How do I overriding the BIOS password, is I were to, maybe, forget it?

[Guest_imported]

I had just purchased a new system and then had to leave home for almost two months. When I returned, I remembered I had set the password, but cannot, for the life of me, remember what I set it to. I thought there was a way to reset it... like a wire or switch inside, or something like that? Can anyone help me with this foolish mistake I have made?

 

[butchrecon]

On the Mother board you will see a set (probenly lots of them) of jumpers, the jumpers should be marked with clear CMOS near it. Jumper it to the proper position to clear, then restart the PC (it may not come on so dont worry). Turn PC off and replace jumper back to original position. Then reboot. Go into the BIOS (CMOS) and reset the setting you want.

Hope this helps

 

[Sensibilium]

You could do as suggested above, which is the best way if you can find the jumper, otherwise you can always remove the battery from the motherboard, give it 5 minutes or so and put the battery back in.

Reboot and your password should be gone. If not, try taking the battery out for a little while longer. Ahdkaw
"What would you expect from a bunch of monkeys?"

http://www.sensibilium.com

 

[lisadell]

I would not remove the battery. Your motherboard manual should have instructions on how to manually reset the password. There may be a separate switch or jumber just
for the password. I would check there before clearing
whole CMOS. If you don't have a manual, they are easy to find on the internet. Email me back if you need help.

Thanks
Lisa Merchant
L&M Computer Services

 

[hwmueller]

Hi Lisa

I have a similar problem. I thought that I was removing the password by entering space bar, but instead it has restricted me to user only options, i.e. I cannot access the supervisor options (including changing the password). I have a PII laptop. How would I best go about solving this problem?

Thanks

Hans

 

[butchrecon]

The only best way to get rid of a BIOS password is to clear the CMOS. On todays newer Motherboards it will not harm anything. IDE devices will be "redetected" as for other settings those you will have to redo if need be. Removing the battery is a bad idea because you can drain or break it.

 

[rmccallon2]

I would think you should have a report showing all of your CMOS Settings, just in case you ever have to set them manually. Failing the report, do screen prints and save them. I believe you can find utilities (free shareware) on the Web that can deliver the report, by searching for them.I also think a report showing your current system and all of the IRQ's, etc. would be important. You never know when it may be necessary to change your system or re-configure it. Sometimes we just don't know what we don't know

 

[spacekowboy]

break a battery?

never heard of that one, there are often times when this is the simplest way to clear the bios/cmos

even if you have to leave it out overnight,
and they are very inexpensive, so its not an expensive item to replace...which everyone whos clock ran slow probably
already knows

X-)

 

[hwmueller]

Where exactly is this battery on a laptop? Is it accessible from the outside or do I have to open the thing up - something I would prefer to avoid??

 

[paulwood]

hwmueller,

You mention supervisor and user passwords, do you have a Panasonic laptop? If so, I think the passwords are not stored in CMOS but in non-volatile memory someplace. Taking the main and CMOS batteries out does not reset them even after two days! Panasonic suggest only they can reset the passwords, does anyone know differently?

 

[hwmueller]

nope, its a German Vobis laptop with a Phoenix motherboard.

 

[butchrecon]

Sorry I meant you can break the housing the Battery is in. :-(

 

[thadwalt]

I agree that the easiest way of solving this problem is by removing the battery form the motherboard.

 

[Sensibilium]

Unless you are really clumsy, removing the battery is often the quickest method.

However, when it comes to laptops it becomes a little more difficult, you have to consider whether opening it would void your warranty... Ahdkaw
"What would you expect from a bunch of monkeys?"

http://www.sensibilium.com

 

[paulwood]

hwmueller,

This sounds like a similar problem to the 'Panasonic Laptop' thread in this forum, the motherboard and Bios are the same as yours, suggest you take a look.

 

[thadwalt]

Well go into the control panel on your computer then go into the password icon and you can change or delete any passwords you might have on your computer.