Using the System Setup Program 4-13
administrative password feature (see “Disabling a
Forgotten Password” later in this section). Note that the
user password is erased at the same time.
Assigning an Administrative Password
An administrative password can be assigned only when
the Administrative Password Is category (or the Admin-
istrative Password category in the system configuration
utility) is set to Disabled.
Press <Enter> to display a dialog box in which you can
enter the password. You can use up to seven alphanu-
meric characters in a password, and the password is not
case sensitive (it can be either uppercase or lowercase
characters).
After you verify the password, the Administrative Pass-
word Is
setting automatically changes to Enabled. The next
time you attempt to enter the system setup program, the
system prompts you for the administrative password.
Keep the following tips in mind when setting your
password:
•
You can use up to seven alphanumeric characters in
your password (passwords are not case sensitive).
•
As you press each character key (or the <Spacebar>
for a blank space), a placeholder appears in the field.
•
To erase a character when entering your password,
press the <Backspace> key.
NOTES: The password assignment operation recognizes
keys by their location on the keyboard, without distin-
guishing between lowercase and uppercase characters.
For example, if you have an
M
in your password, the system
recognizes either
M
or
m
as correct.
Certain key combinations are not valid. If you enter one
of these combinations, a beep sounds.
To exit the field without assigning an administrative pass-
word, press the <Esc> key at any time before setting a new
password.
Operating With an Administrative Pass-
word Enabled
If the administrative password protection is enabled, you
must enter the correct administrative password before
you can modify any system setup categories.
The following message will appear if you run the system
setup program and have assigned an administrative
password:
Enter password: (1)
After you enter the correct administrative password and
press <Enter>, you can use the system setup program as
usual.
If a wrong or incomplete password is entered, the follow-
ing message appears on the screen:
Enter password: (2)
Enter the password again. If an incorrect or incomplete
administrative password is entered again, the same mes-
sage appears on the screen.
The third time an incorrect or incomplete password is
entered, the system setup program will run, but in read-
only mode. You will not be able to modify any of the
categories.
Deleting or Changing an Existing Adminis-
trative Password
To disable the administrative password, run the system
setup program. From the Security menu, select Set
Administrative Password, press <Enter> to display the
Set Password dialog box, enter the current administrative
password, and then press <Enter> two more times.
When the Administrative Password Is category displays Dis-
abled, you can assign an administrative password or
operate the system with no password assigned.
To change an existing administrative password, first enter
the system setup program, select the Set Administrative
Password category, and enter the current administrative
password. Then assign a new password as described in
“Assigning an Administrative Password” earlier in this
section.
Using the User Password Feature
Your Dell system is shipped to you with the user pass-
word feature set to Disabled. After you assign a user
password, the computer system prompts you for the user
password during the boot process. If system security is a
concern, you should operate your system with user pass-
word protection.
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