Thinkpads Forum

Hello everyone,

I own an X61, which has the TCG TPM 1.2 (Atmel 97SC3203). I used to own an X31, and I remember there was an option in the BIOS to choose whether you will allow the security chip to be reset (e.g. if you forgot the password) or not (i.e. you forget the password, your motherboard is bricked). Currently I use the security chip to protect the Windows 7 password.

1. Is there such an option with the X61's security chip?
2. If someone tries to login to Windows too many times (e.g. they are trying to guess my password), will the security chip brick my laptop or give the computer a timeout or something?

Basically I just want to ensure that my laptop won't get bricked by a friend or if I'm sleepy and make one-too-many typos

Thanks in advance

1. Not sure
2. Maybe yes, otherwise it would be quite useless? But hmm, maybe it is then just locking the Windows password. Or maybe then there is a second "unlock" password for the chip again? I can just guess...

So, you see, I am not sure about your question, but giving you an advice about your security:

Using the security chip alone does not make it really secure, if your harddrive is not encrypted, ANYONE could just remove the harddrive and get the unencrypted data from it without requiring any password.