Protect Booting from a floppy disk

Once you have a Windows security program installed and working, you must use some method to prevent booting from a floppy disk.  Ignoring this step can put your computer at risk of a virus infection, and reduce the effectiveness of your computer's security.

There are a number of methods to prevent booting from a floppy disk from physical disk locks to purchased security programs.  But the simplest solution is to use the security that is already built into your computer by enabling the computer's CMOS security features.

The CMOS is a storage area on your computer where information is retained even when the power is turned off. Important information is stored here about your computer, and is accessed by a special CMOS setup program.

Typically, pressing the <DEL> key, or another special key sequence is required to access the CMOS setup program. This key is entered before Windows starts. Watch your screen carefully when the computer is first turned on for information on accessing the CMOS setup program (such as "Press F2 to access Setup). You should consult your computer's manual for specific information on using the CMOS setup program.

For Public Access computers you should:

1. Enable your computer's setup password to prevent someone from accessing the computer's CMOS settings.  An incorrect setting in this critical area of the computer can make the computer non-operative.
2. Disable booting from the "A:" floppy disk drive.  This is done by setting your computer's boot sequence.  If the computer cannot be set to boot only from the hard disk, then you should enable the boot password feature so only people with the password can start the computer.

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