Very often, users of personal computers need to block access to them. So that no one can get to your personal data, look at your photos, documents, go online, or even start the operating system. To do this, you need to know the password for the computer when you turn it on. Both at home, so that members of the household do not get into it, and at work, so that curious colleagues cannot harm you or make fun of you.
You should immediately take into account that there are two main ways to set a password on your computer when you turn it on. One of them, simpler, is intended to ensure the safety of home devices, the second, more serious, is intended for those at work. Let's briefly consider both options.
With the simple method, we follow the following path: “Start” - “Settings” - “Control Panel”. Next, go to accounts and their changes section. And as a specific user we create a password. That's all. We figured out how to set a password on your computer when you turn it on. There was nothing difficult about it.
When solving our problem on a work PC, it is advisable to use the BIOS settings for greater security protection. So let's begin. In the process of switching on
computer go to BIOS. This happens differently for different devices. Most often, you need to press the network button and hold down the Del key. If this option does not work, try holding Esc, F1 or F11. As a last resort, refer to the instructions for your device.
Then, using the BIOS Setting Password or Security, go to the User Password item. Next: Bios Features Setup, select the Security Options option, and then System. Return to the Security tab again, go to Supervisor Password and enter another code here. To solve the question of how to set a password on the computer when turning it on, all that remains is to save all the changes made and leave the BIOS. We perform the Save and exit setup item and answer: Yes.
After that, launch the operating system and give the command “Start” - “Run”. It is necessary to perform a very important step in which it is necessary to set the encryption key for the passwords themselves and do this so that it is necessarily saved on the local device. Very important: in the “Open” field, use your keyboard to type syskey and be sure to confirm the service.
We update and check the box next to Passwod Startup, then to confirm, enter the password again in another field. At the end of the process, which helps us find out, when turning it on, we log in to the System Generated password, check the Store Startup Key locally and confirm all our actions by pressing the OK key.
Finally, a couple of tips/recommendations. To make the real meaning of all this, come up with a password that is as complex as possible, and not your wife’s date of birth. It should contain randomly placed letters, numbers, and punctuation marks. And remember it or write it down so that you don’t have serious problems if something happens. If you forget your password, with the second option of creating it, you may lose all the information on the device.
To solve the problem of how to set a password, you can use third-party utilities, for example, WinLock, Homesoft Key, Outpost, DeviceLock Me, NVD Monitor, AdjustCD and some others. They will do most of the work themselves, requiring minimal participation from you.
Hi all. Today we’ll look at how to set a password on your computer. This can be done in at least two ways, which we will discuss in this article.
1st method of setting a password using BIOS.
This method is more reliable, in my opinion, since if you set a password on the computer in this way, then an outsider will not be able to turn on the computer at all, or rather, the computer or laptop will prompt for a password immediately after turning it on. Which eliminates any possibility of accessing data on your PC. But there is still an option to bypass this protection, I won’t say which one, although advanced users know this without me, and those who don’t know it don’t need it.
So, how to set a password on your computer using the BIOS.
Turn on or reboot the computer and go into the BIOS (del, esc, F2, etc.). Next, go to the “Security” tab and select the “Set User Password” item:
Enter the desired password twice in the “Enter New Password” and “Confirm New Password” fields and save it. Scroll down to the “Password on boot” item and select “Enabled”, thereby activating the password protection function for booting the PC.
The “Set Supervisor Password” item means setting a password to enter directly into the BIOS itself.
If everything was done correctly, then at the top, near the “User Password Is” field, the inscription “Set” will appear. If you did something wrong, it will say “Clear” - which means that the password has not been set.
To remove all passwords for booting and (or) entering the BIOS, you need to leave all fields for entering passwords empty and save the changes.
That's it, now save all the changes and exit.
It is worth noting that not everyone will have the same picture as me, but the principle is the same - just look for the “Security” or “Advanced mode” tab, and then the “User Password” item or something like that.
And finally, I’ll note that not all BIOS versions have the ability to set a password to boot the PC.
