Tom's Guide | Tom's Hardware | Tom's Games
 |
 |
 |
Hi Guys
A friend has a problem with his laptop. He set a BIOS password that he says he has been using for 2-3 days without incident and now it is telling him his password is incorrect. We have tried all the usual stuff i.e. caps lock, different passwords/backdoor passwords but none seem to work. He cannot get at the CMOS battery to reset it and can't even get into BIOS to reset the password.
Any suggestions on how to fix the problem?
Matt
Sponsored LinkResponse Number 1 Reply:
I understand the need to figure out the password, but I do find this statement puzzling..."he says he has been using for 2-3 days without incident". Why is he constantly having to access the BIOS in the 1st place??
If he has a floppy drive, do a search for a program called KILLCMOS.
0
Response Number 2 Reply:
Ah yes, he isnt actually trying to access the BIOS its a pssword set through the bios that needs to be typed in before the laptop will boot to windows or access the bios. And unfortunately he has no floppy drive.
Response Number 3 Reply:
In that case it isn't a bios access password, it's a system access password.
Clearing the cmos will not get rid of the passwords on this relatively recent laptop - they are stored on a chip on the mboard, not in the cmos itself, and the contents of that chip can't be erased by removing the power to it.
The easiest way to get out of this jam is to have him remember what the password is and how he entered it - upper case, mixed case, lower case, whatever.
Laptops do not normally suddenly malfunction and not accept passwords, but it is very common for people to acquire used laptops really cheap that have a password on them the seller didn't know and they don't know -the laptop was stolen - and attempt to find out how to get rid of the password by pretending something suddenly went wrong. At another website I answer questions at, I would estimate we have gotten maybe a hundred such questionable requests.
If he can prove he is the legitimate owner of the laptop he should have no trouble contacting the Acer website or a qualified local Acer repair place and getting a solution to this problem - a master password, or whatever.
Response Number 4 Reply:
Thanks for the reply Tubesandwires, though i don't appreciate the insinuation of questionable motives. He could not contact Acer tech support last night as they were closed because it was Sunday. I haven't spoken to him today but I should imagine he will have contacted tech support by now. For future reference not everyone is going around stealing laptops; there are some people who have morals in this world, try not to be so skeptical all the time.
Sponsored Link
Post LockedThis post is quite old and has been locked from receiving new replies. Please create a new posting instead.
Go to General Hardware Forum Home
Sponsored links
Ads by Google
Results for: Acer 5601 BIOS Passwordbios passwordSummary: i cant remember my bios password of my laptop acer 3680. cause almost 2 months i did'nt use it. What should i do? And i cant access my laptop.. ...
www.computing.net/answers/hardware/bios-password/58325.html
acer 230 phoenix bios passwordSummary: i dont know my phoenix bios password i have taken the battery out did not work and i have tryed putting pheonix in as password and this did not work please help. ...
www.computing.net/answers/hardware/acer-230-phoenix-bios-password/58498.html
DELL BIOS PASSWORD CPi266XTSummary: Need Bios password for Latitiude CPi D266XT Service tag WT490 DP/N 0009321c-12800-985-3970 ...
www.computing.net/answers/hardware/dell-bios-password-cpi266xt/10581.html
