Found an old computer Dell Optiplex GX100 - has a password for bios?

[David D]

I found a dell Opitex GX100 computer. It seems to work, but it has a
password for the bios...I am trying to format the harddrive as well to
put XP on it, but I would like to change the boot sequence. Should I
try and flash the bios to erase the password?
Also, I am not sure of how much RAM is installed because it is a DELL
and it doesn't tell me at start up. I am hoping that getting into the
bios will help me with that.

Lastly, is there a good FORMAT software for the floppy drive so I can
format and then run XP from the CD rom drive to install?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I found a dell Opitex GX100 computer. It seems to work, but it has a
password for the bios...I am trying to format the harddrive as well to
put XP on it, but I would like to change the boot sequence. Should I
try and flash the bios to erase the password?
Also, I am not sure of how much RAM is installed because it is a DELL
and it doesn't tell me at start up. I am hoping that getting into the
bios will help me with that.

Lastly, is there a good FORMAT software for the floppy drive so I can
format and then run XP from the CD rom drive to install?

Remove the motherboard battery for at least ten minutes. If this
does not solve the problem, repost in a hardware group because
that's where you will find most of the hardware experts. This group
deals mostly with Windows issues.

 

[John John (MVP)]

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/opgx100/en/ug/setup.htm#disabling_a_forgotten_password
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/opgx100/en/index.htm

John

 

[David D]

Thanks, I tried the battery and it didn't seem to work. I will post
in hardware.

 

[HeyBub]

I found a dell Opitex GX100 computer. It seems to work, but it has a
password for the bios...I am trying to format the harddrive as well to
put XP on it, but I would like to change the boot sequence. Should I
try and flash the bios to erase the password?
Also, I am not sure of how much RAM is installed because it is a DELL
and it doesn't tell me at start up. I am hoping that getting into the
bios will help me with that.

Lastly, is there a good FORMAT software for the floppy drive so I can
format and then run XP from the CD rom drive to install?

Next to the battery should be two or three pins. If three, they may or may
not have a shorting block installed.

The usual process is to short two of the pins together, thereby returning
the BIOS chip to its original state. So, you either short the two pins or
move the shorting block (temporarily) to the other set of the three.