QUESTION: In the near future I intend to purchase a new Dell laptop computer running Windows XP Professional. I work in a large office and I am concerned that when I step away from my desk or I am out of the office, others could casually access the data or read the e-mails contained in my laptop.

Our corporate network computers use a password-protected screensaver. If we leave our computers alone for four minutes the screensaver comes on and to bring the computer out of the screensaver mode you have to type in a password. Would this be easy to set up on a new laptop? My brother-in-law says he uses a BIOS password. How is that set up?

ANSWER: Setting up a new computer is a good time to think about these things especially when it comes to a laptop which moves around from place to place where not everybody minds their own business. Also, laptops, simply because of their portability, are stolen more often than desktop computers.

The level of password protection that you are seeking is not secure against a knowledgeable, professional computer thief but presumably you're not carrying state secrets around with you. The level of protection that is available to you using the options already built-in to your system are proof against the casual intruder only. Nonetheless they may stop the opportunistic data thief.

Getting down to basics

The following suggestions can be equally applied to a laptop or a desktop PC. One method is to set a BIOS password (Basic Input Output System) sometimes known as a ‘power on' password. This is not my favourite recommendation because it is so powerful and difficult to undo, especially on a laptop.

The workings of the BIOS, unless it's hidden behind a so-called splash screen, are glimpsed when you see the computer counting up and numbers rapidly immediately after it has been turned on.

A BIOS password is easy to set up, but strong enough that I again caution you. If you take this route be aware that if you forget the password and need to cancel the BIOS password, somebody will have to open up your laptop and either, reset the jumpers on the motherboard or, remove the BIOS battery. On most systems to set the password you can access the BIOS configuration by holding down either the F1, F2 or the delete key. On a Dell laptop it is probably the F2 key.

Once you are in the configuration menu, look for any options relating to passwords, usually marked ‘security options', ‘administrator password' or ‘owner password'. Simply select that menu, make a note of your password, then set it, and exit the BIOS. Also note here that you must exit using the option ‘Save Changes and Exit' by pressing F10 or your password will not be applied.

Restart the system and you will be prompted to type in your new password. There is no casual way to access any data on your computer without this password. I don't want to get too technical here but I do have to tell you that anybody who steals your computer could still extract the hard disk and install it on another laptop and access your data. The only way to get around this is the use of encryption keys on the laptop, and that is getting beyond the scope of your question I think.

The easy way

The other method is far easier to implement and that is to password the screensaver as has already been done on your office computers. In Windows XP Pro you can access the screensaver control by right clicking on any empty spot on your desktop, scrolling down to Properties and clicking it. A Display Properties screen will pop up. Click the tab labelled Screen Saver and there, beside the number of minutes before the screensaver is activated (and you might want to reduce this down to four minutes) is the box which reads ‘on resume, password protect'. Follow the very simple dialog boxes to type in your choice of password and the next time your screensaver comes on automatically, you will be asked to type in the password you have given. The password will have to be eight or more characters and you might consider mixing upper and lower case and even letters and numbers.

There is the opportunity to set up a prompt question, which should theoretically help you remember your password if you experience a moment of brain fade.

This is pretty basic stuff but ought to be enough to give pause to the nosy person on the way back from the water cooler who sees your laptop just sitting there invitingly.

QUESTION: Recently I noticed on the desktop of my computer at home a strange file named with this funny symbol ~. I clicked on it and nothing happened. Now I see that it is has appeared on the computers at work. What is it, what is the ~ symbol called and have the computers all been infected with a virus?

ANSWER: Funnily enough this little file is a harmless but erroneous byproduct of keeping your computer up-to-date. A recent Outlook Express update from Microsoft mistakenly places a copy of your Windows Address Book on your desktop. Your Address Book, is where the names of your e-mail recipients are stored. Outlook Express has always created a copy of the Address Book but a bug in the update apparently causes the copy to be placed in the wrong location and with ~ as the truncated name. You can simply rename it *.wab to see that it is indeed a copy of your Address Book. Apparently the people who take care of this stuff at Microsoft are aware of this bug and hope to fix it in the near future.

You learn something arcane every day

By the way, the strange symbol (~) is a tilde. You will find it somewhere on your keyboard in one of the less often used locations. It is sometimes used in describing command lines in computer code.

I use it when creating directories in Windows Explorer because a directory name with a tilde in front of the first letter will be conspicuously placed at the top of the alphabetic hierarchy even ahead of the letter ‘A'.

James W. Lapsley of ComputerWorks, specialises in PC repairs, upgrades and advice for the home and small office user. ComputerWorks welcomes your questions and comments. Send your PC questions by e-mail to computerworks@logic.bm or by phone to 293-0992.