Boot Sequence; Setup Password; Auto Power On; Power Management - Dell Precision 400 User Manual

To provide maximum security for your system, operate
the system with System Password Enabled, Setup Pass-
word Enabled, and Password Status Locked. Then, if you
want to let selected individuals use your system, give
them the system password but not the setup password. In
this way, even those who know the system password can-
not disable it at system start-up and will not be able to
unlock it in the System Setup program in order to change
or disable it.
Using Password Status Without a System Pass-
word Enabled
In situations where the system administrator does not
want to use a system password, this category can be used
to guard against a user assigning a password. With Pass-
word Status Locked and Setup Password Enabled, a user
who does not know the setup password cannot enter the
System Setup program and unlock the system password
in order to assign one.

Boot Sequence

Boot Sequence can be set to Diskette First (the default
option) or Hard Disk Only.
The term boot refers to the system's start-up pro-
cedure. When turned on, the system "bootstraps"
itself into an operational state by loading into memory
a small program, which in turn loads the necessary
operating system. Boot Sequence tells the system
where to look for the files that it needs to load.
Selecting Diskette First causes the system to try boot-
ing from drive A first. If it finds a diskette that is not
bootable in the drive or finds a problem with the drive
itself, the system displays an error message. If it does
not find a diskette in the drive, the system then tries to
boot from the hard-disk drive (drive 0).
Selecting Hard Disk Only causes the system to boot
only from the hard-disk drive, even if there is a boot-
able diskette in drive A.

Setup Password

Setup Password lets you restrict access to your com-
puter's System Setup program in the same way that you
restrict access to your system with the system password
feature. The options are:
•
Not Enabled (the default option)
•
Enabled
•
Disabled By Jumper
NOTE: Read "Using the Setup Password Feature"
found later in this chapter for detailed instructions on
assigning a setup password and using or changing an
existing setup password. See "Disabling a Forgotten
Password" found later in this chapter for instructions on
disabling a forgotten setup password.

Auto Power On

The default for Auto Power On is Disabled.
NOTE: This category is not applicable to the Win-
dows 95 and Windows NT operating systems.

Power Management

For certain types of monitors and most EIDE hard-disk
drives, you can reduce system power consumption by
enabling the power management feature. With Power
Management enabled, these monitors and drives auto-
matically switch into low-power mode during periods of
system inactivity.
Power Management can be implemented at three
levels—options are Maximum, Regular, and Minimum.
(The different levels apply to the monitor only; hard-disk
drive operation is the same for all three.) The feature can
also be set to Disabled.

Saving Monitor Power

If you have a Video Electronics Standards Association
®
(VESA ) Display Power Management Signaling
(DPMS)-compliant monitor, enabling the Power Man-
agement category reduces monitor power consumption
during periods of keyboard and mouse inactivity.
Using the System Setup Program 3-7