Using your system password to secure your system – Dell PowerEdge 1400SC User Manual

Page 58

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4-8

User’s Guide

As you press each character key (or the spacebar key for a blank space), a place-
holder appears in the field.

The password assignment operation recognizes keys by their location on the key-
board without distinguishing between lowercase and uppercase characters. For
example, if you have an M in your password, the system recognizes either M or
m as correct. Certain key combinations are not valid. If you enter one of these
combinations, the speaker emits a beep. To erase a character when entering your
password, press the <Backspace> key or the left-arrow key.

NOTE: To escape from the field without assigning a system password, press the
<Tab> key or the <Shift><Tab> key combination to move to another field, or
press the <Esc> key at any time prior to completing step 5.

4.

Press <Enter>.

If the new system password is less than seven characters, the whole field fills
with placeholders. Then the option heading changes to Verify Password, fol-
lowed by another empty seven-character field in square brackets.

5.

To confirm your password, type it a second time and press <Enter>.

The password setting changes to Enabled. Your system password is now set;
you can exit the System Setup program and begin using your system. Note,
however, that password protection does not take effect until you reboot the sys-
tem by turning the system off and then on again.

  $   #   $  

Whenever you turn on or reboot your system by pressing the <Ctrl><Alt><Del> key
combination, the following prompt appears on the screen when the Password Status
option is set to Unlocked:

Type in the password and... -- press <ENTER> to leave password

security enabled. -- press <CTRL><ENTER> to disable password

security. Enter password:

If the Password Status option is set to Locked, the following prompt appears:

Type the password and press <Enter>.

After you type the correct system password and press <Enter>, your system boots
and you can use the keyboard or mouse to operate your system as usual.

NOTE: If you have assigned a setup password (see the section “Using the Setup
Password Feature
” found later in this chapter), the system accepts your setup pass-
word as an alternate system password.

If a wrong or incomplete system password is entered, the following message appears:

** Incorrect password. **

Enter password:

If an incorrect or incomplete system password is entered again, the same message
appears.

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