3.1 PBA Override Versus Emergency Recovery

ZENworks Full Disk Encryption provides both authentication override for ZENworks Pre-Boot Authentication and emergency recovery of devices and their encrypted hard disks.

Pre-Boot Authentication Override (or PBA Override) is used in situations where the ZENworks PBA is still functional but the user cannot authenticate for reasons such as:

  • The PBA credential (user ID/password) is forgotten.

  • The smart card reader is defective.

  • The smart card is lost or broken.

  • The smart card PIN is forgotten or blocked.

  • The PBA lockout has been invoked because of too many failed logins.

PBA Override cannot be used in the following situations. Instead, you need to perform an emergency recovery:

  • The device does not start correctly or does not present the user with the ZENworks PBA login or the Windows login.

  • Windows login is being used as the authentication method (no ZENworks PBA) and the Windows credentials have been forgotten or the user’s smart card has been lost or damaged.

  • ZENworks Full Disk Encryption has been removed from the device but the hard disk is still encrypted.

This ZENworks Full Disk Encryption Pre-Boot Authentication Reference does not provide information about emergency recovery. For information about emergency recovery, see the ZENworks Full Disk Encryption Emergency Recovery Reference.