Power On password and BIOS reset?


  1. Posts : 64
    Windows 10 Pro
       #1

    Power On password and BIOS reset?


    Hi,

    I recently saw on the BIOS of my motherboard that I can set up a "User password": it is as a Power on password. So when my PC boots, the first thing I see even before seeing the usual screen with basic info (cpu model, amount of RAM, BIOS version etc ...), is a black screen with a password prompt. Pretty cool: as I'm the only user of the PC, there's even no need to set up a password for my Windows session anymore, as you have to know the User password first.

    The question I have is: what if someone physically open my PC case, pulls out the motherboard's battery, waits few seconds and replace the battery? The BIOS settings will be reset to their factory defaults right? What about my User password then? Is it erased as well or not?

    I don't want to try it myself as I dont' want to loose the settings I've changed in the BIOS already.

    Thank you for the help,
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 31,503
    10 Home x64 (22H2) (10 Pro on 2nd pc)
       #2

    Jambon28 said:
    ...what if someone physically open my PC case, pulls out the motherboard's battery, waits few seconds and replace the battery? The BIOS settings will be reset to their factory defaults right? What about my User password then? Is it erased as well or not?
    I don't want to try it myself as I dont' want to loose the settings I've changed in the BIOS already.
    I recently had to try that for real on a second hand Dell laptop I bought. It has a BIOS supervisor password set, without which I couldn't change any BIOS settings. Unfortunately the seller had no idea what the password was.

    No, removing all batteries including the CMOS battery then waiting half an hour did NOT reset the password. I had to call Dell support to get a one-time reset password to remove it.

    Some motherboards do have a password reset jumper, when bridged it will reset the bios passwords. You'll have to check you manual for that. I did, and mine didn't.
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 64
    Windows 10 Pro
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Thanks for your answer.
    I'll check my mobo manual

    Edit: I checked it, yes the passwords can be cleared with the Clear CMOS jumper.
      My Computer


 

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