Some hard disk password features, such as HP’s DriveLock, only work if the drive is inside the computer. If you remove a locked hard drive, it may be more difficult to access. If you use encryption, you can remove the hard drive from your computer, connect it to another computer, and unlock it using the same encryption software and secret code. Even if you forget your password to an encrypted drive, you can simply wipe the drive and start over. Computer manufacturers won’t help you make it usable again.

Let’s say you forget a hard disk password - the drive’s hardware is now “ bricked” and unusable until you use specialized data forensics software. RELATED: How to Secure Your Computer With a BIOS or UEFI PasswordĪ hard disk password can actually be more inconvenient than encryption. The drive’s firmware settings area could be modified to set the “password on” flag to “password off.” In an extreme case, the drive could be opened up, its platters removed, and inserted into another drive without a password set.Ī hard disk password also won’t help if your computer is taken while asleep, as the drive will only prompt you at boot.

Some drives store the password unencrypted in their firmware, and this unencrypted password can simply be read from a firmware. For example, there are a number of data forensics programs that promise they can remove hard disk passwords. Using a hard disk password does help protect your files, unlike an operating system password or BIOS password.Ī hard disk password has some big weaknesses. The hard disk password is stored in the disk drive’s firmware itself. Unlike BIOS and operating system passwords, a hard disk password protects your data even if someone opens up your computer and removes the hard disk. If you don’t know the hard disk password, your hard disk will be “locked” and won’t function. When you boot your computer, you’ll need to enter the hard disk password. Whereas an operating system password controls whether you can log in after you’ve booted the computer and a BIOS password controls whether you can boot the computer at all, a hard disk password controls access to the hard disk itself.

RELATED: Why a Windows Password Isn't Enough to Protect Your Data Look in the “Security” or “Password” section. If your computer supports hard disk passwords, you’ll likely find this option option in its BIOS screen. Hard disk passwords are part of the ATA specification.

Password protected harddrive