Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
IBM, which had developed this capability and had already begun incorporating it into
ThinkPad systems and IBM 2.5-inch drives. Because it was then incorporated into the
official ATA-3 standard (finally published in 1997), most other drive and system manu-
facturers have also adopted this, especially for laptop systems and 2.5-inch drives. Note
that these passwords are
very
secure. If you lose or forget them, they usually cannot be
recovered, and you will never be able to access the drive.
Hard disk security passwords are set via the BIOS Setup, but not all systems support this
feature. Most laptops support hard disk security, but most desktops do not. If supported,
two types of hard disk passwords can be set, called
user
and
master
. The user password
locks and unlocks the disk, whereas the master password is used only to unlock. You can
setauserpasswordonly,oryoucansetuser+master,butyoucannotsetamasterpassword
alone.
When a user password is set (with no master), or when both user+master passwords are
set, access to the drive is prevented (even if the drive is moved to a different system), un-
less the user (or master) password is entered upon system startup.
The master password is designed to be an alternative or backup password for system ad-
ministrators as a master unlock. With both master and user passwords set, the user is told
theuserpasswordbutnotthemasterpassword.Subsequently,theusercanchangetheuser
password as desired; however, a system administrator can still gain access by using the
master password.
If a user or user+master password is set, the disk must be unlocked at boot time via a
BIOS-generated password prompt. The appearance of the prompt varies from system to
system.Forexample,inThinkPadsystems,aniconconsistingofacylinderwithanumber
above it (indicating the drive number) next to a padlock appears onscreen. Ifthe hard disk
password prompt appears, you must enter it; otherwise, you will be denied access to the
drive, and the system will not boot.
As with many security features, a workaround might be possible if you forget your
password. In this case, at least one company can either restore the drive to operation
(with all the data lost) or restore the drive and the data. That company is Nortek. (See
www.nortek.on.ca
for more information.) The password-removal procedure is relatively
expensive (more than the cost of a new drive in most cases), and you must provide proof
of ownership when you send in the drive. As you can see, password restoring is worth-
while only if you absolutely need the data back.
Hard disk passwords are not preset on a new drive, but they might be preset if you are
buying a used drive or if the people or company you purchased the drive or system from
entered them. This is a common ploy when selling drives or systems (especially laptops)
