start up password - how do I set this?

Hi,

I am running Windows XP version 5.1, and would like to put a password on the startup of my computer to stop anyone using this computer without my knowledge & permission.

I've set a password on the screensaver, however my kids have discovered that if they turn off the power & restart the computer, they can get in under the screen saver & thus bypass the password As you can imagine, this is a totally undesirable result - they're trashing the computer!

Any tips or even directions would be wonderful!
thanks.

 

Start--> Settings--> Control Panel--> User Accounts.

 

need start up password, not user account password

Dear Abraxas,
thanks for the reply, but I've already done that. I have password on all user accounts, however this does not stop anyone from crashing & restarting the computer then getting in under the password.

What I need is to stop them cold, a password on the actual start up so there is no point in crashing the computer.

All suggestions gratefully received.

 

I guess I don't see how anyone can get in if you have passwords set. Even Safe Mode requires an Administrator password. Maybe this is a difference with FAT32 versus NTFS file systems, but my friend with FAT32 can deny all access.
Leaving that mystery for now, if there is a prompt at startup about entering Setup (BIOS), many BIOS' allow the setting of a power-on password that will prevent the OS from even loading. That setup key is usually Delete, F1, F10, or something similar.

 

aarrgghhh! I tried delete, F1, F10, & ended up opening the help centre 14 times!

I'll keep trying...

As for the user account password, I'd have thought it would protect me, but it seems to have a weakness in that it can be bypassed on startup. Of course, this could be because my brother is a 'puter nut, and may have set something so I can't set a password cos he feels he should have access to anything I have (& he's not a kid - he's nearly 40!) It's always possible that I'm battling uphill trying to get around something that I cannot see... (no, not paranoid, just resigned to the fact that that's how he is)

thanks for your reply

 

Maybe he did do something . In any case, if you post Make/Model, someone may have the specifics on entering your BIOS. Some computers require a jumper to be moved to enter BIOS.

 

Dear Abraxas,

thanks for your perserverance

My computer is a Hewlett Packard pavilion 720a, 1.6g P4, 512meg RAM, 60gig hard drive blah blah blah. Is this enough info?

Running Windows XP v5.1

thanks again

 

All our work HP PC's use "F2" to get into the BIOS.

 

Something very strange here. They shouldn't be able to bypass an XP password. And more so with NTFS than with FAT32.

Make sure you have the guest account disabled.

After that, if all the active accounts are password protected, I'd be very interested to hear how they get in.