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How to secure your EEE PC from theft

March 8, 2008 – 11:13 am

We will review a few methods that could be useful if you want to secure your Asus EEE PC and your important data from theft.

Physical security

Your EEE PC, like the vast majority of notebooks, does support a Kensington lock system. The hole is located right next to the VGA exit connector. While this is not an absolute measure of security (it can be broken with enough will), this could prevent someone to run off with your computer at the library for example. You can attach your EEE PC to the Kensington Lock, and on the other side to a table.

Software and data security

If you’re eee pc gets stolen, your essential and valuable data for your privacy or business will be compromised. We will see a simple yet very effective measure to prevent anyone from unauthorised access to your EEE: setting a bios (supervisor) password.

1) Power on your EEE PC and press F2 to access the bios setup utility.

2) Under the security section go to Change Supervisor Password, press the enter key, enter your supervisor password and confirm it. Be very careful and write down your password: if you forget it, your eee pc will be lost!

3) Now, still under the Security section, you need to change the Password Check value from Setup to Always, save and exit.

Now, only someone with the knowledge of the password can boot up your eee pc. To change it, the thief would have to open the case, access the motherboard and clear the CMOS, which is a risquy operation (if even possible with the eee), and, considering the eee pc’s low cost, isn’t really worthy.