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How to reset bios password

J

jdini76

Platinum Member
I have recently acquired an IBM thinkpad. I am trying to change some settings on the bios, but I don't have the password. If I press enter at the password prompt, it lets me in with limited user control. So I was wondering if anybody knows how to reset the bios password.

Thanks
 
It has been my experience that some of the more recent (couple of years?) bioses will not lose the password by removing the battery or moving the "clear cmos"jumper. I did run into a Dell Optiplex that had a jumper specifically for removing the password.
 
If the PC boots into an OS, then it has a Supervisor Password (SVP) set.

There is no way to reset it without the original password. If the password
needs to be changed without the original, it requires changing the mainboard.
 
How good are your soldering skills?

There is no way to change/reset the password, you'll have to find out what the old password was.

Here is a site that will tell you step by step how to do it. It will cost about $50 total.

I have done this before, its not easy but it works.

http://www.ja.axxs.net/unlock/password_recovery.htm


If you think this option is over your head, you can find sites that will use this same process and do it for you. You can even find people on ebay who use this process (if you trust them) that will do it for you.
 
Good move! Unlike desktops, laptop BIOS passwords are pretty tricky. In order to act as a barrier to the constant threat of thievery - they are often not user resettable at all, but have to be sent back to the OEM.
 
IBM Thinkpad passwords - screwed you are... Yoda.

get passwords from original owner or mucho trouble ahead.

.bh.
 
Originally posted by: jdini76
I have recently acquired an IBM thinkpad. I am trying to change some settings on the bios, but I don't have the password. If I press enter at the password prompt, it lets me in with limited user control. So I was wondering if anybody knows how to reset the bios password.

Thanks
Click to expand...

There are two ways to clear a cmos; one involves partital disasembly and the other may be done through software.

The Ultimate Boot CD contains a program the is desgned to reset a CMOS password. I have not personaly tried it yet, but I assume that it works.

The second way is to crack it open by removing the keyboard and pressing a CMOS reset button or moving a jumper. Somewhere on the motherboard there should be one of those two things with the words CMOS labeled next to it or near by. IF it is a jumper move it to the other posisition and turn the laptop's power on for a minute, then turn it off and put the jumper back to where it was. You should be good to go.

If you cannot find the jumper or reset button (some compaq's have buttons instead of jumpers) look for some type of removeable battery on the motherboard and take it out for a few hours. When you do that also make sure that the main battery and power cord are disconnected.
 
What good is a BIOS password if it can be gotten around? this reminds me how computer security is such a joke. A bios password should be bulletproof.
 
Originally posted by: compusaguy
What good is a BIOS password if it can be gotten around? this reminds me how computer security is such a joke. A bios password should be bulletproof.
Click to expand...

Exactly! That is why a great deal of thought and care should be exercised before ever setting one up.

 
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