Dell OptiPlex GXi Reference And Installation Manual

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Dell OptiPlex GXi Reference And Installation Manual Manual pdf 42 page image

2-12 Dell OptiPlex GXiMidsize Systems Reference and Installation GuideDeleting or Changing an ExistingSystem PasswordTo delete or change an existing system password, per-form the following steps:1. Enter the System Setup program and verify thatthe PASSWORD STATUS category is set toUNLOCKED.Enter the System Setup program by pressing the<CTRL><ALT><ENTER> key combination. Press the<ALT><P> key combination to move to Page 2 of theSystem Setup screens. For instructions on changingthe setting for PASSWORD STATUS, see “PasswordStatus” found earlier in this chapter.2. Reboot your system to force it to prompt you for asystem password.3. When prompted, type in the system password.4. Press the < CTRL >< ENTER > key combination todisable the existing system password, insteadof pressing < ENTER > to continue with thenormal operation of your system.5. Confirm that NOT ENABLED is displayed for theSYSTEM PASSWORD category of the SystemSetup program.If NOT ENABLED appears in the SYSTEM PASSWORDcategory, the system password has been deleted. Ifyou want to assign a new password, continue tostep 6. If NOT ENABLED is not displayed for the SYS-TEM PASSWORD category, press the <ALT><B> keycombination to reboot the system, and then repeatsteps 2 through 5.6. To assign a new password, follow the procedure in“Assigning a System Password” found earlier inthis section.Using the Setup PasswordFeatureYour Dell system is shipped to you without the setuppassword feature enabled. If system security is a concern,you should operate your system with setup passwordprotection.You can assign a setup password, as described in the nextsubsection, “Assigning a Setup Password,” wheneveryou use the System Setup program. After a setup pass-word is assigned, only those who know the passwordhave full use of the System Setup program.To change an existing setup password, you must knowthe setup password (see “Deleting or Changing an Exist-ing Setup Password” found later in this section). If youassign and later forget a setup password, you need to beable to remove the computer cover to change a jumpersetting that disables the setup password feature (see “Dis-abling a Forgotten Password” found later in this chapter).Note that you erase the system password at the sametime.Assigning a Setup PasswordA setup password can be assigned (or changed) onlywhen the SETUP PASSWORD category is set to NOTENABLED. To assign a setup password, highlight theSETUP PASSWORD category and press the left- or right-arrow key. The system prompts you to enter and verifythe password. If a character is illegal for password use,the system emits a beep.NOTES: The setup password can be the same as the sys-tem password.If the two passwords are different, the setup password canbe used as an alternate system password. However, thesystem password cannot be used in place of the setuppassword.After you verify the password, the SETUP PASSWORD set-ting changes to ENABLED. The next time you enter theSystem Setup program, the system prompts you for thesetup password.A change to the SETUP PASSWORD category becomes effec-tive immediately (rebooting the system is not required).Operating With a Setup PasswordEnabledIf SETUP PASSWORD is set to ENABLED, you must enter thecorrect setup password before you can modify the major-ity of the System Setup categories.When you start the System Setup program, Page 2 of theSystem Setup screens appears with the SETUP PASSWORD