Fingerprint readers on Laptops

[Ecco]

Hi guys,

How many people here have the fingerprint readers on their laptops?

Now how many people actually use these?

Almost every single laptop i have seen at work has one of these readers, but nobody is using them.

Are these things not secure?

 

[MartyMarts]

I once had a work laptop with one of those. It did work but usually only after a few swipes - which made it more of an irritation than anything else. I tried setting it up with other body parts but the results weren't impressive. I disabled it after a colleague threatened to cut my finger off so they could get to my emails.

 

[Vegeta]

How many people know how to use them?.... no one!

 

[roadcat]

I use mine all the time. Always ask for a laptop with a reader now.

 

[MrMocs]

My bro uses this scanner the lenovo software really makes it more usefull

 

[Tango]

I use mine now since I got my new laptop. Works a charm.

 

[Kloofvreter]

They actually work well on Lenovo laptops. On HP laptops, not so well. HP ProtectTools is a bitch, and one of the reasons why I maintain that hardware manufacturers should leave software development and programming to the professionals.

 

[Rainman]

I've got one on my HP Pavilion DV7 and use it all the time. 99.9% of the time a single swipe is all that's needed. I also use the built in TrueSuite Secure software provided for website logins and it works a charm for the sites that need logins.

 

[Compton_effect]

Had one on my last few laptops. Lenovo, and HP. Fist thing I normally disable.

 

[Ecco]

How many people know how to use them?.... no one!

Yeah, i dont even know how to get it going.

 

[Ecco]

Probably a silly question, what happens if your finger gets cut off? Do you resort scanner bypass via some password authentication to reset the scanner?

 

[Mystic Twilight]

The readers on Thinkpads work exceptionally well.

On Thinkpads you are still given the windows login scren, so you can type in the password if you cant use your reader..

 

[Kloofvreter]

Probably a silly question, what happens if your finger gets cut off? Do you resort scanner bypass via some password authentication to reset the scanner?

You can still press Control-Alt-Delete and log in normally

EDIT: The scanner just makes it quicker.

 

[saor]

Got one, don't use it. Disabled and forgotten.

 

[bekdik]

On my lenovo it works well for me.

 

[skimread]

My Lenovo laptop has an issue when plugged into power probably is just at home that the fingerprint reader shocks so I have a good reason to not use it.

 

[karnuffel]

I use mine on my Lenovo and it works great.

As for fingers being cut off, Ive read before that some check for a pulse or temperature.

 

[Rocket-Boy]

They actually work well on Lenovo laptops. On HP laptops, not so well. HP ProtectTools is a bitch, and one of the reasons why I maintain that hardware manufacturers should leave software development and programming to the professionals.

Must be an old HP then. They have been using simplepass for a while now which is a 3rd party developed solution.
I use mine many times a day for administrative passwords and it works first time every time.

 

[Kloofvreter]

Must be an old HP then. They have been using simplepass for a while now which is a 3rd party developed solution.
I use mine many times a day for administrative passwords and it works first time every time.

About a year old, but come to think of it, it could be that the software does not play well with the corporate domain security settings.

 

[bekdik]

My Lenovo laptop has an issue when plugged into power probably is just at home that the fingerprint reader shocks so I have a good reason to not use it.

I doubt that the 5 volts supplying a plastic covered device is able to shock. Maybe you have a splinter embedded in your finger.