] [Thread] [Date] [Author]

[Roger Turk <73527.1356(--nospam--at)compuserve.com>]

_Mea Culpa!_

I did a search on the web and found out that there is such a thing as a cmos 
password (hanging head in embarrassment)!

The first place I visited,

<www.esiea.fr/public_html/Christophe.GRENIER/index.html?cmospwd.html>

has a password tool that will reveal the password. (Free, too!)  The same 
site also lists backdoors for various BIOSes.

A tale of woe on another site was where someone had their laptop stolen and 
when it was recovered, they discovered the thief put in their own password, 
making the computer useless for the rightful owner.

Basically, the CMOS doesn't come with a password, but is capable of a user 
and an administrator specify passwords.  On my computer with an Award BIOS, 
F1 will access the CMOS on boot, and passwords can be specified under the 
"Security" part of the CMOS.

Roger Turk
Tucson, Arizona

P.S.  As soon as I post this I am going to download the cmospwd program.