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3-12 Dell Workstation Mini Tower Systems User’s GuideThe number of unsuccessful attempts made to enter thecorrect system password can alert you to an unauthorizedperson attempting to use your system.Even after your system is turned off and on, the previousmessage is displayed each time an incorrect or incompletesystem password is entered.NOTE: You can use the Password Status category inconjunction with System Password and Setup Passwordto further protect your system from unauthorizedchanges. For more information, see “Password Status”found earlier in this chapter.Deleting or Changing an ExistingSystem PasswordTo delete or change an existing password, perform thefollowing steps:1. Enter the System Setup program and verify thatthe Password Status category is set to Unlocked.Enter the System Setup program by pressing the key combination. Press the key combination to move to Page 2 of the System Setup screens. For instructions on changingthe setting for Password Status, see “Password Sta-tus” found earlier in this chapter.2. Reboot your system to force it to prompt you fora system password.3. When prompted, type the system password.4. Press the key combination todisable the existing system password, insteadof pressing to continue with thenormal operation of your system.5. Reboot the system and enter the System Setupprogram as described in “Entering the SystemSetup Program” found earlier in this chapter.6. Confirm that Not Enabled is displayed for theSystem Password category of the System Setupprogram.If Not Enabled appears in the System Password cate-gory, the system password has been deleted. If youwant to assign a new password, go to step 7.If Not Enabled is not displayed for the System Pass-word category, press the key combinationto reboot the system, and then repeat steps 2through 6.7. To assign a new password, follow the procedurein “Assigning a System Password” found earlierin this 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 yourcomputer key to get inside the chassis, where you canchange a jumper setting to disable the password feature(see “Disabling a Forgotten Password” found later in thischapter). Note that you erase the system password at thesame time.Assigning a Setup PasswordA setup password can be assigned (or changed) onlywhen the Setup Password category is set to Not Enabled.To assign a setup password, highlight the Setup Passwordcategory and press the left- or right-arrow key. The sys-tem prompts you to enter and verify the password. If acharacter is illegal for password use, the system emits abeep.NOTES: The setup password can be the same as the sys-tem password.If the two passwords are different, the setup passwordcan be used as an alternate system password. However,the system password cannot be used in place of the setuppassword.
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