2nd method of setting a password using Windows
This option also has a right to life, but this method, let’s say, is for protection from ordinary PC users. For more advanced users who want to dig into your data, bypassing such a password will not be difficult. How? I won’t tell you, the article is not about that, but I think it’s worth warning.
Let's get down to business. Click on the “Start” button and click on your account icon in the top right:
The accounts window will open, and here select “Create a password for your account”:
in the window that opens, enter your password - twice and below, in the hint field, you can enter some kind of hint for yourself, what password you have set:
Click “Create a password”. And everything is ready. Now, when you log in, a password entry window will first appear, without which you will not be able to log into the system.
If you are away for some time and want to “protect” your laptop/computer, but at the same time would not like to turn it off completely, then simply press the Windows + L keys on your keyboard:
and login will be blocked until the password is entered.
And that's all for me. See you soon!
That's right, first you need to invent it!
But before you start setting a password, you need to come up with one. It's not as simple as it seems at first glance. Experts do not recommend using the user’s first or last name, or other personal information as a password. Also, do not use the words Password, Login or No Password, which some users love so much. All of the above options are not suitable because when hacking, attackers or special virus programs first try these combinations. It is also desirable that the password be complex, that is, combine both alphabetic and numeric characters. The total length of the Windows password must be at least 6 characters.
Ideally, the password should be some abstract concept or definition that is in no way related to the user’s biography or occupation. One of the easiest ways to come up with a strong password is to open a random book on a random page, remember the first word that catches your eye and add today's day of the month to it.
You can set a password on your computer yourself through the control panel.
So, to set a password, click on the Start button. Next, select Settings, then Control Panel. In the newly opened window, click on the User Accounts section. To set a password on your computer correctly, select your computer account and click on the Create a password button. A menu with two empty lines will appear on the monitor. In the first one you need to enter a password, in the second one you need to confirm it.
Once you do this, click on the Create Password button located at the bottom of the menu. A password will be created automatically. After this, restart your computer.
Information stored on laptop disks is at greater risk of leakage than on home desktop PCs. After all, many owners carry a mobile computer with them and sometimes leave it uncontrolled. To prevent data from falling into the wrong hands, it must be protected. The easiest way to do this is with a password.
Let's talk about how to set a password on a laptop and what protection method will be optimal for you.
Three lines of laptop password protection
The initial level of protection is setting a password to access the OS. Allows you to hide the contents of the disk from curious dummies, but not from those who are seriously aimed at stealing data.
The next, more reliable method is to set a password in the laptop BIOS. To hack it, an attacker will have to work very hard.
The maximum level of protection is provided by setting a password on the hard drive. But it is better not to use this option unless absolutely necessary. Below you will find out why.
Password protection of access in Windows
Why is it good
Simplicity and safety.
Why is it bad?
Low reliability. Easily hacked. Not suitable for protecting particularly valuable information.
Who is it suitable for?
For those who want to protect personal files from access by others, such as family members or colleagues.
How to install on Windows 7
To set a password for a Windows 7 account, you just need to take 3 steps:
- Open the Windows Control Panel and go to the “User Accounts” section.
- Click “Create a password for your account.”
- In the next window, fill out the fields shown below: enter the passphrase, its confirmation and a reminder hint. The latter is not necessary. Save the setting and reboot.
Now, every time you turn on your computer, Windows will require you to authenticate.
How to install on Windows 8-10
For the first time, Windows 8 users have the opportunity to use not only a symbolic password, but also a graphic one, to log into the system. The latter, if designed correctly, is no less reliable than a text one, but is much easier to remember.
In Windows 10, in addition to password protection, the “PIN Code” and “Windows Hello” functions have appeared. A PIN is a short combination of numbers that a user can enter in place of their Microsoft account password. According to the developers, this is done to simplify login for those who use the computer in a secure environment, for example, only at home.
The Windows Hello feature is a relatively new feature. Its essence lies in the system recognizing the user’s fingerprint, face or iris. It is convenient, but does not work on all devices and is currently not fully debugged.
The section for managing all types of passwords in the “eight” and “ten” is located in the “Settings” application. In Windows 10, it opens through the Start menu (the gear-shaped button).
