HP 2 Base Model manual Localized password exceptions

11 Localized password exceptions

At the Preboot Security level and the HP Drive Encryption level, password localization support is limited, as described in the following sections.

Windows IMEs not supported at the Preboot Security level or the HP Drive Encryption level

In Windows, the user can choose an IME (input method editor) to enter complex characters and symbols, such as Japanese or Chinese characters, by using a standard western keyboard.

IMEs are not supported at the Preboot Security or HP Drive Encryption level. A Windows password cannot be entered with an IME at the Preboot Security or HP Drive Encryption login screen, and doing so may result in a lockout situation. In some cases, Microsoft® Windows does not display the IME when the user enters the password.

For example, for some Japanese installations of Windows XP, the default IME is called Microsoft IME Standard 2002 for Japanese, which actually translates to keyboard layout E0010411. However, this is an IME, not a keyboard layout. (The keyboard layout coding scheme is reserved by Microsoft for IMEs, which extend the concept of a keyboard layout). Since this is not a keyboard layout that can be represented in the typing environment for the BIOS Preboot Security password prompt or the HP Drive Encryption password prompt, any password typed with this IME is rejected by HP ProtectTools. Microsoft IME Standard 2002 for Japanese is also different from the “Common Name” in Microsoft Windows Vista®. Windows maps some IMEs to a keyboard layout. In such cases, the IME is supported by HP ProtectTools, because the underlying keyboard layout definition (the hexadecimal code) is used.

The solution is to switch to one of the following supported keyboard layouts that translates to keyboard layout 00000411:

●Microsoft IME for Japanese

●The Japanese keyboard layout

●Office 2007 IME for Japanese—If Microsoft or a third party uses the term IME or input method editor, the input method may not actually be an IME. This can cause confusion, but the software reads the hexadecimal code representation. Thus, if an IME maps to a supported keyboard layout, then HP ProtectTools can support the configuration.

WARNING! When HP ProtectTools is deployed, passwords entered with a Windows IME will be rejected.

102 Chapter 11 Localized password exceptions