HP 5310m HP Business Notebook Password Localization Guidelines - Page 8

7. Exceptions Windows IME is not supported at the Preboot Security Level and the HP Drive Encryption Level In Windows, the user can choose an IME (Input Method Editor) to enter complex characters and symbols, such as Japanese or Chinese characters, by using a standard western keyboard. The IME is not supported at Preboot and HP Drive Encryption level. Windows password entered with IME may not be entered at the Preboot or HP Drive Encryption level and may result in a lockout situation. In some cases, the Microsoft Windows doesn't display the IME when user enters password. For example, for some Japanese installations of Windows XP, the default IME is called the "Microsoft IME Standard 2002" for Japanese1, which actually translates as keyboard layout E0010411. However, this is an IME and not a keyboard layout (the keyboard layout coding scheme is simply preserved by Microsoft for IMEs, which themselves extend the concept of a keyboard layout). Since this is not a keyboard layout that can be represented in the typing environment for the BIOS Preboot password prompt or the Drive Encryption password prompt, any password typed with this IME is rejected by ProtectTools. The solution is to switch to a supported keyboard layout, such as Microsoft IME for Japanese or the Japanese keyboard layout itself, both of which translate to keyboard layout 00000411 (despite its "IME" designation in the former case). Another "IME" that actually translates to keyboard layout 00000411 is the "Office 2007 IME" for Japanese2. Warning When HP ProtectTools is deployed, passwords entered with Windows IME will be rejected. 1 It is worth observing that this name is also different from the "Common Name in Microsoft Windows Vista", shown in Figure 1. The reason for this is that Windows maps some IMEs to a keyboard layout. In such cases, the IME would be supported by HP ProtectTools, because the underlying keyboard layout definition, designated by the "Code (hex) column in Figure 1, is what matters. 2 This is an important consideration. The mere fact that Microsoft or a third party uses the term, "IME" or "Input Method Editor" does not necessarily mean that the input method is an IME instead of a keyboard layout. This can make for confusion in some cases, but the software itself always looks at the hexadecimal code representation. Thus, if an "IME" really maps to a supported keyboard layout, then HP ProtectTools can support the configuration. 8