IBM A20M, A21M, A22P, A22M, A21P, MT 2631 Power-on password, Hard-disk password, Supervisor password

Related service information

Power-on password:

A power-on password (POP) protects the system from being powered on by an unauthorized person. The password must be entered before an operating system can be booted.

Hard-disk password:

There are two hard-disk passwords (HDPs):

vUser HDP— for the user

vMaster HDP— for the system administrator, who can use it to get access to the hard disk even if the user has changed the user HDP

Note: There are two modes for the HDP: User only and Master + User. The Master + User mode requires two HDPs; the system administrator enters both in the same operation. The system administrator then provides the user HDP to the system user.

Attention

If the user HDP has been forgotten, check whether a master HDP has been set. It it has, it can be used for access to the hard-disk drive. If no master HDP is available, IBM does not provide any services to reset either the user or the master HDP, or to recover data from the hard-disk drive. The hard-disk drive can be replaced for a scheduled fee.

Supervisor password:

A supervisor password (SVP) protects the system information stored in the IBM BIOS Setup Utility. The SVP must be entered in order to get access to the IBM BIOS Setup Utility and make changes to system configuration settings.

Attention

If the SVP has been forgotten and cannot be made available to the servicer, there is no service procedure to reset the password. The systemboard must be replaced for a scheduled fee.

How to remove the power-on password

To remove a POP that you have forgotten, do the following:

(A) If no SVP has been set:

1.Turn off the computer.

2.Remove the battery pack.

28ThinkPad A20m/p, A21m/p, A22m/p