2500 XL (250-4074) Password Faxback Doc. # 1154 Passwords help protect your computer from unauthorized users. Your computer supports two passwords: * POWER-ON PASSWORD -- Prevents unauthorized use of your computer when you are not present. When a power-on password is required, you must enter it each time you turn on the computer or press the RESET button. Use the password.com utility to create a power-on password. * KEYBOARD PASSWORD -- Enables you to temporarily lock and unlock your keyboard (and mouse if you have one) without turning off your computer. The keyboard password is cleared when you turn off the computer. Use the kp.exe utility to create or change a keyboard password. Each password can have as many as seven characters consisting of any characters on the keyboard. The system does not distinguish between uppercase and lowercase letters. Try to create passwords that are easy for you to remember but difficult for anyone else to guess. For example, do not use your name. Use a word or number that has special meaning to you. The password utilities record the exact keys you press as you create a new password. This means that, if you use the 6 from the typewriter keys when you create the password, you cannot substitute the 6 from the numeric keys when you enter the password. NOTE: When you create a password, the characters in the password are displayed on the screen as you type them. This enables you to verify the password as you type it. When you change a password, or enter a password to access your computer or keyboard, the password characters are not displayed as you type them. CREATING AND USING A KEYBOARD PASSWORD A keyboard password enables you to lock the keyboard and mouse. Locking the keyboard and mouse prevents unauthorized access to your system. The kp.exe utility also enables you to clear the screen to further protect your data. You can also use kp.exe to change the keyboard password. Use kp.exe to lock or unlock the keyboard (and mouse if one is installed). By default, the keyboard password is the same as the power-on password. If you wish, you can use kp.exe to specify a keyboard password that is different from the power-on password. To further protect your data, you can use kp.exe to clear the screen before locking the keyboard. NOTE: You can copy kp.exe to you system disk. Follow these steps to lock the keyboard: 1. Be sure you are in the drive and directory containing kp.exe. Also, be sure you are in the MS-DOS operating system prompt. 2. If you have already created a keyboard password: type KP and press ENTER to lock the keyboard. or type KP /B and press ENTER to clear the screen and lock the keyboard. If you want to specify a new keyboard password: type KP /C and press ENTER. The system prompts you to enter a new password, and then locks the keyboard. or type KP /B /C and press ENTER. The system clears the screen and prompts you to enter a new password, and then locks the keyboard and mouse. When the system prompts you to enter a password, type the password, using BACKSPACE key to correct any errors, and press ENTER. The following prompt appears: Is this correct? (Y/N) _ 3. If the password is correct, type Y and press ENTER. If the password is not correct, type N, press ENTER, and type the correct password. To unlock the keyboard and mouse, type the keyboard password and then press ENTER. CREATING AND USING A POWER-ON PASSWORD A power-on password enables you to restrict the use of the computer, keyboard, and mouse (if one is installed). If you cannot supply the correct password, the computer will not accept input from the mouse or the keyboard. You might want to write your password down in a safe place in case you forget it. To create a power-on password: 1. At the system prompt, type: password and press ENTER. NOTE: If a power-on password already exists, you cannot use this option change the password. See "Changing or Removing a Power-One Password" for more information. 2. Type the password, using the BACKSPACE key to correct any errors. After typing the complete password, press ENTER. The following prompt is displayed: Is this correct? (Y/N) _ 3. If the password is correct, type Y and press ENTER. If the password is incorrect, type N, press ENTER, and enter the correct password. You will be prompted to enter the correct password each time you turn on the computer or press the RESET button. ENTERING A POWER-ON PASSWORD If you have specified a power-on password, the following prompt is displayed when you turn on the computer: Enter Password: _ Type the complete password, and press ENTER. The computer permits three attempts to enter the correct password. If the correct password is not entered on the third attempt, the computer will not accept further input from the mouse or the keyboard. To try again, turn the computer off and then on again, or press the RESET button. CHANGING OR REMOVING A POWER-ON PASSWORD When the computer displays the power-on password prompt, you can change or remove the existing password. You can not use the Passwords Menu to change or remove a power-on password. To change or remove the power-on password, follow these steps at the password prompt: 1. Type the current power-on password, but do not press . 2. Immediately following the current password, type a forward slash (/). 3. Immediately following the slash, type a forward slash type the new password and press . Or, to erase the current password without assigning a new one, simply press after the slash. For example, if the current password is old and you want to change it to new, type old/new and press . If you remove the power-on password, the password prompt is no longer displayed when you turn on the computer.