getting around the bois password

locksmithkim · 02-26-2004, 04:29 PM

Hello there.....
I need help. I got a dell latitude xpi cd p150st from ebay , and when I got it. It is asking for a password before it will boot up window. I have emailed the guy to find out the password. and he will not help me at all. I wish to delete everything, and start over...

Can anyone please help me

benjithegreat98 · 02-26-2004, 05:30 PM

Here is a thread I found that has a few suggestions. I don't know if any of them will work or not but.....

http://www.makinterface.de/forum/rea...=1&i=559&t=559

Let us know if you have any success with this.

Here's another
http://qasimtoep.tripod.com/dell/dell.html

seanb · 02-27-2004, 12:32 PM

Depending on which distribution you plan on slapping on that thing, you can use a boot disk to install a new OS

Put in the boot disk (most distributions have intructions for this - boot from floppy or boot from CD)
Start the install process
partition and initialize the drive (which will delete EVERYTHING)
install new OS

voila

Hope it helps.

adamis · 02-27-2004, 12:46 PM

Umm, seanb didn't you read the guy's post? It's a bios password meaning it won't even let you boot to a boot disk.

I've taken apart a few laptops before, mostly older ones. There is a backup battery somewhere in there, you just have to find it and disconnect it, pretty much like a desktop. It's just a whole lot more work and fragile.

It's odd that this guy won't respond to your e-mails. Makes me kind of suspicious about the laptop. Maybe it was stolen in the first place and he couldn't get around the password so decided to sell it and now he won't respond. What is his reseller rating?

seanb · 02-27-2004, 01:25 PM

I didnt read the post...

sorry guys

Brain Drop · 02-27-2004, 06:19 PM

laptop bios passwords are not like desktops, they are written on flash to make a stolen laptop unusable. you may find someone has found a couple terminals you can short to erase it but i know for my hp i had to send my purchase receipt to hp befroe they will give you a new password(generated from a string of numbers you pull up on your laptop and read to them over the phone). there is no other way. pulling (unsoldering) the cmos battery from the board wont do it. sorry for the bad news, you may want to call a lawyer or something to get your money back.
unless like i said somebody has figured a workaround for your model.