Swapping Motherboard to get past password

[Da575Raida]

If I swap out a motherboard on a Dell Inspiron 1521 laptop will I be able to get access to BIOS? I am currently working on this laptop and I do not access to BIOS. It is requiring a password that I do not have. I have tried to reset the BIOS by pulling the CMOS battery to no avail. I also took apart the laptop to try to find a jumper to reset it that way and again to avail. Any help on this??

 

[chimaxi83]

If I swap out a motherboard on a Dell Inspiron 1521 laptop will I be able to get access to BIOS? I am currently working on this laptop and I do not access to BIOS. It is requiring a password that I do not have. I have tried to reset the BIOS by pulling the CMOS battery to no avail. I also took apart the laptop to try to find a jumper to reset it that way and again to avail. Any help on this??

The BIOS is a part of the motherboard. If you swap the board, you now have a new BIOS. If the motherboard is new, the BIOS won't have a password lock.

 

[Da575Raida]

Thats what I thought, just want to make sure since I spent a bit of $ on a new hard drive. Thanks for the info.

 

[jumpncrash]

you could try looking for a password reset jumper first...

 

[denis280]

go there.http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2244031&highlight=dell+password&page=2

 

[denis280]

So did it work

 

[Da575Raida]

I looked for the jumper and could not find one. Also, I tried a dell password generator and still no luck. Thanks for your help guys! I think I'm gonna go with a different mobo. Unless anyone else has any more ideas.

 

[denis280]

the best i could do is to give you that link.

 

[Da575Raida]

Thanks denis280, I looked at that thread extensivley. It was the reason I signed up for this forum. Good info. I am trying to contact Arkaign, but since I am new here, I have to post something like 25 times to contact an admin. So if one of you guys could get in contact with him, have him PM me. Thanks again!!

 

[denis280]

message gone.good luck

 

[Da575Raida]

Thanks!

 

[Arkaign]

PM sent to him I'll see what I can cook up.

 

[BUnit1701]

Bear in mind that the password may be set on your hard drive, not the motherboard. At least that is how the passwords are set up on our corporate Dell machines.

 

[Smoblikat]

If you replace the motherboard you will have to re-program the service tag, and motherboard "style". Make sure you get the service tag right, otherwise it could spell bad news if you care about warranty/having the correct system information. Generally when installing a new board you have 3 - 6 selections of motherboard "style", usually you program it for style 1, but unless you have access to the Dell logs/information you could potentially brick your system by selecting the wrong choice.

Source - Me, I am a Dell IT tech

 

[Da575Raida]

I still can't send Ark a message! Anyway, here is the service tag #FQ97VF1-595B.
I appreciate it!!

 

[Da575Raida]

Bear in mind that the password may be set on your hard drive, not the motherboard. At least that is how the passwords are set up on our corporate Dell machines.

If that was the case, I should still be able to get into BIOS to boot from the cd drive. That's all I am really aiming for. I don't care what's on the hard drive, I am going to DBan it anyways. The problem here is that I can't even access BIOS. I have tried everything I could including swapping hard drives with no avail. Once I hit F12, it just takes me back to the "pw needed" screen.

 

[Da575Raida]

PM sent to him I'll see what I can cook up.

Still can't PM you. But the ST# is above.