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XPS 8910, disabling USB Boot
For security reason we would need to disable the boot from USB from BIOS but from what i have understood in modern bios is not possible. In the BIOS of our XPS 8910 i didn't find any option to do it, and you can do very few things compared old bios where you could set a lot of options (enable/disable wifi, usb, boot from usb.......) Is there a way to do it or do I have to give up? Just to understand could you tell me which is the difference between Admin Password, System Password and HDD Password? Tanks a lot
Vic384
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March 15th, 2019 17:00
In the BIOS, according to the service manual, there is a USB Configuration section where there are options to enable or disable the Front USB Ports and the Rear USB Ports.
As for the passwords, I am not 100% sure:
System password - prevents the system from booting unless the password is entered
Admin password - allows entry into the BIOS
HDD password - allows assess to the HDD, does not encrypt the HDD, but I believe may prevent it from working if removed and installed in another system unless you know the password
giobaxx
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March 20th, 2019 01:00
RoHe
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March 23rd, 2019 20:00
If you don't want users to be able boot from USB, you probably also don't want users to boot from a bootable CD/DVD (assuming you have an optical drive) or from a bootable SD card in the card reader. So you may have even more security issues than you thought...
RoHe
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March 23rd, 2019 20:00
You could put the PC in a locked cabinet where users don't have any access to the USB ports, card reader or optical drive without the key.
To turn the PC on and boot, you could set BIOS to turn on automatically each day at a set time, if access to the power button is blocked in the cabinet. Or disable the front USB ports and only enclose the rear of the PC in a locked cabinet.
Another option is connect PC to a power strip with its own on/off switch. Set BIOS to boot automatically when recovering from a power failure and have user(s) turn off power strip after shutting Windows down normally. To boot, just turn the power strip on and...voila
I have my PC, monitor, etc connected to the same strip. Turning the strip on makes PC boot and powers on all the other devices with just the one switch. Just make sure the strip has the capacity to handle the load from the PC and whatever else is connected. (And yes, I'm lazy!)
Tesla1856
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March 23rd, 2019 21:00
Or OptiPlex/Latitude.
Hamadafigo
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June 11th, 2019 18:00
savvy2
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June 12th, 2019 06:00
consumer grade PC (with brick dumbb bios)
but if was w8 ready , turn on secureboot and all that is cured, only HDD0 boots. or SSD#0)
did you upgrade the bios first and see if you get new bells and whistles to fiddle?
Version: 1.1.8 , ?
at least v1.16, has huge fixes ….. related to UEFI, so it says. clear as day.
the manual on your PC is stamped 2014, so would not UEFI full BLOWN security be there?
so installed the OS with FULL UEFI, now usb can not boot. in secure boot mode.
next is hdd , not sure how this works but , only the CIA does this right>?" (if you forget the PW then all is lost, does that sound like fun?)
or use bitlocker, or use drive encryption in the drives itself if in the CIA mode.
"Hard drive encryption and a hard drive password are two separate things. Putting a password on the drive doesn't encrypt it -- that requires a utility to do (it's done under Windows).
https://www.dell.com/community/Laptops-General-Read-Only/Dell-XPS-15-95602-HDD-password-in-BIOS/td-p/5087275