Security is another available screen that’s part of Phoenix BIOS and most
others. Here you can set a User and Supervisor password, and require the
use of a password each time the computer is booted. This is a matter of per-
sonal preference and security; if you leave your machine unattended, you
may want to enable various levels of passwords. On the other hand, if you
forget your password, it can become a major project to get it reset.
Passing on the word...........................................................................
On most modern laptops running Windows passwords come in three types
and levels:
BIOS or User Password. If enabled, this request for password appears
onscreen every time the laptop is started, restarted, or brought back
from standby mode.Supervisor Password. Similar to the User password in its time of
appearance, the intention is to allow a supervisor or IT department to
prevent changes to system settings without permission. The Supervisor
can change anything and everything, including the User password.
Windows Logon Password. This level of password controls the opening
of Microsoft Windows. Under older versions of Windows (including
Windows 95, 98, 98SE, and ME), the password only protects customiza-
tion of the Windows environment; you can get around the password
request by clicking Cancel or pressing the Esc key.If using a more current operating system (including Windows XP, 2000, and
NT), the Windows Logon password is intended to protect against unautho-
rized access to the computer contents. You cannot skip past the password
request, although you can set up the system with a blank, or null,password,
which means that you need only to press Enter to get into the hard disk.
Finally, if your laptop is set up to use a network, it may have one more level
of password protection: a request that you type in the magic word to get on
the network. If you skip over this request, in most systems you can use your
computer locally but not in connection to others.
The case of the lost password ..........................................................
The good news is that a password can provide a reasonable level of protec-
tion against unauthorized use of your computer (at the User and Supervisor
level) and access to its contents (at the Windows logon level). That’s a really
good thing for laptop users since the whole idea of a portable computer is
that it is, well, portable. If someone steals your computer from an overhead
Chapter 6: Brain Matters: Memory, Microprocessors, and BIOS 105