Cannot Unlock Bios Password On Dell Latitude 1

[AcquisitiveOne]

I accidently forgot my admin bios password on a dell laptop. I always used the user password to gain access to the computer. When I finally decided that I really didnt want to use this feature I disabled the user password thinking the admin password was only needed if you wanted to access the bios settings. Then when i booted my computer it is still asking me for a bios password. Now I can no longer get in to my laptop because it asks me for a password which im guessing is the admin one which i forgot. Stupid Mistake Really. But I need to get to the files ASAP. Dell will not help me because I need to change the ownership from the person I bought it from. Which they said could take up to 30 days once i get the paperwork. Can someone please help me.
Thx in advance!!!!

 

[DRendar]

COSMOS? *G*
Isn't that what I suggested on 4th Sept?

LOL

The CMOS battery is considered User servicable, Its probably under one of the flaps on the underside of the unit.

Try looking under the Memory upgrade flap, they are not going to make something as volotile as the CMOS battery inaccessible.

*********************
Please Note Everyone!!!!!!!
*********************

If you have a locked BIOS You should try this first before looking for a Master password!
Also note that I did my A+ about 5 years ago and this is the standard response for a locked BIOS.

Remove Power & Battery, then remove CMOS battery, wait a few minutes then reconnect.

This will work on ALL desktop machines, and most Laptops, the only reason that I wont say it will work on all laptops, is because its guaranteed that if I do, someone will say that it doesnt on thiers. (Murphys Law

 

[GoLdFiNgeR]

Removing batteries doesn't work anymore, we are in 2001, smell the coffee!
There are only two ways:
1) have the master password
2) find the eeprom chip, gett an eeprom programmer, desolder with hot air or you can try to "clip" the eeprom, backup the data and run "cmaspwd/d/l eeprom_backup" and if you don't see the password fill the eeprom with 00 or FF.
Now, which one you like better?

 

[DRendar]

True, but You can bet 99% of the people who have this problem dont have machines that were built within the last couple of years, otherwise they would be able to use the Dell Service contract that came with their machines...

Mines a Laté!

LOL

Dash

 

[GoLdFiNgeR]

It's also true that in 80% of these cases people haven't really "forgot" the password and cannot use Dell service!
...hmm?!

check:

http://www.ElfQrin.com/docs/biospw.html

http://www.sans.org/infosecFAQ/travel/sec_info.htm

X-)

Greetings

 

[DRendar]

Too True ;-)

hahahaha!

Dash

 

[AcquisitiveOne]

I agree with goldfinger too. But to those people who have legitamate problems with thier Bios for whatever reason there has to be a way around the Bios. Ive heard of so many things on how to fix this problem but with a laptop you cant just take the battery out very easily even for a tech. Its very difficult to put back together solving a problem with the Bios this way will probalby lead to other problems with your Laptop or CPU. Especially for the average user! Acquisitive - 1. Characterized by a strong desire to gain and possess. 2. Tending to acquire and retain ideas or information

 

[Guest_imported]

I have disconnected the power source, removed the big battery and removed what I think is the coms battery (looks like 5 watch batteries bundle together with a plug in) over night. It did not work and it is a 233 so I assume it is over 1 year old. Any suggestions would be helpful. This is a Dell Latitude CPi 233ST.

 

[speedster]

So battery removal does not work with a CPI. It does seem that in all the suggestions & answers here, that no one has actually been sucessful at removing a DEll password, are Dells that special? (I have a device for Toshiba's that plugs into the parallel port & removes the password)

And before anyone asks, no I don't use it for dodgy Laptops, again I had some Toshiba ex-corparate machines passworded, saw this device for Auction on Yahoo, and took a chance, it worked, but only on Toshiba's?

Ray

 

[GoLdFiNgeR]

Send your tag number to me and I'll see if I can generate a good one for your machine.
If you don't know what the tag number is... well, is the one that appears on your screen when you boot up or service number.



valmer@excite.com

 

[speedster]

Hi Goldfinger,

I don't if that was for me (XPI) or the previous post (CPI)
But I am away at the moment and will be back in 10 days time.

I will have a look at the tag No (don't remember that coming up though)

But if there are tag No's I will e-mail them

Regards

Ray

 

[speedster]

Although my XPI's are early laptops, I got the following reply on a NG I posted on, so if an early laptop BIOS password is flashed into the EEprom, as someone on an earlier post on this foram/topic suggested, then any later ones are as well.

