Fingerprint reader, useful or gimmick?

A fingerprint reader is going to add between $30-50 to my laptop purchase.
Eliminating the need to log on to windows without typing a passwords is cool in theory. In practice, how many of you actually make use of your fingerprint reader. Does it still work a year or so after you bought your laptop?
Do you use it for other applications than just logging on to Windows?

 

a months ago. I disabled it on the web login and only use on logging windows.
well i think fingerprint reader is totally useless .
i have also disabled it for logging to windows now .

 

1 out of 20 times it works right (Dell M1530)

 

really handy if you log into a bunch of forums....

but ie 8 breaks them.

 

i really want to get one of these

 

It's more of a gimmick than anything.

 

How so..

<Too short>

 

The fingerprint is not just for logging into Windows. You can also use it to store login information for Web sites as well. Swipe of your finger and you're automatically logged into NBR.

See above. =)

All the time. I find it to be indispensible.

Yes. My laptop is about 2.5 years old and the fingerprint reader still works perfectly. Just make sure you clean it once in awhile with some IPA.

 

I rarely use mine. In fact, I have not even assigned a finger since my last reformat. My ideal situation for using a finger print scanner would be if I tried to launch a particular application or folder, it would come up with a prompt asking for a print scan before allowing it to open. I have not come across anything that does that, unfortunately.

They are nice to have, at the very least. Though I rarely use mine these days, I appreciate having the option. I wouldn't buy a USB scanner or pay too much extra to have one built into a notebook, but it is a cool feature.

 

If you never use it, you won't miss it. If you learn how to use it right you may like to use it but probably you are going to forget about it. It's only useful if it is a good reader.

 

I see it cool, but overall, a waste. Wanna know my philosophy behind my reasoning?

Say you are so accustomed to using the fingerprint reader that you forget your password. If you happen to find one day that your fingerprint reader dies, then you have locked yourself outside your computer.

I like the feature, no doubt, but it's an extra little luxury for a marginally higher price.

 

If your fingers are sweaty, it does not work.. (well, it works once out of 10 trials)

--

 

I don't use fingerprint reader, I use face recognition technology instead instead.

There's no need to swip my finger to login to NBR. It's set to auto login. My netbook logs me in whenever it sees me.

 

for $50, i wouldn't get it. if it's around $25, then i would consider it. I used mine pretty extensively for about a year. used it to log into windows or my online accounts, which made it quick. the only time i needed to swipe more than once is when my finger is super dry, like after you come out of the shower or wash your hands. other than that, one swipe and i'm good to go. after switching the firefox, i couldn't get Upek to work with it so I use Sxipper to save my account info and one-click log me in, so I don't use my fingerprint reader as often anymore. I think it's both useful and cool.

 

works 19 times out of 20 for me. I use it for my login. it also works with IE passwords, but I don't use IE.

 

don't. at least, not on a computer you care of about the secure contents of.

face recognition technology is about the easiest security to defeat on Earth.


that's all you need.

http://gizmodo.com/5101170/enhanced-photos-can-bypass-any-face+recognition-software

 

Cool I never thought of this

 

Problem solved: HP USB Biometric Fingerprint Reader

 

my fingerprint software died (not the reader itself), and windows waited for it to do the logon. the result, not even entering a password let me logon.

i had to restart to save mode, uninstall all there, and then i could log in to the system again.

i was so happy this didn't happen before a bigger gig or so. people would all have laughted at me. what are you, an it tech? and you can't log in to your system? great you are, great you are

this was the last time i ever installed a driver for a fingerprint reader

nowadays, i just have everything to autologon including webpages. if i leave my system alone, i press win+l and enter my password later.

 

Uh, no it's not. Please provide documentation that supports your position.

If you follow proper password creation guidelines, ie, special characters, lowercase and uppercase letters, alphanumerics, no common words et al, the likelyhood of breaking a WindowsXP 30-character login password in three minutes is remote at best. Please note that I am not saying that it is not possible, I am saying that a properly formatted password will take much longer than using your pet's name as a password.

