Password considerations
A password can be any combination of up to 16 (1 to 16) alphabetic and numeric
characters. For security reasons, it is recommended to use a strong password that
cannot be easily compromised. To set a strong password, use the following
guidelines:
v Have at least eight characters in length
v Contain at least one alphabetic character and one numeric character
v Setup Utility program and hard disk drive passwords are not case sensitive
v Not be your name or your user name
v Not be a common word or a common name
v Be significantly different from your previous password
Power-On Password
When a Power-On Password is set, the user is prompted to type a valid password
each time the computer is turned on. The computer cannot be used until a valid
password is typed in.
Administrator Password
When an Administrator Password is set, it deters unauthorized people from
changing configuration settings. If you are responsible for maintaining the settings
of several computers, you might want to set an Administrator Password.
After you set an Administrator Password, a password prompt is displayed each
time you try to access the Setup Utility program.
If both the Power-On Password and Administrator Password are set, you can type
either password. However, to change any configuration settings, you must use
your Administrator Password.
Setting, changing, and deleting a password
To set, change, or delete a password, do the following:
Note: A password can be any combination of up to 16 (1 to 16) alphabetic and
1. Start the Setup Utility program. See Chapter 4, "Using the Setup Utility," on
2. From the Setup Utility program menu, select Security → Set Power-On
3. Read the information displayed on the right side of the screen.
Enabling or disabling a device
This section provides information on how to enable or disable user access to the
following devices:
SATA Controller
Floppy A
58
User Guide
numeric characters. For more information, see "Password considerations."
page 57.
Password or Set Administrator Password.
When this feature is set to Disabled, all devices connected to the
SATA controller (such as hard disk drives or the optical drive) are
disabled and will not be displayed in the system configuration.
When this feature is set to Disabled, the diskette drive cannot be
accessed.