cmos password problem

[Enigma]

I repair computers for a living. A customer has a laptop that they let one of their employees use. They had to fire the guy and before handing back the laptop he set a passord in the bios which locks the hard drive. Does anyone know how to remove the password on a movita laptop or reset the laptop cmos.

I havn't tried any software yet I was just looking for relevent info when I came across this site. The laptop is model number 271 which is a movita.

[Nox]

laptops normally have to go back to the manufacturer, and will cost you a good few $

If its an old laptop, bin it, put it that way. If there is data on the HD you want, I don't see why you shouldn't be able to take the disk out and put in another machine (via an adapter)

sw could be a bit useless, you can't get it to boot at all right? ;(

This is why the company should of set a bios admin password before handing it out... Live and learn :)

Nox

[Enigma]

The laptop isn't mine it belongs to a customer of mine. I dont think they are worried about the data they just want to get the laptop working again.

The problem is no one seems to know where the password is stored. Someone said they thought the password was stored in the hdd firmware which means even taking it out and putting it in another computer wont make any difference. If it is stored in the bios, taking the mobo battery out should clear it.

Trouble is, it takes time to take a laptop apart and I wont do it without knowing what will work. Its one thing spending time on it if its your own but when it belongs to someone else and you wont get paid if you can't fix it, its not worh spending hours on. Plus from what I've read these are tricky to get apart.

[Nox]

If it is stored in the bios

Correct, it is stored in the CMOS.


taking the mobo battery out should clear it.

Again correct, but only for a regular desktop PC. Laptops tend to have security put in place by the manufacturers so this is not possible. ie storing the BIOS settings on a chip that doesn't loose its setting when its powered off... And when I say tend, i'm referring to every single one i've even come across, but you never know some manufacturers may not. Compaq, Dell and IBM certainly do though.

Nox

[Enigma]

Thanks for the info. I always thought it was stored in the bios but different people say different things. I dont normally work on laptops but this one belongs to a customer whose desktops I do so I said I'd have a look.

From what Ive read these are not the easiest laptops to take apart so I wont do exploratory disassembly.

You think even taking the mobo battery out wont necessarily clear the password? Movita who make the laptop are not even in business any more so it can't even go back to the manufaturer. The bios is by a company called Insyde, don't no if they wrote it originally but their name is plastered all over it. I tried generic tools to clear the cmos but they don't recognise the bios, so wont clear it.

I think this is going to be scrapped. Its the sort of thing you could experiment with if it was your own but when it is a paying job you can't just spend hours working on it with no chance of getting paid. I've already spent 2 to 3 hours on the internet and at the laptop.

I've just realised where you are. I'm in Littlehampton.

[Nox]

CMOS, BIOS, same area :)

Unless its brand spanking new, its probably not worth recovering anyway.

Nox

[Enigma]

Yes but you have to check out the options before telling someone to bin it. As it stands he's going to have to take it to a specialist or use it as a door stop.

Laptops store these passwords in a special chip which wont clear on removing the mobo battery. Also the password gets put on the hdd in the area where the firmware is so there is no way to clear it from the hdd.

The bios is made by a company called Insyde so bios password crackers dont regognise it and wont work. I dont know who wrote the bios originally probably one of the main 4, Award, Phoenix, AMI, AST.

[mikeyking]

You do need to understand whether it's the power on password or HDD password that has been set. When it's asking for the password does it show a HDD sign or something else? You may get away with just changing the HDD if it's that that has the password set...

Mike

[Nox]

YI dont know who wrote the bios originally probably one of the main 4, Award, Phoenix, AMI, AST.

oddly enough, I think they are now all owned by one company, atleast the big two are - is probably half the reason the BIOS seems more resilient to change than even the floppy disk.

Nox

[djgandy]

Laptops store these passwords in a special chip which wont clear on removing the mobo battery. Also the password gets put on the hdd in the area where the firmware is so there is no way to clear it from the hdd.

This doesn't sound right. I can't see a bios interacting directly with a hard drive. It's probably preventing access through interrupts which is what a bios is there for.

Can you give some more information on your problem. How far the actual boot process goes. What the error messages are etc.

[Danno]

i used to work with a lot of older laptops at my last job and when i had one with a bios password i used to remove the mains power, remove the main battery, remove the cmos battery and leave for a day or two.

when i got back to the laptops the bios had completely reset and the passwords removed. this worked with a lot of toshiba's, compaq's, dell's and a few others.

a guide to removing the battery in this model laptop can be found here.

http://forum.novatech.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=373

[mattk]

Well just to let you know, this particular model is able to store the boot password in an area of the hard drive (cant remember what it is called). from what i tried a few years ago i was unable to remove this password.

using an extrnal connection seems like a good idea but im afraid this will not work also. you will need to get the password from the disgruntled ex-employee either that or replace the hard drive.

if it is a stright forward CMOS password just remove the battery. but from what it sounds like it is the hdd password.