XPost: alt.comp.os.windows-10   
   From: nospam@needed.invalid   
      
   On Mon, 1/19/2026 9:44 PM, micky wrote:   
   > Any point to password protecting the bios if only 3 people in the   
   > household, and 2 know nothing about bioses?   
   >   
   > I just finished a 40 minute phone call iwth a 37 yo friend, the son of   
   > friends, who is locked in the mental ward of a nearby hospital and who   
   > has such problems for at least 18 years,.  And his words were indeed   
   > full of craziness, but i need to show that I take his wishes seriously,   
   > even if I don't actually fulfill them.   
   >   
   > But I need advice:   
   >   
   > Is there any point to password protecting the BIOS on a windows machine   
   > if you live only with your parents who love you (although he's having   
   > doubts abou that now), and who also wouldn't know how to modify the BIOS   
   > either to break it or to fix it even if they tried.  IOW, who know   
   > nothing about the BIOS.   
   >   
   > I see why he password protected windows, for privacy, but it seems to me   
   > he's just looking for trouble with the BIOS, in that he may forget his   
   > own password. Woudn't that be a big problem?  Well, I guess maybe even   
   > that woudln't matter because if it's currently set correctly now, the   
   > computer will continue to work, even if some change is later   
   > recommended, right?   
   >   
   > He told me the passwords and I wrote them down. Is it still likely I can   
   > easily remove the BIOS password now, so it doesn't cause problems in the   
   > future (this assumes I will at some point touch his computer, which is   
   > not very likely, but again, I want him to know I take him seriously   
   > (when it's possible, and here it seems possible).)   
   >   
      
   Consumer-class and Business-class computers have different issues, with   
   regard to security. Unfortunately, refurbished computers are from businesses,   
   and this is the wrong kind of computer to be exposed to "the public".   
   There is a chain of security features in there. If you don't use a security   
   feature, someone else can set it behind your back.   
      
   As an example, if I was a mean person, I could take advantage of the   
   lack of BIOS passwords, by reaching in and resetting the TPM. Which may   
   have some consequences for Bitlocker protection of partitions   
   on the disk. Even W10Home can encrypt a disk, using FDE in the disk hardware   
   to do it. A recovery stick must be kept with the key on it, so a Bitlocker   
   protected device, can be decrypted. And if the recovery device was never   
   prepared, there may be some extra nuisance to acquire the key from the   
   Microsoft account (MSA). Not everyone has an MSA.   
      
   Other than keeping relatives out of the machine, what other properties   
   must the device have ? It there are no Bitcoin Wallets on the drive,   
   and it is a gamer machine with only game installs, who cares if it   
   locks out someone ?   
      
   But generally, switching to a consumer laptop, with the weaker consumer   
   protections, that slightly nullifies some of the challenges an owner can face.   
      
      Paul   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)