There may be a lot of situations when it is necessary to establish protection in a computer system in the form of a password for access to your personal data or programs. Most often this relates to the fact that family members of the user (most often children) can enter the system uncontrollably and perform undesirable actions in it, such that it simply “flies”. In offices, passwords are most often used to protect confidential data if several users are registered on one terminal. Sometimes it is required to protect even some installed applications so that no one other than the user himself can start them. In general, there are enough options. How to set a password on a laptop with Windows of any version on board will be discussed later.
Access Protection Installation Options
Let's start by considering the main areas of action that even the most untrained users can use to create password protection. There are not so many options, and in most cases they relate to setting passwords for the local user registration, which will be requested when entering the system. This option is classic.
After performing the appropriate actions at the entrance to the system, a screen appears with icons corresponding to each registered user, when clicked on, a field is displayed asking you to enter the set password.
To provide a higher level of protection, you can set a password in the BIOS options. After such actions, it will become impossible not only to enter Windows, but also to change the settings of the primary input / output system itself.
As an additional tool, setting passwords can be used to access programs, folders or files, if protection is not provided for the first two cases.
How to set a password on a laptop with Windows 7?
So, let's start with everyone’s favorite seventh version of this operating system. How to put a password on a laptop with Windows 7? To do this, call the standard "Control Panel" and go to the user accounts section.
Here you need to open your registration and select the option to create a password. After that, in the data entry window, you will need to register the invented combination, then confirm it and click the password creation button.
Now let's see how to put the password on the laptop if the protection is intended for another registered local user. In this case, the procedure is exactly the same, only first you need to use the control section of another registration, and then select the desired user. In both cases, passwords will become active either after a reboot or upon logging out to change the user.
Setting a password in Windows 8 (8.1)
Now a few words about how to put a password on a laptop using a similar method, but already in systems of the eighth modifications using the basic capabilities of the Metro interface. To do this, you need to move the cursor to the lower right corner to get access to the main options, and then go to the section for changing them through the parameter item.
Next, the registration options and login options are selected. After that, as in the first case, you need to enter the password and confirm it with saving the settings.
Note: in the eighth version, you can use not only the usual combinations of letters, numbers and symbols, but also set a pin code or a graphic key, provided that the device screen supports touchscreen mode.
How to set a password on a laptop with Windows 10?
With the tenth version of the system, everything is also simple. In principle, you can apply the first option. To get to the standard “Control Panel” in this modification is quite problematic, therefore, in order not to go through different kinds of menus and sections, it is easiest to call the Run console (Win + R) and write the control command in it.
However, you can use another technique. Let's see how to put a password on a laptop with Windows 10, using the new features of the system. First, through the Start menu, you need to call the settings section and go to the accounts.
In the menu on the left, the entry parameters item is selected, and on the right in the password block, the button for changing it is pressed, after which it remains to do the above steps to enter and confirm the combination.
Note: for all systems, you can use the creation of a hint as a lifebuoy in case you forgot or lost your password.
Types of passwords and their creation in BIOS
Now let's talk about how to put a password on a laptop using the capabilities of the primary input / output system. What is this protection option good for? It’s only because passwords at the entrance to the system can be cracked if you wish, but passwords in the BIOS can’t be cracked (unless, of course, you do not take into account a complete reset by removing the CMOS battery for 15 minutes).
There are two types of passwords in the primary system. Usually these are Administrator (Supervisor) and User. If the password is set only for the user, you will have to enter it each time you enter the system or when you try to access the BIOS settings. Setting a password for the administrator is effective only when entering the parameters of the primary system.
So, how to put a password on a laptop in the BIOS?
Go to the main menu and find the BIOS Setting Password item or just BIOS Password there. Usually it is located on the main tab (Main) or in the security section (Security). Using the enter key, call up the combination entry window, enter the password, and then save the changes on exit (F10).
Install protection on programs and files
How to put a password on a laptop when you turn it on or when you enter the operating system, figured out. Now briefly about how to set passwords for programs, user files and directories.
For office documents, you can use the built-in password protection with encryption, for archives you can use your own tool of the appropriate programs, for folders, utilities like Folder Lock or Anvide Seal Folder are best suited, for games the Game Protector program is considered the most powerful. Also, cryptographic programs like Bitlocker (a built-in Windows tool) or VeraCrypt look good for all variants.
In general, in order not to set passwords, and even with the use of additional software, provided that you are an administrator, you can simply restrict other users in access rights to a particular object by performing the necessary actions through the properties of the file or folder.
Afterword
If we talk about the practical use of passwords, it is quite possible to limit the installation of protection for registration records. Additionally, for example, if children have access to the laptop, you can use the parental controls. Creating a password in the BIOS is an emergency measure. But despite the fact that it is almost impossible to crack such a password, removing the CMOS battery negates all efforts to establish protection.