x40 fresh install.. now password problems

[kalo93406]

Hi..

I just did a fresh install of xp on my x40.

Everything worked great.

I was surprised that the passwords seem to be retained.

When I boot up I get the little thing like a hard-drive I guess and I enter the password. That works fine.. then i notice it's almost as if another drive comes up and then the computer starts.

Well... I was wanting the password manager installed again and I installed the client security solutions and then when that started after a restart it asked me to "please create a windows password to enroll in Client Security Solutions".. so i just entered one. then it asked for a Trusted Platform Module password.. it told me that there was a previous install and i should enter that password. Well i entered everything i could think of.. i couldn't get it to work.. then i saw something about being able to reset it in the bios setup. so thought i should try that and maybe could reset this TPM password.

So I tried going into the bios setup pressing f1 when booting the computer. It shows the harddrive thingy again and i enter that and it goes into bios set up. But.. when i get in there is seems as if i'm not in there a a administrator.. It won't let me to anything really.. seems as if i'm a user.

How the heck to i get into bios as the administrator.???

I'm the only one using this computer and when i'm in windows and go into thinkpad configuration, security information, windows passwords, change password, it shows just me ("roger", as administrator) and guest.

I'm so confused.

Does anyone understand my problem?

Edit.. I see now that my x40 boots then the password i first enter is a Power on password. Then after i enter that i see for a moment a hard disk thingy, but it doesn't ask me for that password. Maybe i made them the same? or?

Does this mean i dont' have a supervisor password? If i don't have a supervisor password why can't i do anything in the bios setup?

Thanks for any help you can offer!!!

[egibbs]

If you never set a Supervisor password, try this...

Boot up and enter BIOS.
At the first prompt just hit enter - this will match the blank SP.
Next it may ask for the HDD password, which is the same as what you have been entering. Enter that.

If the SP is really blank you should get into BIOS with write privileges. If not, then there is a non-blank SP and you need to remember what it is.

Ed Gibbs

[kalo93406]

Ed.. i will try that today... hope it works..

I did just do a computer restore to get rid of the client security solution.. that wasn't really what I was after anyway.. I liked the password manager and being able to encrypt a file or two.. do you know what I should download from lenovo for that?

thanks so much!

[egibbs]

Client Security Solution handles those functions. But it's huge (500+ MB) the latest version does not include the encryption feature. If you want encryption look for an older version, or try TrueCrypt.

Ed Gibbs

[kalo93406]

If you never set a Supervisor password, try this...

Boot up and enter BIOS.
At the first prompt just hit enter - this will match the blank SP.
Next it may ask for the HDD password, which is the same as what you have been entering. Enter that.

If the SP is really blank you should get into BIOS with write privileges. If not, then there is a non-blank SP and you need to remember what it is.

Ed Gibbs

I tried leaving the password blank.. It wouldn't do anything. I think I have a Supervisor password and I think I know what it is.. I haven't had an opportunity to enter it though really. When I boot my system i get the power on password.. I enter that.. then i see the hard drive symbol, but it doesn't ask me for that password. (maybe they are the same?)

But when i try to go into BIOS (hitting f1 after i push the power button) it seems the same as i decribed above. I see the power on password, I enter it, i see the hard drive symbol, then my computer enters bios... but i'm in bios as a "user" (i think). I can't seem to even get the option to enter bios as an administrator.

any other ideas for me?

TIA

Edit. I use a password auditor a few months ago.. I was able to see some passwords on my XP system. I didn't want to use any password on my XP system as i was using on some websites, so i changed my password for XP. I was pretty sure i know it. And I just installed the password auditor again and recoverd it again, (it is what i thought it was)

The auditor lists 5 users.. Admin (i know the password), guest (empty passord), roger (empty password). help assistant (password shown), SUPPORT_388945A0 (unknown password)

It seems like i just need to get in BIOS as an admin.. then maybe I can delete or reset that TPM password I was having problems with when I installed the Client Security Solution.. (although i didn't really like what that did to my system, i was just after the thinkpad password manager and encryption ability)

[tselling]

Try entering the supervisor password instead of power on password when you get the prompt.

[kalo93406]

Try entering the supervisor password instead of power on password when you get the prompt.

Ok Ed and t.. you both got me going right.. I tried both the blank and then the "admin" password i had changed.. But what I finally found (thankfully i tried it) was that my Supervisor Password was still what it was all along. When I entered what I thought I changed it worked (obviously the SP and Admin password are not the same).. learning a lot here.. and remembering a lot too..

Now i just can't figure out about that TPM password the install of client security solutions was wanting. Can I delete that or change that easily in BIOS?

I might just try to find another password manager (i liked the IBM one which automatically entered saved passwords in to IE)

I could try the truecrypt that ed mentioned for encryption.

Can I try and find an older version of the IBM Security solution?

Thank you both very much!!

Edit.. Now I see info from from the Lenovo support website that installing a new version of Client Security Solution creates several problems.. one being the method for saving the password is different... that is why what I tried wasn't recognized. other issues too.. hardly worth more trouble..