s parental controls into two main categories:

1. Web URL’s
2. Applications

                In regards to the URL’s, it catches key words in the URL similar to a blacklist for words, and force-closes the tab you had open. As for how to get around it? Simple – one of three ways.

1. If it’s a site you frequently visit, and if you have it in the drop-down menu that appears when you search on the search bar, that gives you an advantage: Don’t type in the full blacklisted word, but instead type most of it in, and click the suggestion that appears. Press Enter as fast as you can, and switch to another tab immediately after. Let the page load in, then go back to the blacklisted tab. Quickly delete the URL in the search page, so that it can’t catch the keyword. Then aha – all you have left is the page loaded up. Don’t be discouraged: The process is very time-sensitive, so this will take a few tries.

• Bookmarks! You can add bookmarks into usually any web browser – and I assume most web browsers allow you to manually enter them in. Thus, this method is quite simple: Create a new bookmark with the web URL you desire, then go to the site. The system targets the active tab, so always remember to go to another tab, then go back in and quickly delete the URL at the top of the page.

• Use the same tab-switching-deleting method described above, but save URL’s to a notepad, then copy and paste them with the Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V method.

As for applications, this provides a different challenge. There is mainly just one way to do this that I’ve discovered myself. The system works with the task manager to force-close any blacklisted applications. Thus, the answer is very simple.

1. Go into the File Explorer and navigate to the folder with the desired application. If you are using a shortcut, right click on the shortcut and press Open File Location on the menu that opens up. Your .exe (application) file should be selected.

• Right click on the file and press Rename on the menu. Just change a single letter in the name, and it should work.

• Be aware that if the application you’re running relies on finding the application file by name, things may go wrong, but most programs work fine with this.

                Hopefully this will allow you have more freedom on your personal computer in the future, and not let family issues distract you from enjoying your online life.