I got a free computer with one catch, the Bios password is active. Help.

[Kheir112]

Like I said, free laptop (HP Omnibook 4150) with just one problem, the Bios
password is active, and guess what? No one knows what it is. Now, I have some
options, I can get a new chip from Password Crackers and have it installed,
then send the old one back to them so they can extract the password. That
options expensive. The next one is to ground out the Bios chip (power off) so
that it will loose the programing, tried that, couldn't find it. Next, find a
backdoor password into the Bios, and yes, I tried "phoenix" already. What I
basicly need is more options, and if anybody has any, I would appreciate
hearing them, as is I am still waiting for a reply from HP and my "local"
service center. I am not holding my breath for either of them. Thanks.

Kheir.

(e-mail address removed)

 

[RedBack]

Like I said, free laptop (HP Omnibook 4150) with just one problem, the Bios
password is active, and guess what? No one knows what it is. Now, I have some
options, I can get a new chip from Password Crackers and have it installed,
then send the old one back to them so they can extract the password. That
options expensive. The next one is to ground out the Bios chip (power off) so
that it will loose the programing, tried that, couldn't find it. Next, find a
backdoor password into the Bios, and yes, I tried "phoenix" already. What I
basicly need is more options, and if anybody has any, I would appreciate
hearing them, as is I am still waiting for a reply from HP and my "local"
service center. I am not holding my breath for either of them. Thanks.

Kheir.

(e-mail address removed)

Try doing a search on google for a program called "Kill BIOS" or
something like that...(There are several programs that will do
it)...It wipes all the settings and put the BIOS back to the factory
default
I use it ages ago and it worked for me.

RedBack

 

[RedBack]

KILLCMOS

you can download it from...
http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~ikhtan/Tweakfiles/Tweakfiles.html

and here's some more info about it..
There is a very useful program called killcmos available at the site
below.
Please note that when you go to download it, it will show as being
infected
with a virus called killcmos. IT IS NOT INFECTED. please see McAfee at
the
site below for details of why the program is classed as a trojan
virus.

http://vil.nai.com/vil/virusSummary.asp?virus_k=98794

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/download.html



RedBack

 

[IanDunbar]

KILLCMOS

you can download it from...
http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~ikhtan/Tweakfiles/Tweakfiles.html

and here's some more info about it..
There is a very useful program called killcmos available at the site
below.
Please note that when you go to download it, it will show as being
infected
with a virus called killcmos. IT IS NOT INFECTED. please see McAfee at
the
site below for details of why the program is classed as a trojan
virus.

http://vil.nai.com/vil/virusSummary.asp?virus_k=98794

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/download.html

I have used this too, worked a treat.


--

Ian

A7N8X Deluxe v1.04
Uber Bios 1006 + Sata Bios
2700 TB @ 2310MHz
Corsair Twinx1024-3200LLPT
210 x 11.0
ATI Radeon 9700Pro
2 x Maxtor 120GB 8MB SATA RAID 0

 

[Conor]

Like I said, free laptop (HP Omnibook 4150) with just one problem, the Bios
password is active, and guess what? No one knows what it is.

Tends to happen when the laptop has been stolen....

 

[Gary Tait]

Like I said, free laptop (HP Omnibook 4150) with just one problem, the Bios
password is active, and guess what? No one knows what it is. Now, I have some
options, I can get a new chip from Password Crackers and have it installed,
then send the old one back to them so they can extract the password. That
options expensive. The next one is to ground out the Bios chip (power off) so
that it will loose the programing, tried that, couldn't find it. Next, find a
backdoor password into the Bios, and yes, I tried "phoenix" already. What I
basicly need is more options, and if anybody has any, I would appreciate
hearing them, as is I am still waiting for a reply from HP and my "local"
service center. I am not holding my breath for either of them. Thanks.

Kheir.

(e-mail address removed)

COntact HP withe the pertinent information and they might help you.

 

[Michael Black]

Tends to happen when the laptop has been stolen....

I was going to say that I hadn't seen one of those posts in a long time.
I remember about 1995 or so, and maybe it was just the newsgroups I
was reading at the time, every so often someone would post about the
laptop they had and how they needed to bypass the password. Maybe
they caught on, because I haven't seen such a post in some years.

If it's properly acquired, there are always ways to get around
the password. Take it to a dealer, and I'm sure they'll help (though
one wonders why the original owner didn't do this themselves, if
they'd lost the password).

Michael

 

[stacey]

Michael Black wrote:

If it's properly acquired, there are always ways to get around
the password. Take it to a dealer, and I'm sure they'll help (though
one wonders why the original owner didn't do this themselves, if
they'd lost the password).

I did HONESTLY aquire a thinkpad 755CX that a dingbat forgot the passwords
for the 2 HD's and the bios etc. She was too lazy to bother and just went
and bought a new one and was going to throw away this one! I ended up
getting it going but people can end up with a passwork locked laptop
without stealing it.

