My question is a two part one. First do you recommend setting a firmware password on a MacBook? Second, what happen if you set a firmware pass word and then your required to turn it off at latter date in order to boot in safe mode or another diagnostic mode? Can the password be disabled and then applied again after the diagnostic procedure is complete?
I’m wonder if a firmware password can be toggled on and off for diagnostic purposes. I heard some commands won’t run with a firmware password set. Safe mode for example is apparently disabled when you have a firmware password seton your Mac.
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George Motherway
Perhaps? What is your reason for wanting to set it? It prevents someone from booting your Mac with another drive or entering special boot modes. It means if someone steals your Mac, they can't boot from their external drive and then access your data on your internal drive.
A better way to prevent data theft is to use FileVault, which will also protect you if someone takes your drive out of your Mac and tries to access it with another computer. So FileVault is the better option for that.
But with a Firmware password, it would be difficult for someone to steal your Mac, wipe it, and use it for themselves or resell it. That doesn't help you much, though.
Yes, you can add a firmware password and remove it later. Apple has instructions on how to do it here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204455
I have both file vault and a firmware password activated. However, based on your previous reply, it would appear that file vault does much more to protect you. A firm ware password just makes the computer useless to thieves.
how do I remove a firmware password?
or how do I locate my firmware password?
LaVerne: See the link I posted in the first comment. That shows you how to set and remove a firmware password. Not sure what you mean by "locate" -- there is no way to see your firmware password.