Some questions about passwords

Carlos1010 · August 14, 2016

Hi all,

Just have 3 questions about security/password and without further due here they are:

1. What is the difference between syskey and the password when you want to log in?

2. If you install a virus can it affect the BIOS and but a password in it?

3. If you have for example a virus or something put a password on your BIOS and you don't know the password, can you still do a system reset?

Thanks in advanced!

SamTheWelshDragon · August 14, 2016

Unless your BIOs has some kind of security flaw viruses should be unable to set a password on it from in the OS. As for resetting your BIOs password; you'd likely have to get a new BIOs chip or perhaps clear your CMOS by removing your motherboard battery.

Carlos1010 · August 15, 2016

22 hours ago, SamTheWelshDragon said:

Unless your BIOs has some kind of security flaw viruses should be unable to set a password on it from in the OS. As for resetting your BIOs password; you'd likely have to get a new BIOs chip or perhaps clear your CMOS by removing your motherboard battery.

How about the difference between syskey and the password when you want to log in? Are they two different things? Thanks for your response!

Ryujin2003 · August 15, 2016

You can have various password setups. Your BIOS can have a boot password, which can be most likely be erased by clearing CMOS. This is not the same thing as the Windows or other OS login. A BIOS boot password prevents the PC from getting past the POST and into booting. The OS password is post boot obviously, and only used to gain access to the main OS. These are two different things. OS password is stored on the HDD/SSD while BIOS boot password is stored within the BIOS flash memory.

Now for Syskey (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syskey), you can do a little reading for yourself to understand how it works. Since you immediately asked about a virus, I'm going to throw this out there.... Have you been in contact with anyone who said they were a Microsoft Repair agent or allow anyone either remote or direct access to your system? If so, then look up syskey scam. http://www.woodchipcomputers.co.uk/index.php?PageID=msscam

I think you need to be very specific in your question. State exactly what you are experiencing, what you are looking for and if possible..... attach some pictures so we know what you're seeing. Otherwise, the question about differences in passwords can be self-taught on Wikipedia.

SamTheWelshDragon · August 15, 2016

4 hours ago, Carlos1010 said:

How about the difference between syskey and the password when you want to log in? Are they two different things? Thanks for your response!

Syskey is a security feature in Windows NT and above designed to help protect against local attacks on the SAM (Security Account Manager). The SAM database stores your local password and has been rather vulnerable to exploits in the past, thus Microsoft implemented Syskey to try and combat the brute-force decryption of the file. Simply put Syskey adds a secondary layer of encryption to your SAM file which in turn makes it much more difficult to crack the local password of your computer, providing your Syskey password is strong of course.