• Not be your name or your user name
• Not be a common word or a common name
• Be signicantly different from your previous passwords
Power-On Password
When a Power-On Password is set, you are prompted to type a valid password each time the computer is
turned on. The computer cannot be used until the valid password is typed in.
Administrator Password
Setting an Administrator Password deters unauthorized users from changing conguration settings. If you
are responsible for maintaining the conguration settings of several computers, you might want to set an
Administrator Password.
When an Administrator Password is set, you are prompted to type a valid password each time you try to
access the Setup Utility program. The Setup Utility program cannot be accessed until a valid password
is typed in.
If both the Power-On Password and Administrator Password are set, you can type either password. However,
you must use your Administrator Password to change any conguration settings.
Hard Disk Password
Setting a Hard Disk Password prevents unauthorized access to the data on the hard disk drive. When a
Hard Disk Password is set, you are prompted to type a valid password each time you try to access the
hard disk drive.
Setting, changing, and deleting a password
To set, change, or delete a password, do the following:
1. Start the Setup Utility program. See “Starting the Setup Utility program” on page 41.
2. From the Setup Utility program main menu, select Security.
3. Depending on the password type, select Set Power-On Password, Set Administrator Password, or
Hard Disk Password.
4. Follow the instructions on the right side of the screen to set, change, or delete a password.
Note: A password can be any combination of up to 64 alphabetic and numeric characters. For more
information, see “Password considerations” on page 41.
Enabling or disabling a device
This section provides information on how to enable or disable user access to the following devices:
USB Setup Use this option to enable or disable a USB connector. When a USB connector is
disabled, the device connected to the USB connector cannot be used.
SATA Controller When this feature is set to Disable, all devices connected to the SATA connectors
(such as hard disk drives or the optical drive) are disabled and cannot be accessed.
External SATA Port When this option is set to Disable, the device connected to the External SATA
connector cannot be accessed.
To enable or disable a device, do the following:
1. Start the Setup Utility program. See “Starting the Setup Utility program” on page 41.
42 ThinkCentre User Guide