 

[mcheu]

On 7 Nov 2003 03:35:53 GMT, (e-mail address removed) (Michael Black)
wrote::

If it's properly acquired, there are always ways to get around
the password. Take it to a dealer, and I'm sure they'll help (though
one wonders why the original owner didn't do this themselves, if
they'd lost the password).

Michael

Depends on your definition of "properly acquired."

One doesn't have to be the *Original* owner to be the *legitimate*
owner.

There are several situations where you can (quite legitimately)
acquire a laptop that's been locked down.

1. Sold at police auction. You'd be amazed at the kind of crap the
cops sell at these things. It's stuff that's been stolen and
recovered (but not claimed) or seized as proceeds of crime. A buddy
bought one of these a couple of years ago. We had to jump through a
few hoops to get past the BIOS lock. Basically, a letter from the
police department (on letterhead) and a police auction receipt was
needed to convince the manufacturer that it wasn't stolen (well,
officially, it wasn't stolen *anymore*). I kind of wonder why the
police wouldn't have already unlocked it though. Surely it's a good
way to track down the owner -- maybe the previous owner was a drug
dealer.

2. Surplus, sold off by a company/school/gov't agency. Government
agencies and Universities often provide funding to departments and
staff to acquire new technology. When they do, they usually sell off
or donate the old stuff to recoup some costs. The previous user will
typically copy off all the information to the new machine and wipe the
drives, however, not everyone bothers to reset the password to
default. In this case, you're basically screwed, as you can't
possibly track down the previous user, and it might be tough to get
enough of a ownership history to prove it's not stolen -- especially
if it was a donated machine sold at say, a charity auction.

3. Private sale. Though in this case, I would imagine the seller
would know it, and you could simply ask him. Of course, that would be
too easy.

 

[John]

On 7 Nov 2003 03:35:53 GMT, (e-mail address removed) (Michael Black)
wrote::



Depends on your definition of "properly acquired."

One doesn't have to be the *Original* owner to be the *legitimate*
owner.

There are several situations where you can (quite legitimately)
acquire a laptop that's been locked down.

1. Sold at police auction. You'd be amazed at the kind of crap the
cops sell at these things. It's stuff that's been stolen and
recovered (but not claimed) or seized as proceeds of crime. A buddy
bought one of these a couple of years ago. We had to jump through a
few hoops to get past the BIOS lock. Basically, a letter from the
police department (on letterhead) and a police auction receipt was
needed to convince the manufacturer that it wasn't stolen (well,
officially, it wasn't stolen *anymore*). I kind of wonder why the
police wouldn't have already unlocked it though. Surely it's a good
way to track down the owner -- maybe the previous owner was a drug
dealer.

2. Surplus, sold off by a company/school/gov't agency. Government
agencies and Universities often provide funding to departments and
staff to acquire new technology. When they do, they usually sell off
or donate the old stuff to recoup some costs. The previous user will
typically copy off all the information to the new machine and wipe the
drives, however, not everyone bothers to reset the password to
default. In this case, you're basically screwed, as you can't
possibly track down the previous user, and it might be tough to get
enough of a ownership history to prove it's not stolen -- especially
if it was a donated machine sold at say, a charity auction.

3. Private sale. Though in this case, I would imagine the seller
would know it, and you could simply ask him. Of course, that would be
too easy.

4. Estate sale, happens a lot. Real hard to ask the original owner what's
the password.

 

[@drian]

I did HONESTLY aquire a thinkpad 755CX that a dingbat forgot the passwords
for the 2 HD's and the bios etc. She was too lazy to bother and just went
and bought a new one and was going to throw away this one! I ended up
getting it going but people can end up with a passwork locked laptop
without stealing it.

I agree. While it's possible, the assumption that something is stolen is
being too hasty. A friend bought a PC at a swap-meet and the BIOS had a
password on it. People do leave passwords on the BIOS (for their own
security) and forget to clear them before giving away or selling.

@drian.

 

[W7TI]

A friend bought a PC at a swap-meet and the BIOS had a
password on it. People do leave passwords on the BIOS (for their own
security) and forget to clear them before giving away or selling.

_________________________________________________________

Can't you clear BIOS passwords by using the "clear" jumper to reset all
BIOS settings? I've never needed to, but I remember reading that was
one way to do it.

 

[Strontium]

I guess that depends on being able to find the clear CMOS jumper, on the
motherboard...

-
W7TI stood up at show-n-tell, in (e-mail address removed),
and said:

 

[Strontium]

On a side note, if there is no jumper, the battery can be removed to exact
the same effect.

-
Strontium stood up at show-n-tell, in (e-mail address removed), and
said:

 

[stacey]

On a side note, if there is no jumper, the battery can be removed to exact
the same effect.

But on some systems it takes a while. I'm not sure how long it would have
taken on a thinkpad I had but after I tried it for a few seconds, I left it
out overnight. Also make sure the main battery is also out!