Dell E1505

[Maxspeed996]

My brother is in college ,and had someone steal his laptop last week. He just got it back last night from the police. And all he got back was the laptop and the charger. Lost his case , software , adapters , cables , and all of his stuff. The police said that the kid that took will probably have to pay him restitution for the damage. but that could take a year or two. In the mean time , the kid locked it out somehow , and I'm not familiar with it so I'm looking for help. He brought it over to me last night and I told him that if we couldn't get it unlocked , we could reformat the harddrive and put a new XP install on it. He's stressed out because it's got a years worth of backed up notes and files on it. But he's more concerned now with not being able to use the laptop he's still paying for.
So he brought it over last night , and I thought it would be an easy fix...bootable floppy , fdisk , format , install and done. But wrong. The thing doesn't even have a floppy drive. Only DVD , and it doesn't have the options at post to get into the Bios to change the boot sequence in order to pop in XP and repair the install. What do I do? He was really upset when this happened in the first place , and now I've promised him that Big bro will take care of it for him. I told him to worry about getting his stuff at school wrapped up. Now it's looking like I may have to get him a whole new hard drive . ... is that my only option?
help a big brother out. He doesn't have the money to pay for this thing , (he's scraping by making the payment on it) let alone tech support from somewhere , or being without it. If I buy him a new harddrive and put it in , will that be the quickest fix for him?
Thanks for the space AnAndTech.

 

[JimmyH]

That suxs some punk stole your bother's lappy!
I think this guide may help you get back the data or reformat. Good luck

Reformat on dell laptops

 

[JE78]

I could be wrong but isn't there an adapter he could get that would allow him to take the hard drive out of the laptop and hook it up to a IDE cable on a desktop computer? Atleast that way he could get all the files off it before he had to format it.

 

[Maxspeed996]

thanks for the information....I'll see if I can do it , the problem is , he doesn't have any disks or any of the stuff it came with , because it was all in his case. And he didn't get any of that back.
When we turn the computer on , it goes to the Dell logo , and then goes to a gray screen. that asks for a password. I've never seen this before , and I own a dell laptop myself , and have owned one before. He didn't keep any of his information after he bought it on file , where he could get to it if he needed it either. 19 year old kid with an expensive toy if you ask me. But he's still my brother , and I'll do what it takes to get him up and rolling again. Hard drives look to be around $80 on the EGG so , if worst comes to worst , I may just get him a newer , bigger hard drive and call it an early birthday present.

 

[yezhou]

Before reformatting, try taking the HDD out and get one of these. Worth a try to see if you can access the HDD that way and backup the data on it. Also try calling Dell maybe? See if they know anything about having an override code or something...worth a shot. Good luck.

 

[JimmyH]

Kartajan has the answer below

 

[Maxspeed996]

I'll give it a shot when I get home from work tonight...
KIDS AWAY AT COLLEGE , DON'T LEAVE YOUR DORM ROOM WITH YOUR DOOR UNLOCKED!!!

 

[BladeVenom]

How is it locked out? Bios password or Windows Password?

Instead of a tech solution, try social hacking, or maybe threats should be called anti-social hacking. Threaten the thief with computer hacking/tampering laws, unless he tells you the password. Or have the police get it from him.

Something else to try to get data would be use a Live Linux CD, or Barts PE boot disk.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: BladeVenom
How is it locked out? Bios password or Windows Password?

Instead of a tech solution, try social hacking, or maybe threats should be called anti-social hacking. Threaten the thief with computer hacking/tampering laws, unless he tells you the password. Or have the police get it from him.

Something else to try to get data would be use a Live Linux CD, or Barts PE boot disk.

FTW.

Thief BIOS-locked it. Tell the cops this, maybe they can send the punk up for some FPMITA prison time for being a dick. Also call Dell, they may be able to help if you explain the situation.