:-( :-(



> The password on a Dell XPI is stored in an EEPROM. There are thousands of
these on the ex corp market at the moment, many with unknown passwords. We
can remove them for £27.00 per notebook if the mainboard is stripped out and
sent to us.
Danny.
Clones UK

 

[gwinn7]

Here are some other alternatives to clearing a password protected BIOS...

1. Check for a BIOS Password Jumper (yes, a jumper!).
The old GxPro computers had a jumper that allowed or restricted a user from setting a password. All I did, was remove the jumper and I bypassed the password.

2. OK, maybe battery removal may not work, but make sure the computer's power supply to the motherboard was disconnected when you pulled the battery out. It is possible that the CMOS chip was getting power from the power supply while plugged in. Learned that by experience.

3. Short the battery out for about 5 min.

Gary
gwinn7

 

[GoLdFiNgeR]

Well, mine is a Latitude C800. I took it in pieces at least 5 times and there's no bloody jumper in it.
Now I'm going bananas.
Dell friend needed !!!

 

[Guest_imported]

Let's clear it out in easy words!
The eeprom is pre-programed and once it stores the infos, like the password, it doesn't need any power supply to hold those informations.
You can unplug the cmos battery for years and the eeprom doesn't care. Dell has learned about the jumper thing long time ago and now there's no more jumpers in their laptops, believe me.
Good job, Dell !
B-(

 

[Guest_imported]

is someone knows what is the default bios password on dell latitude laptop?

 

[Tucker9]

Been through all these posts and wanted to let you guys know that any relatively new Latitude or Inspiron laptop will have a unique master password generated by the code that appears when you boot the system. If a HDD password is set, it will even prompt for that if you pop the hard drive out and slide it into another machine.

I looked up several of the tags posted in here, and if you don't have customer information for the system's original owner, just do the transfer of ownership form on the web and someone at Dell will contact the original owner and find out if the system is missing or was sold off. If they don't exist, they have six weeks to write back, or the system becomes yours.

Once it's yours, simply call in and request a bios password. I provide at least two a day and deny many more, and the people who are buing them from auctions still seem afraid to go fill out the ownership forms.

If you have questions you can write to tag_team@dell.com.

 

[speedster]

Hi,

Well I have read your suggestion that I should fill out an ownership form but cannot seem to get anywhere, or even find it

I am in the position you mention in your posting, I bought online a passworded ex-corporation Dell Cpi A400xt. but have been going around in circles on the dell site tonight for over 4 hours.

I have e-mailed your tag_team address and see if I can get some pointers.

Regards

Ray

 

[neomagic]

The last time I ran into this problem all I did is update the BIOS and the update reset the BIOS to factory defaults and budda bing I was back in the BIOS and back up and running. Remember BIOS updates can be very dangerous things in the hands of the novice. I recommend that anyone with a legit laptop call the manufacturer and do the paperwork.

 

[Guest_imported]

I know this topic has been dead a long time, by the look of it, but as a Dell buyer myself (I love Dell notebooks) I have to tell you guys that Dell is second to none when it comes to customer relations. I called them today about just this subject before I found this thread and the transfer of ownership option was immediately relayed to me. Dell keeps impeccable records of their systems and who they belong to. Over the course of the last year, I have bought six used Dell notebooks, all of them champs! I am even sending this message on one of them as we speak and have another that I bought at auction on my lap right now (with a password protected bios if you hadn't already guessed).

In any case, I have always noted that, at least where simple questions are concerned, even for those systems that are out of warranty, Dell always takes the time to answer questions. I have forever admired them for that. There is only one other company that comes to mind that did such a thing to my memory and they are long since extinct that I know of...AST.

For those that have a locked password on a Dell system, I strongly recommend you visit their site and fill out their transfer of ownership form for your country. It takes a few minutes to fill it out and then, from their literature, it could take as long as 45 days for it to clear. But after that, they WILL give you the boss password to get in.

For those that cannot find it, go to

http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/document.asp?DN=1011182#1ststep

That will get you to the form and to the first step and you can get your Dell legitimized for you so that you can get that password you need.

- BB_XPress

 

[Guest_imported]

I just used a guy who sells unlock codes on Ebay. He has a great reputation and I got back into my laptop faster than I could think up and write feedback on his awesome service. I found him by going to Ebay.com and searching for latitude and password. I sent him my service tag, and he sent me an unlock code within a few hours, and *BLAM* I was in my system within a few keystrokes. The guy is great and I highly reccommend you look him up.

Good luck,
Carlos