Assigning A System Password; Typing Your System Password - Dell Precision Workstation 470 User Manual

Advanced Features: Dell Precision Workstation 470 and 670 Computers User's Guide
You can only assign a system password when one of the two following options is displayed:
Set — A system password is assigned.
Not Set — No system password is assigned and the password jumper on the system board is in the enabled position
(the default).

Assigning a System Password

To escape from the field without assigning a system password, press <Tab> or the <Shift><Tab> key combination to move
to another field, or press <Esc> at any time before you complete step 5.
1. Enter system setup
2. Highlight System Password, and then press <Enter>.
3. Type your new system password.
You can use up to 32 characters. To erase a character when entering your password, press <Backspace> or the left-
arrow key. The password is not case sensitive.
Certain key combinations are not valid. If you enter one of these combinations, the cursor does not move.
As you press each character key (or the spacebar for a blank space), a placeholder appears in the field.
4. Press <Enter>.
If the new system password is less than 32 characters, the whole field fills with placeholders. Then the option heading
changes to Confirm Password, followed by another empty 32-character field in square brackets.
5. To confirm your password, type it a second time and press <Enter>.
The password setting changes to Set.
6. Exit system setup.
Password protection takes effect when you restart the computer.

Typing Your System Password

When you start or restart your computer, the following prompt appears on the screen.
Type the system password and press <Enter>.
Enter password:
If you have assigned an admin password, the computer accepts your admin password as an alternate system password.
If you type a wrong or incomplete system password, the following message appears on the screen:
** Incorrect password. **
If you again type an incorrect or incomplete system password, the same message appears on the screen. The third and
subsequent times you type an incorrect or incomplete system password, the computer displays the following message:
** Incorrect password. **
Number of unsuccessful password attempts: 3
System halted! Must power down.
Even after your computer is turned off and on, the previous message is displayed each time you type an incorrect or
incomplete system password.
NOTE: You can use Password Changes in conjunction with System Password and Admin Password to further
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and verify that Password Changes is set to Unlocked.