- M4H

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: Maxspeed996
thanks for the information....I'll see if I can do it , the problem is , he doesn't have any disks or any of the stuff it came with , because it was all in his case. And he didn't get any of that back.
When we turn the computer on , it goes to the Dell logo , and then goes to a gray screen. that asks for a password. I've never seen this before , and I own a dell laptop myself , and have owned one before. He didn't keep any of his information after he bought it on file , where he could get to it if he needed it either. 19 year old kid with an expensive toy if you ask me. But he's still my brother , and I'll do what it takes to get him up and rolling again. Hard drives look to be around $80 on the EGG so , if worst comes to worst , I may just get him a newer , bigger hard drive and call it an early birthday present.

i dont think a reformat will fix this pw lockout. Your only hope now is to pull the hard drive out gently put a 2.5 to 3.5 ide adapter, copy the files and then mail the laptop to dell. Your brother might be screwed because it looks like a bios lockout, and thats something only dell can fix

 

[Maxspeed996]

it is a bios lockout , and it friggin sucks. I went to his dorm room last night after work , and tore the place up looking for something with his service # on it. To give to dell. His bill's are getting sent over to Mom's house , so we had to wait until today to go over while she was home to get them.
He was able to talk to Dell on the phone last night , and they wanted account# and some other information before they would even help him. They kinda treated him like a theif , and it ticked him off pretty good. I told him , it's really a good thing because when something like this happens , they can at least give you a better chance of getting your computer back. He told whoever he was talking to on the phone , "Whatever , you think this helps people get their PC back? This makes whoever stole it , gut it and throw it in the trash. Never to be seen again! " LOL!
He's just mad because this has been such a pain in the butt. Right at the end of the school year , trying to get things sorted out in his dorm so he can move out , and dealing with the police , and having to mess with this. When he's the one that got taken advantage of.
The only thing that upsets me , is the fact that I've been beaten by Dell. And that SUCKS!
My brother will never look at me the same again.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: Maxspeed996
it is a bios lockout , and it friggin sucks. I went to his dorm room last night after work , and tore the place up looking for something with his service # on it. To give to dell. His bill's are getting sent over to Mom's house , so we had to wait until today to go over while she was home to get them.
He was able to talk to Dell on the phone last night , and they wanted account# and some other information before they would even help him. They kinda treated him like a theif , and it ticked him off pretty good. I told him , it's really a good thing because when something like this happens , they can at least give you a better chance of getting your computer back. He told whoever he was talking to on the phone , "Whatever , you think this helps people get their PC back? This makes whoever stole it , gut it and throw it in the trash. Never to be seen again! " LOL!
He's just mad because this has been such a pain in the butt. Right at the end of the school year , trying to get things sorted out in his dorm so he can move out , and dealing with the police , and having to mess with this. When he's the one that got taken advantage of.
The only thing that upsets me , is the fact that I've been beaten by Dell. And that SUCKS!
My brother will never look at me the same again.

i can feel your pain. I have a little brother as well, and when it comes to computer problems, im his savior. As of this moment, i know how important data is so at least recover the data for your brother. Without his notes, and assignments, he's gonna be in a ****** load of trouble.

2.5 to 3.5 adapter

This is for laptops that dont follow the new SATA hard drive code. Usually on the new E1505 class and the M1701. If your hard drive is a SATA hard drive your going to have to get a different adaptor. If in doubt just go on dell's website and look at tech specs. If it says DDR2 ram, most likely its SATA, if it says Core SOLO or DUO, its most likely SATA. If thats the case just PM me and i'll be more then happy hunting the sata adapter with you.

I would suggest u pull out the hard drive. Its usually easily accessible by just removing 1 screw and pulling it out. You dont have to open the laptop because the only dell where the hard drive is mounted inside the middle would be the x series. Most of the other dells will have a hd access on the side of the laptop.

Anyhow get that adatper, plug it in, plug that entire hard drive unit to a desktop, and then migrate the important data b4 you sent it to dell. Dell has a really crappy service time unless u got the extended warrenty.

I hope this will at least save some face for you to your brother.

EDIT: ACK it is a E1505, okey i think you can just plug it in directly to your desktop sata controler. Im not too sure however, you should still pull the hard drive out and look at its connectors.