In Windows 8 (8.1), to do this, you need to open the Charms miracle panel, click “Settings” and then “Change computer settings”.
Further steps on both systems are very similar, so we will consider them only using Windows 10 as an example.
While in the “Settings” application, open the “Login Options” section, select the desired type of password and click “Add”.
- To create a text password for your account, open the “Password” subsection. Enter the code phrase, confirmation and hint in the appropriate field.
The pin code and picture password are only available for a Microsoft account (under a local administrator, these functions are inactive).
- To set a PIN code (in Windows 10), enter several numbers in the fields provided, confirm them and click OK to save. Unlike a Microsoft online account, the PIN will only work on that device.
- To create a graphic password, upload any graphic image to the application. Please agree to use this image when creating your password. After that, draw a few simple shapes on the image that are easy for you to remember, and repeat the drawing 3 times.
BIOS and disk password protection
Why is it good
It is highly resistant to burglary. It not only protects logging into the operating system, but also prevents changes to BIOS settings (including preventing the laptop from booting from another media).
Why is it bad?
If you forget your password, it is extremely difficult to gain access to protected media. Sometimes it’s impossible.
Who is it suitable for?
For those who store particularly valuable data on a laptop.
What's special
Unlike desktop PCs, the BIOS password on most laptops cannot be reset by disconnecting the flash memory battery, where the BIOS microcode with all the settings is stored. He's not there. Passwords are recorded in a separate non-volatile eeprom memory, which is not erased when the power is turned off.
A forgotten password on some laptop models can be reset using special passphrases. The method for selecting these phrases on Asus, Lenovo, HP and other brands of laptops is not the same and is not always effective. Often the problem can only be solved by flashing the storage module on the programmer.
The hard drive password is stored in a protected area of the magnetic media, as well as in the controller’s memory. When the user enters the password, both copies are compared. This dual method of storing the password ensures maximum security of the data on the disk, but in case you forget to restore or reset it impossible. The information will be lost forever.
How to setup
- After turning on the laptop, press the key combination to enter the BIOS Setup Utility.
- Using the arrow keys, go to the “Security” tab. The required options are circled in the screenshot. Select “Change (Set) Supervisor Password”, press Enter and enter the passphrase in the field that appears.
- If you want to set a password for a user (user rights in the BIOS are limited to viewing and changing minor settings, such as date and time), select “Change (Set) User Password” and do the same.
- The option to set a password for the disk is located here and is called “Change (Set) HDD Password”. If it doesn't exist, it means your computer doesn't support it.
- To save the settings and close the utility, press F10.
Now you will have to enter passwords every time you turn on the laptop; without them, loading Windows and accessing information will be prohibited.
At the boot stage, the computer is protected from strangers in two ways. This is setting a password for an account in Windows and in the BIOS.
Setting a password on your computer is necessary to protect personal information from unauthorized persons and limit the rights of certain user groups (accounts).
Not everyone is ready to trust their children to work under the Administrator account or leave their personal laptop in the office unattended. Let's look at how a password is set on a computer in different versions of Windows operating systems. Let's also touch on BIOS protection.
Windows 7
The vast majority of Seven users prefer working from an account with Administrator privileges. So they have access to almost all actions in the OS, except for operations with system files and a number of registry branches.
Setting a password for a profile in Windows 7 is done as follows.
- Opening Control Panel and go to the section "Accounts…", switching the view to icons (large or small).
Control Panel
- In the window with a list of users of this operating system, click on the avatar or name of the required account.
User
- From the list of available profile operations, select "Create a password".
Creating a Password
- We enter a set of characters twice to protect your account and remember it (for this purpose it is advisable to use an easy-to-remember combination, because password recovery is a lengthy and not simple procedure for all users).
- If necessary, enter a hint, which will help you remember your password, and click on the button below to create it.
Creating a Password
From now on, every time you start (turn on, wake up) the computer, it will display a form for entering a password to access the Desktop.
Request for input
If necessary, we create the required number of profiles with limited rights - Guest or Regular access.
- Go to the window for managing other accounts.
Control
- Add a new user.
Adding a profile
- Enter its name (you can change it later) and select the type – “Regular access”.
