Password Protection - BIOS or Vista?

Is it better to use a bios level password or the password available in Vista itself? Please don't tell me I need to use both

Thanks in advance.

 

my computer blows up if anyone but me touches it. best form of security.

what you mean by "better"?

 

Yea, BIOS pass is better because it can't be bypassed without resetting the BIOS on the motherboard. setting the pass in windows can be extremely easy to bypass, one of these ways is by safe mode !

Make shure you NEVER forget it though!

 

That was what I was getting at in a roundabout way. I want the laptop to be secure and for it to be difficult for someone to access the data if they were able to get my PC one way or another.

It seems that old PCs could have their BIOS tripped or reset via the motherboard to wipe out the password and then gain access to the PC.

I have read a password for Windows isn't that great because if people can get the computer running and access to the hard drive they can hack the Windows password.

All of this was from research done a few years ago, so that is why I wondered what was best today.

I know that I could also encrypt the drive with software, or pay more to get bitlocker in Ultimate, or buy a third party solution that tracks stolen PCs. Maybe I will do that but right now I just want to figure out what is the best low level security precaution to take.

Thanks.

 

bitlocker or some other low-level disk encryption is your best bet. a BIOS password can be circumvented by simply removing your disk drive, or easier yet by using a laptop with a usb/sata or pata converter.

i've heard that the windows login screen for 2000/XP/Vista has yet to be officially hacked, but there are brute force keygens that could circumvent weak passwords.

 

Basically, there's no way to compromise-protect your entire OS. Your best options are to lock your data, and a number of programs can do that. I have my data on a separate partition, which I can lock at any time. If the computer is stolen, it'll be bootable, but none of the data on the other partition will be accessible.

 

>>bitlocker or some other low-level disk encryption is your best bet<<

Too bad it is only available in Ultimate or by paying for a third party version, eh?

With either a BIOS or Windows password as the only defense, couldn't someone could just take your drive and hook it up to another machine as a second drive and be able to access your data files on that drive?

 

well what are you looking to do, hide sensitive data/documents, or prevent anyone from know what programs you run?

you can set up an encrypted virtual partition using software like TrueCrypt ( http://www.truecrypt.org/), which is virtually impossible to crack using the right combination of encryption key and password. while you can't make your entire OS partition encrypted, you could theoretically install some programs onto the partition alongside your sensitive documents/files.

 

For me, it is >>hide sensitive data/documents<<. I don't care if they want to know I run boring old MS Office, etc., programs I run. Nothing exciting here to see . I guess it is now on to researching encryption software options.

Thanks.

 

Im pretty sure a bios password is stored in the bios itself lol. Even if you dont have a hard drive you can still access the bios.