reseting laptop bios

nod32 · July 14th, 2008

I'm fixing a laptop for someone. Every time it turns on it asks for a bios password. Seeing as I can't get into the OS, I downloaded the manual and re-seated the RTC battery. I tried it right after and it still asked for a password, so I figured it must be unplugged for longer. I googled it and it said somewhere that for a desktop pc, it should be unplugged for 20 - 30 minutes to reset CMOS.

How long should i leave the battery out to clear the password?

Oh and he insists he didn't set the password himself, but how else could it have happened? Malware can't do that sort of this can it?

thanks,
Nod32

nod32 · July 14th, 2008

Ok, so i let it sit for about an hour and the password is cleared

...but i get a BSOD on bootup (even in safemode). He said this had happened before the password prompt started coming up, so I know i didn't cause it. