HP dx5150 Security Features Overview

Desktop Management

The following table and sections refer to managing security features of your computer locally through the Computer Setup Utilities (F10).

Security Features Overview

Option Description

Supervisor Password

Allows you to set and enable Supervisor (administrator) password.

✎If the Supervisor password is set, it is required to change Computer Setup options, flash the ROM, and make changes to certain plug and play settings under Windows.

	See the Troubleshooting Guide on the Documentation CD for more information.
User	Allows you to set and enable a User password.
Password	✎ If the User password is set, it is required to access the computer when power is
	turned on.
	See the Troubleshooting Guide on the Documentation CD for more information.
Device	Enables/disables serial ports, parallel port, front USB ports, system audio, and
Security	network controllers (some models).
Network	Enables/disables the computer’s ability to boot from an operating system
Service Boot	installed on a network server. (Feature available on NIC models only; the
	network controller must reside on the PCI bus or be embedded on the system
	board.)
System IDs	Allows you to set:

•Asset tag (18-byte identifier) and ownership Tag (80-byte identifier displayed during POST).

•Chassis serial number or Universal Unique Identifier (UUID) number. The UUID can only be updated if the current chassis serial number is invalid. (These ID numbers are normally set in the factory and are used to uniquely identify the system.)

Keyboard locale setting (for example, English or German) for System ID entry.

Master Boot	Allows you to enable or disable Master Boot Record (MBR) Security.
Record	When enabled, the BIOS rejects all requests to write to the MBR on the current
Security	bootable disk. Each time the computer is powered on or rebooted, the BIOS
	compares the MBR of the current bootable disk to the previously-saved MBR. If
	changes are detected, you are given the option of saving the MBR on the
	current bootable disk, restoring the previously-saved MBR, or disabling MBR
	Security. You must know the setup password, if one is set.
	✎ Disable MBR Security before intentionally changing the formatting or
	partitioning of the current bootable disk. Several disk utilities (such as FDISK
	and FORMAT) attempt to update the MBR.
	If MBR Security is enabled and disk accesses are being serviced by the BIOS,
	write requests to the MBR are rejected, causing the utilities to report errors.
	If MBR Security is enabled and disk accesses are being serviced by the operating
	system, any MBR change will be detected by the BIOS during the next reboot, and an
	MBR Security warning message will be displayed.

✎For more information about Computer Setup, see the Computer Setup (F10) Utility Guide on the Documentation CD.

Support for security features may vary depending on the specific computer configuration.

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