Ok, my brother is trying to format a laptop for a client of his. The problem the bios have a password, and the owner doesn't know it. He bought it used. So anyhow, how do we crack the blooming bios password?

Can you take out the BIOS battery? I'm not a big help. Probably shouldn't have posted. >_>

yeah **** you martyn

**** you, in the ear, with a cricket bat.

smellypants.

Did you try Google yet? I've never taken a laptop apart, but I imagine there's a CMOS reset jumper or something.

Stole a Thinkpad from the airport, eh?

It all depends on the type of laptop & the type of BIOS. For instance, if it's a Toshiba, there are often BIOS jumpers that you can short out (there's actually a known issue with many Toshiba's where a BIOS password gets set without the user's permission). If it's an Asus, simply shorting out the CMOS battery may work, depending on the model. Like I said, it all depends.

Aparrently my brother took it apart and tried that, but it didn't work. Any suggestions? I know, I'm stumped my self.

As I said above, if you don't know the manufacturer & model # there's not much that anyone can do for you, other than take shots in the dark. However, if you provide the needed information, you're more likely to get some help.

Taking the battery out until the charge dies is a good way, works on most bios. Just leave a good 30mins (24 hours if you're paranoid) before putting it back in. Then when you put the battery back in should be reset to defaults.

Other than that, there's nothing you can do. It's a security system and isn't made to be easy to break into.

If you the know the default BIOS password, you can try to reset it by reinstalling the BIOS (which can probably be found on the manufacturer's website). Just make sure the laptop is unplugged and running on battery power when you're doing this.

(This worked on my Toshiba laptop)

Last time I did this I just took the battery out for a night, half an hour didn't cut it.

that is because the regular battery wont do anything to the BIOS (which is powered by its own small battery, which is recharged whenever the laptop itself is turned on).

I doubt this works with any sort of modern BIOS, but I have seen BIOS that were password protected but allowed access when a significant change was made. It's a long shot, but I would do something like disconnect the harddrive and then attempt to power on.

This doesn't work on the vast majority of laptops. For instance, this will work on only about 1% of Sony laptops (PCG-K Series & maybe older ones such as the PCG-G series). However, if the external serial number matches the internal serial number (which it should as long as the motherboard wasn't swapped or the DMI updated), it's simply a matter of utilizing their tool that's used just for this occasion.

There are a few laptops out there that allow you to reset the BIOS password by shorting out the CMOS battery though. However, this can be a bit difficult if you don't have any soldering experience, because many are soldered on these days (unlike the old ones that you could simply flip over or disconnect).


There are actually quite a few things that you can do. For instance, on Toshiba laptops, as I mentioned above, there's a known issue where a BIOS password gets set without the user's permission (this actually sounds a bit like his friends computer). It's a simple matter of shorting out the jumper & updating the BIOS with the fix. How do you think the manufacturer resets the BIOS passwords? Sure, sometimes you must de-solder & solder on a new chip, but that's still a way.

If you'll simply give me the manufacturer & model # I can probably help you. I only do this about 10 times every day. The manufacturer should be quite easy to locate. The model # is typically on the bottom of the unit. If it's a Sony, the correct model # will be on the LCD bezel/mask.

I'll just go ahead & tell you now that if it's a Toshiba, the fix is quite simple. Simply disconnect the battery, locate the jumper (usually under the memory or wireless card), touch both points with a flathead screwdriver for about 30 seconds, power the unit on & remove the screwdriver once you see the Toshiba splash screen. It may take you several tries before you master this. Once you've done this, immediately go to the Toshiba website & update your BIOS to the latest version or this WILL happen again.

Remove the laptop battery and BIOS battery, let sit for a bit, put 'em back in and the BIOS settings will be reset.

At least that's my general understanding, but Mentat seems to know what he's talking about so listen to him.

Actually I meant the CMOS battery, I thought I didn't need to specify.

Or, since he or his customer is the legitimate, legal owner of the laptop, he could always try calling the technical support number for the laptop's manufacturer, report the serial number to them, and hopefully they can provide a solution that will be fast and effective.

Basically what I'm saying is that SF_GoldG_01's "brother" must be pretty awful at his "job" if he has to go to SF_GoldG_01 for help, so personally I think we can logically eliminate the concepts of "clients" and "brothers" from the original post. Considering SF_GoldG_01 has previously complained about having no money, we can also eliminate "ownership" and "buying."

That pretty much leaves SF_GoldG_01 trying to reformat a laptop he stole from somewhere.

It's Mexico, is it really such a surprise?
We're lucky he didn't kill for it.