Password Protection Bypasses Itself???

[whazzzdat]

I have an old slow micro atx Celeron 466mhz powered E-Machine with Windows 98se. I keep it just for getting on the Internet when my 2.26ghz P4 computer is down. The other day I was looking for a misplaced CD so I started the old E-Machine just so I could open the CD-RW drive to see if I left a disk in it. I have it password protected where the screen comes up and says "Welcome to Windows, Type a user name and pass word to log on to Windows." I just leave the user name at "default" to keep it simple. So after I opened the CD-RW drive, instead of typing my password I clicked "cancel" because I did not want to run it.

Well I can't beleive it. When I click cancel it boots up just like if I typed my password. It does it every time. What worhtless security. If I type the wrong password it will not bring up the desktop but then just as soon as I click cancel it boots up the desktop. What do you suppose the problem is?

[glc]

That's normal Win98 behavior. If you want security, upgrade it to Win2000.

[Digitalic]

Or if you want to keep W98 set a BIOS password.

[Statica]

That behavior is hardly password protection, it isn't designed to prevent logins to your computer. What the password is designed to do is to either allow you to login to a Windows Network OR onto your customized desktop. Thats a valuable lesson, dont assume that just because there is a username and password, doesnt mean it is to give you security - it is a method of identification! (The same is true of websites as well). You should also remember that by the same token, files on the Win9x environment aren't secure either. By pressing cancel, you are logging in as a "guest" or an unidentified user.

You can prevent logins by pressing cancel, if you'd like. Or if you want file & user environment security, then you would need to upgrade to an operating system with an NT kernel.

[whazzzdat]

Or if you want to keep W98 set a BIOS password.

Thank you for the advice Digitalic. I can't afford to buy another operating system from mircosoft and I may not be able to find the drivers I need anywhere.

Digitalic, could you please explian how a BIOS password would keep people out of my computer? I thought all a BIOS password could do is to keep someone from changing the BIOS settings.

[Digitalic]

The BIOS password on most mobos, at least in my experience, prevents booting past the password prompt. It would at the very least prevent unauthorized use of the computer only if the computer is shutdown. You could also password protect the screensaver. Normally this is easily bypassed by restarting the machine but the BIOS password would prevent that. Remember, security starts with restricting physical access to the machine.

The W2k, XP (NT) systems offer much more security options but even then gaining access to a standalone NT based machine is basically childsplay to a knowledgeable hacker and simply a challenge via a network.

[whazzzdat]

If I could just keep someone from booting up the computer that is all I would need because it is always turned off except when I am using it. I set a BIOS password but it still boots just up the same as it always did with or without a password.

I am not trying to keep hackers out, just kids.

[GaryRouth]

" I set a BIOS password but it still boots just up the same as it always did with or without a password."

? --> If you set a BIOS password, no boot should take place until the correct password is entered (or a smart little kid knows to remove the bios battery with the computer unplugged & reset things - or move a jumper to do this).

If you change your BIOS password regularly, that should keep casual users from booting the machine. It's true that once past the Bios password, there's not a lot of security.

. . . Gary

[whazzzdat]

...If you set a BIOS password, no boot should take place until the correct password is entered...

That is all I would need, but my computer still boots after I have set a BIOS password.

[glc]

There's 2 kinds of bios passwords - one to prevent booting, and one to prevent entering the bios settings. Not all motherboards have either one of these, much less both. If this is the case, upgrade to Win2000 or find some non-computer means of preventing access.

[Panama Red]

... If you set a BIOS password, no boot should take place until the correct password is entered (or a smart little kid knows to remove the bios battery with the computer unplugged & reset things - or move a jumper to do this).



That explains the use for those padlock brackets that I never install on a new build! Prevents someone from opening the case and clearing the CMOS. As well as removing parts they might like. ;)

[Digitalic]

Of all the ways to secure ANY system it will always come down to, how smart are the kidz that are trying to break in?

If keeping your current OS is a big deal, BIOS PW doesn`t prevent booting on your mobo, and you are not able for one reason or another to keep unauthorized people from booting and using the system then my recomendation would be a removable and inexpensive drive tray. Shut the system down and then remove the hardrive. When you want to use it again, plug the hardrive in and boot it up.

[GaryRouth]

[. . . I like the removable drives - a couple of my lab co-workers used to have them for Linux experimenting, too ....... I'd forgotten all about the BIOS passwords that just protect against changing the settings = almost all the models I worked on all had the won't-boot-without-Bios-Password deal going on. Sorry about that! . . . ]

[whazzzdat]

Now I see I can get all the driver programs off the E-Machine/Windows 98 Restore Disc without installing the Windows 98 the operating system by going to start>Run>Browse>(D:) for each driver I need. So now I am looking at upgrading to a Windows 2000 or a Windows XP operating system.

[glc]

Win2000 will probably have native driver support for all the components in that machine. I wouldn't recommend XP in something that slow, and I wouldn't put 2000 on unless it has at least 128mb ram - 256mb preferred.

Practical minimum hard drive sizes are 4 to 6 gigs for 2000 and 10 gigs for XP.