Stickman Posted December 25, 2002 Report Share Posted December 25, 2002 Is there a programme that I can install that requests a password when the machine boots up. Just a simple small programme would suffice. I'm running Win 98... Stick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bibblies Posted December 25, 2002 Report Share Posted December 25, 2002 It's almost certainly an option in the BIOS already, a thing which every PC has built into it. When you switch on your PC pay attention to any messages that come up saying "press F2 to go into setup" or whatever and hold down the appropriate key (it's usually F2 or F5 or one of the function keys). It'll then go into a menu, some of whose options will give you the chance to set a password. One'll probably give you an option to set a boot-up password and another will give you a chance to set a BIOS password (so that anyone who subsequently tries to go into this series of menus will be asked for a password first). It's an old style menu so use arrow keys to move around, Escape to go back and Enter to submit a choice. Make sure you remember any passwords you set here because if you lose them, you're pretty well stuffed! But this is the way to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk101 Posted December 25, 2002 Report Share Posted December 25, 2002 It's not necassarily fatal if you forget the password as there's normally an internal link you can short to reset it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 26, 2002 Report Share Posted December 26, 2002 you can also reset it by removing the CMOS battery for about 10 seconds, then replacing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 26, 2002 Report Share Posted December 26, 2002 The best would be if you consider an upgrade to WinXP. The BIOS password is easily bypassable - though you have to fiddle around with a screwdriver - any Programs I heard of for Win98 are not really secure as well, almost any nerd can get past it. WinXP has built in security, especially when you encrypt your Hard Disk's content, then there is really nothing that could be done (unless you are the CIA). Sunny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bibblies Posted December 26, 2002 Report Share Posted December 26, 2002 I'd guess Stickman simply requires something that'd defeat the average casual snooper! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 26, 2002 Report Share Posted December 26, 2002 In this case a PW on the screen saver would probably do it. You can also start the screen safer manually, so you don't have to wait for the automated start. Sunny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALHOLK Posted December 27, 2002 Report Share Posted December 27, 2002 Hi! Bad idea. You will lose the entire CMOS setup. Also the batteries are often soldered to the mother board. Bypassing the BIOS password is in most cases trivial for the computer savvy. regards ALHOLK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 27, 2002 Report Share Posted December 27, 2002 Unless you're running any BIOS specific commands or over clocking then the 'default settings' which will be restored will not harm your machine at all (you'll just need to reset the time). batteries are only soldered onto ancient boards and compaqs/HPs IME. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palatkik Posted December 27, 2002 Report Share Posted December 27, 2002 On the newer Dell desktops we've got removing the BIOS battery had no effect on the forgotten BIOS passwords some of our guys had set up. We had to return the PC's to the vendor. Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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