 

No matter how strong your password is, even with 100 alphanumerical, special symbol or anything, I can still crack it under 3 minutes. There are much more efficient ways to crack password other than bruteforce with dictionary. Cracking a 100 alphnumerical with special symobol password takes just as long as cracking 1 letter password.


FOr the proof. Have you watched mythbuster? They tricked the fingerprint reader in no time.
http://mythbustersresults.com/episode59
That shows the how easy to fool optical finger print reader. I can't believe mythbuster tricked the finger print reader by photocopying their fingerprint with a photocopier.

Capitance finger print reader can be fooled just as easily with similar method with material with similar captitance as human's finger.

With a face recognition, you'll need to take a high resolution picture of someone facing the camera, not making wierd faces, and bring that into photoshop, optimize it and print it out. Regular picture print out won't work.

None of the above method is full proof and the password can be obtained easily and quickly. BTW.. did you know that the password stored by fingerprint readers isn't even encrypted in Windows? LOL. All of the face recognition's stored passwords are encrypted thus sometimes takes a little bit more effort to crack.

 

That would depend on the software that is used with the fingerprint reader, not the fingerprint reader itself.

 

I've already hinted the software. The default software is the one that's included in windows. Most laptops use that thus one can assume most of the time, the password are not encrypted. Anyways...when a person wants your data, they probably won't try to fool your security device. They just get your system password quickly and obtain your data.

All I am saying is that finger print reader and face recognition is useless if someone who knows their way around wants your data. Any experienced "IT guy" or "hackers" can get all of your windows login passwords with 1 click plus 3 minutes of waiting. So the only full proof way is to remove your hdd and take it with you. For the general population, using either face recognition and fingerprint reader will achieve the same result. If you want to secure your data from "hackers" or "IT guy", you'll have to use something else because these simple security measure are useless in preventing anyone who seriously want your data.

 

Erm, no you didn't.

I'm not sure where you are getting your information, but that is completely wrong. Most laptops don't use the "default" software that is included with Windows. Most laptops use the software that came bundled with their fingerprint readers. So no, you cannot assume that, most of the time, passwords are not encrypted in Windows when using a fingerprint reader on a laptop.

 

Anyways.. there's no need for an argument here. Let's get back on topic.

 

There's no argument here. You're posting erroneous information and making assumptions and generalizations that are completely untrue.

 

I use my fingerprint reader for logging in and for webpages - I think its handy - that's after about 1 year of usage - still works

 

Useful
I use it always at inloging and to other sides.

 

From a security standpoint, I think a fingerprint reader has merit if it can be used to not only unlock the operating system, but more importantly - unlock the computer when it is turned on (pre-boot authentication).
Such feature exists on Dell Latitudes since the D620/820 series and Lenovo Thinkpads since T60. Although I can't fully confirm on the Lenovo if the feature wasn't there before the T60.

I, for one, made use of the pre-boot authentication since it is seperate and independent on the operating system and after setting up, needed no further use of bloated (IMO) security software Trust Embassy Suite. If someone were to steal my laptop with pre-boot auth on, they would need to change the motherboard since only my finger can make it functional (ie. boot to Windows).

On cheaper or just certain barebone notebooks, such as ones from ASUS or Compal, have fingerprint readers but I find their use a gimmick or nuisance since they need their security software installed, which runs on the background and hogs resources. Now, if someone steals a barebone, all they would need to do is wipe the hard drive and thats it, they have something to pitch to some unsuspecting fellow.

 

I haven't used it a single time, except for a boring friday afternoon (like today, actually), when I recorded all my fingerprints... very useless, of course, because I never used it again...

however I wonder why am I still obsessed with keeping the sensor shiny clean...

 

A fingerprint reader may be helpful for security reasons but it depends a lot on where it is located on your laptop e.g. how far from the trackpad and keyboard. With my HP I always had the issue that I 'touched' the fingerprint reader by accident (and obviously not with the right finger...) and it kept giving me error messages, disrupting my work etc...
So if I ever go with one again I'd make sure it won't be in the way so much!

 

I don't use fingerprint..

 

I like the built-in reader on my thinkpad and use it multiple times a day to log in and would order any notebook again with that feature without hesitation.