58
3.8
Hard Disk Drive Password Security Feature
The Hard Disk Drive Password Security feature blocks read and write accesses to the hard disk
drive until the correct password is given. Hard Disk Drive Passwords are set in BIOS SETUP and
are prompted for during BIOS POST. For convenient support of S3 resume, the system BIOS will
automatically unlock drives on resume from S3. Valid length for passwords is 32 characters for
max. Valid characters for passwords are ASCII codes between 0x20 and 0x7E, which includes
numbers/English characters and special characters.
The User hard disk drive password, when installed, will be required upon each power-cycle until
the Master Key or User hard disk drive password is submitted.
The Master Key hard disk drive password, when installed, will not lock the drive. The Master Key
hard disk drive password exists as an unlock override in the event that the User hard disk drive
password is forgotten. Only the installation of the User hard disk drive password will cause a hard
disk to be locked upon a system power-cycle.
Table 24 shows the effects of setting the Hard Disk Drive Passwords.
Table 24. Master Key and User Hard Drive Password Functions
Password Set
Password During Boot
Neither
None
Master only
None
User only
User
Master and User Set
User (Clear Master password in BIOS
setup will clear both Master and
User passwords)
NOTE
The passwords are stored on the hard disk drive so if the drive is relocated to another computer
that does not support Hard Disk Drive Password Security feature, the drive will not be accessible.
Currently, there is no industry standard for implementing Hard Disk Drive Password Security on
AHCI or NVME drives. Hard drive encryption can still be implemented and does not require Hard
Disk Drive Password Security.
3.9
BIOS Security Features
The BIOS includes security features that restrict access to the BIOS Setup program and who can
boot the computer. A supervisor password and a user password can be set for the BIOS Setup
program and for booting the computer, with the following restrictions:
The supervisor password gives unrestricted access to view and change all the Setup options
in the BIOS Setup program. This is the supervisor mode.
The user password gives restricted access to view and change Setup options in the BIOS
Setup program. This is the user mode.
If only the supervisor password is set, pressing the <Enter> key at the password prompt of
the BIOS Setup program allows the user restricted access to Setup.
