TestOut LabSim A+ Certification Practice Exam 2025 – The All-in-One Guide to Ace Your Certification!

To require a password before the operating system can load, configuring a user password in the BIOS is the appropriate approach. This setting adds a layer of security by preventing unauthorized users from booting the computer without entering the correct password. When a password is set in the BIOS, the system will prompt for it at startup, meaning that users cannot bypass this step to access the operating system or the data on the hard drive.

Setting a password on the operating system does help secure access to user accounts and data once the OS has loaded, but it does not prevent someone from booting the computer and accessing it or its files directly through recovery tools or alternative OS environments. Enabling secure boot in UEFI contributes to system security but is more about allowing only trusted operating systems to load rather than requiring a password. Installing a third-party boot loader does not inherently add a password requirement and is not necessary for simple password protection before the OS loads.