Create an account
Only the Administrator or each user for his or her profile can set passwords.
Regular access
How to enable password prompt
After installing the password, the operating system does not ask for it? Let's fix this.
- Open the command interpreter using a key combination "Win + R" and execute in it "control userpasswords2».
Run window
- Check the box at the top of the window and save the new configuration.
Setting a mark
Applicable for all editions of Windows, starting from “Seven”.
The described method does not protect the data in any way. When you use a single account on your PC, you don't have to worry about someone reading your messages, seeing or copying your personal photos in a few minutes. But if you have a bootable flash drive with an operating system distribution, LiveCD, Hiren’s BootCD or WinPE, all these operations become available.
To protect files, additional security measures are needed - enabling the encryption function of information on selected drives - BitLocker.
Windows 8 and 8.1
Let's look at two simple instructions that will be understandable to people of any level of computer skills.
- Open the search, enter in the text form "Computer Settings" and call the program of the same name.
- Go to the subsection for setting up accounts.
- Choosing the first method of profile protection from those proposed:
- password– classic method with entering a combination of letters, numbers and special characters (not all);
- graphic key– applicable only for devices with a touch screen controlled by G8;
- PIN code– profile protection with a combination of four numbers.
- Everything is standard: we set and repeat the combination, if necessary, enter a hint that will help you remember the password.
The buttons for adding a PIN code and a pattern key will become active after clicking on the “Done” button. For a PIN code, we enter the numbers twice, and with a graphic key, you will be asked to select a graphic file on your hard drive and make three movements using the mouse cursor or finger on the touch screen. This increases the level of protection and makes it multifactorial.
Second way also consists of a few mouse clicks.
- Open Settings through the side pop-up panel, which appears when you move the mouse cursor to the upper right corner of the Desktop.
Options
- Go to the section for changing PC settings and click "Users".
Users
- Click on the button "Create a password".
Addition
- Enter and repeat the password, as well as a hint, if necessary, and move on "Further".
- We close the window.
Windows 10
- On the menu "Options" select the section that is emphasized in the picture.
Options
- Make the “Login Options” tab active and click on the first button "Add".
Add a password
- Enter the password twice and save it.
Entry form
A universal method for solving the problem in all Windows is the command line.
- Open it with Administrator rights: to do this, enter "cmd" to line "Run", launch the command through the search or drop-down menu after right-clicking on Start.
- To display the list of active profiles, run « net users»
Enter the command and press "Enter".
- We find the name of the desired profile, enter it according to the template: “ net user profile password».
Command line
The next time you log in, you will be required to enter a password.
Windows XP
To restrict access to a PC running XP, we take 5 steps.
- Through the Control Panel we call the item "User accounts".
XP Control Panel
- Select an account.
Job selection
- Click on the button underlined in the screenshot.
- We enter the combination of characters twice to protect XP and save the configuration.
Adding a password
BIOS
There are still quite a few computers that boot under BIOS, but they are gradually being replaced by new systems - UEFI. The process of installing a password on BIOS and UEFI is similar. First of all, you need to get into the configurator to change the settings. This is the topic of a separate article.
In short, when starting the PC, click "Del", "F2" or another button that is responsible for calling the BIOS. See the manual for the motherboard or laptop; the key may also appear on the pre-boot screen for a couple of seconds.
Depending on the type and firmware of the BIOS, the item for setting a password to enter its menu can be located anywhere. Most often, this “Security” - “Security” and “Additional settings” - “Advanced”.
Two types of BIOS protection
A distinction must be made between user and administrator passwords. The first is used when the computer boots and prevents the BIOS from transferring control to the system bootloader if entered incorrectly. The second will protect the BIOS configuration from changes.
In UEFI, with a more colorful design and the ability to control the mouse, the situation is similar. Do not forget to save the settings using the indicated key or exit the menu with the changes made in the CMOS memory.
Example with UEFI from Asus
This password is removed by removing the battery from the motherboard for ten seconds, but this is not always possible. Not every office employee or wife would want to unscrew the laptop case, remove the battery for a couple of seconds and put everything back together to look at reports, photos or correspondence history.