Edit2: yup just got confirmation that u can plug that hard drive in directly to a desktop SATA connector, and SATA power source. I whould suggest you do that first, b4 mailing it out

 

[Maxspeed996]

Yea , I figured that out last night, it's the SATA Hard drive. I hopefully won't have to do that , he was supposed to go over to moms house today to get the bill , and it has his account info on it. And I think Dell is going to be able to help him out.
I just hope this is a lesson for him , and hopefully anyone else in college that lives in an apartment or dorm , to keep you door locked when you aren't there. And don't show off your gear to a bunch of people. That just asks for this kind of thing to happen. That Laptop is better than most people's desktop computer's. Almost makes me wonder what he's doing with it!! Ha ha ha. It's fully loaded , I know why someone would want to take it. I just don't think it is right to do that to someone. I've worked so hard to get everything that I have , and I know he does too.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: Maxspeed996
Yea , I figured that out last night, it's the SATA Hard drive. I hopefully won't have to do that , he was supposed to go over to moms house today to get the bill , and it has his account info on it. And I think Dell is going to be able to help him out.
I just hope this is a lesson for him , and hopefully anyone else in college that lives in an apartment or dorm , to keep you door locked when you aren't there. And don't show off your gear to a bunch of people. That just asks for this kind of thing to happen. That Laptop is better than most people's desktop computer's. Almost makes me wonder what he's doing with it!! Ha ha ha. It's fully loaded , I know why someone would want to take it. I just don't think it is right to do that to someone. I've worked so hard to get everything that I have , and I know he does too.

Hehe sounds like my little brother as well. I had to buy him a laptop cooler + lock, so he would end up taking good care of his laptop. And yes dell is seriously going to be a PITA. Hopefully they wont require you to purchase a new motherboard, and they just end up flashing the bios.

Also little brothers never learn there lessons because they always have big bro's to catch them before they hit the lesson learned mark. Well thats how i see it with my brother :X

 

[fbrdphreak]

If its a SATA hard drive and you want to copy the data you can hook it up to any desktop that supports SATA drives. The connectors between 2.5" & 3.5" SATA hard drives are the same.

How do I reset a BIOS password?
http://www.tech-faq.com/reset-bios-password.shtml

How do I reset a Dell BIOS password?
http://www.tech-faq.com/dell-bios-password.shtml

Good luck

 

[Kartajan]

Do not bother with removing the bios battery; dell has a custom EPROM that will retain the HDD and BIOS administrator passwords.

If you contact Dell during normal working hours, with the service tag information from the bottom of the laptop they can look up the administrative "master" key that was set at the factory.

DO NOT TRY THE THIRD PARTY UTILITIES AVAILABLE ONLINE FOR THIS, as none of them (at least the ones I have seen) actually work as advertised, you just pay for useless software.

Dell does have the information, you may need to pry a bit before they give it to you.
Make sure you get BOTH passwords. And they are different for every machine.

(I am sure there are repeats, but they do not just use the same one all of the time..)

Hope this helps.

(Also answered on the same thread under Operating Systems..)

 

[Aimster]

bought a stolen laptop?

 

[Maxspeed996]

you should read the thread.

 

[Aimster]

Originally posted by: Maxspeed996
you should read the thread.

yeah I did. I think you found/bought a stolen laptop or bought one.

clever story.

 

[ubercaffeinated]

Originally posted by: Aimster

Originally posted by: Maxspeed996
you should read the thread.

yeah I did. I think you found/bought a stolen laptop or bought one.

clever story.

having such little faith in people will make life hard on you!

i hope op can fix this problem with ease!

 

[Maxspeed996]

Yea , he got it taken care of Friday morning. Aimster , I wonder why you would have such a pessimistic attitude towards someone that you know absolutely nothing about.
I've been doing this long enough to know better than to mess with a distributed machine such as you say.....
Something like that would be totally worthless to someone like me. To everyone else that offered suggestions , and comments , I appreciate the time you took to try to help a guy out.
But like I said earlier , it was mainly a manly thing for me to be able to fix something for my little brother. I always have in the past. And this time...I was beaten by Dell (tears). I am no longer the computer Guru that he's blown me up to be. But at least he's got it unlocked and rocking and rolling. That's all that really matters.

 

[Fraggable]

I really feel for you and your loss of Guru status. I'm my brother's tech support only he's my big brother. I'd feel horrible if something like this happened to him, I sort of take it personally to make sure his stuff stays backed up and secure. That's kinda hard when I'm 500 miles away.

Glad he got it fixed. I was fixing to offer to help if you were in the Cincinnati area but it's all over now.

I vote to ban Aimster.