Passwords
As many as four passwords may be needed for any ThinkPad notebook computer: the power-on password,
the hard disk password, the supervisor password, and the system management password.
If any of these passwords has been set, a prompt for it will be displayed on the screen whenever the
computer is turned on. The computer does not start until the password is entered.
Note: If only a supervisor password is set, the password prompt will not be displayed when the operating
system is started.
Power-on password
A power-on password protects the system from being powered on by an unauthorized person. The
password must be entered before an operating system can be started. For instructions on how to remove the
power-on password, see “How to remove the power-on password” on page 34.
Hard disk password
There are two kinds of hard disk passwords:
• User hard disk password - for the user
• Master hard disk password - for the system administrator, who can use it to get access to the hard disk
even if the user has changed the user hard disk password
Note: There are two modes for the hard disk password: User only and Master + User. The Master + User
mode requires two hard disk passwords; the system administrator enters both in the same operation. The
system administrator then provides the user hard disk password to the system user.
Attention: If the user hard disk password has been forgotten, check whether a master hard disk password
has been set. If it has, it can be used for access to the hard disk drive. If no master hard disk password is
available, neither Lenovo nor Lenovo authorized service technicians provide any services to reset either the
user or the master hard disk password, or to recover data from the hard disk drive. The hard disk drive can
be replaced for a scheduled fee.
For how to remove the hard disk password, see “How to remove the hard disk password” on page 35.
Supervisor password
The supervisor password protects the system information stored in the ThinkPad Setup program. It provides
the following security features:
• If only a supervisor password is set, a password prompt is displayed when you try to start the ThinkPad
Setup program. Unauthorized users cannot change most of the system configuration options in the
ThinkPad Setup program without the password.
• The system administrator can use the supervisor password to access a computer even if the user of that
computer has set a power-on password. The supervisor password overrides the power-on password.
• The system administrator can set the same supervisor password on many ThinkPad notebook computers
to make administration easier.
Attention: If the supervisor password has been forgotten and cannot be made available to the service
technician, there is no service procedure to reset the password. The system board must be replaced for a
scheduled fee.
Chapter 4. Related service information 33
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