So some time ago I set up a BIOS “User” password and and “Admin” password on a laptop.
For those who doesn’t know. A BIOS “User” password is prompted every time you boot a computer using that motherboard, and the “Admin” password is prompted when you attempt to enter the BIOS settings
If you have both set up, either password is accepted on boot, but only the “Admin” password is accepted for getting into the BIOS Settings.
I’ve just had both of these set up because I’m weird and paranoid (before you say “encryption”, yes the disk is also encrypted), and I got into a habit of just using the Admin password for boot.
But now I think its unnecessary and annoying now and doesn’t seem to do much since the disk is also encrypted, so I tried to remove the “User” password in the BIOS settings, but I forgot the User password. Inputing the Admin password is rejected as “incorrect password”, but its accepted when you try to change to Admin password. Wtf lol. The Laptops I had before this one, allows the Admin to reset the User Password, wtf is this new change? Admin cannot reset User Password? Make zero sense lol. So I guess I’m just stuck with this unchangeable setting? Triggers my OCD so much that there’s a setting now I can’t toggle on/off.
I mean it’s still perfectly usable as long as I keep the Admin password enabled and not mess with that, so this is the definition of mildly infuriating, just very samll annoyance I’m stuck with.
It’s an Asus Zenbook btw if you’re wondering.
What do you consider a good laptop manufacturer?
You know, that’s a great question that I don’t have a good answer to. I don’t have enough experience with laptops so take this with a bucketful of salt, but I think:
Framework looks amazing, but perhaps a bit niche: https://frame.work/ (next time I’m in the market for a laptop, I think this is what I’ll get)
MSI is alright I think? So is Dell, maybe?
In my head HP has an absolutely dreadful reputation, but that’s just because of printers. A friend of mine is pleased with her HP laptop.
Lenovo, I’m not sure. They’ve had an inexcusable security blunder in the past which made me write them off ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-enHfpHMBo4 ) but maybe they’ve turned things around, I really don’t know.
The laptop market is in a really poor state, other than macbooks (which aren’t really relevant for this discussion for obvious reasons) it’s a race to the bottom and everyone’s making compromises that I really don’t want to see.