Solved Screen Lock Password Cell Dimmed

[jfeng]

I have a Windows 7 on a Samsung laptop. When I reboot my laptop, I have one quick second to enter my screen lock password. If I turn on my laptop and not able to enter the password quick enough, I will no longer be able to enter anything to the "Screen Lock Password", meaning no matter what key stroke you enter/press, the "Screen Lock Password" cell remains blank. Anyone has encountered or aware of the issue? Thanks!

 

[mrjimphelps]

If you can get into Windows, disable auto hibernation and auto sleep. In other words, you want it to fully power down, not hibernate or sleep, when you shut it down, and you don't want it to go into hibernation or sleep mode unless you specifically tell it to. I suspect that your problem is caused by a glitch in the way hibernation or sleep is working.

Also, remove the screen lock password (in Power settings), to keep it from locking.

 

[jfeng]

Thanks for shedding the light, mrjimphelps. My bad for not being accurate stating my problem. My screen lock password works just fine. It is the Power-on password cell (there is a bar/cell shows up when the laptop is powered on) that does not take in any input from keyboard when the laptop is rebooted. I tried to play with disable auto hibernation and auto sleep options, the issue remains. Any idea? Thanks in advance!

 

[mrjimphelps]

Go into setup (BIOS) and disable the power-on password. If you aren't able to hit F2 (or whatever) to get into setup, then reset the laptop by unplugging the power adapter and removing both the CMOS and the regular batteries. Leave the batteries out for a while, so that all the power in the laptop has time to dissipate (10 minutes?). Then put it all back together, and you should be just about ready. It will probably tell you to hit F2 (or whatever) to go into setup, then reset the date and time.

 

[jfeng]

Thank you very much for the quick response and help! I am good now. For learning purpose, I wonder what might have triggered the issue as I did not experience that before. Also, I feel there may be a potential security risk without a power-on password especially when travel.

 

[mrjimphelps]

Glad you got the problem solved.

When you travel, you could put on a startup password, then take it off whenever you want to use the computer. That will be a hassle, but I don't know a better answer than that.

 

[jfeng]

Cool, thanks!