NEC Versa L320, User Manual

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3-12 Using the BIOS Setup Utility
Using Hard Disk Drive Password Protection
To facilitate the transfer of one or more HDDs between systems, establish a single
master password (and store the password in a secure place). Forgetting your master
password results in the inability to access the data on your hard drive. Establish
different user passwords to limit access to specific systems.
If you set the master and user password on a hard drive,
password security can never be disabled. Passwords can be changed. If the master
password is forgotten and the drive is installed in another system, you cannot access
the data on the hard drive.
If the hard drive is installed in another NEC Versa system with hard disk drive security
enabled, the password must be entered to allow access to the hard drive. If this NEC
Versa system does not support hard disk drive security, you cannot access the
data on the hard drive.
With hard disk drive security enabled on the original NEC Versa system, the system
boots normally.
If the hard drive is installed in another NEC Versa system with security enabled, you
must enter the master password to access the hard disk drive. If the hard drive is
installed in another NEC Versa system with security disabled, the system boots with no
password required.
Moving the Hard Disk Drive
When a password protected HDD is moved from its original system and installed in
another system, error messages appear indicating that the drive is locked. Next, the
Security Setup screen appears requiring the user to enter the master password to unlock
the drive. Highlight the HDD password line and enter the master password when
prompted.
To take advantage of HDD password protection in another system, the system must be
equipped with the same HDD password protection feature. To determine if that system
has HDD password, check the Security Setup in the BIOS Setup to see if there are
provisions for establishing HDD passwords.