Protect your BIOS with a supervisor password (All)

If you are in charge of computers open to the public or accessed by employees with a high turnover rate, you want to set the supervisor BIOS passwords on all computers to prevent users from modifying the most basic computer settings. By setting the password, you are also preventing hackers, vandals, and departing employees from setting the password and locking you out of the BIOS. Once you set the password, you must remember it or face the difficult challenge of working around a built-in security feature.

On many desktops, you can disconnect the battery power from the BIOS CMOS for a few hours and make the password, and all non-standard computer settings, disappear from memory. Some computers have jumpers or switches that cut power to the CMOS, while in others you need to unplug or unsolder the battery. Laptops have superior security features, and may require chip replacement. Laptop hard drives may also be password protected when you set the BIOS supervisor password, and can be much harder to recover. A search on "BIOS supervisor password" brings up dozens of sites that offer common backdoor passwords you can try, software programs that attempt to crack the password, and services that will remove the password protection. All these options involve some risk, so avoid all these problems by setting and recording your BIOS supervisor password.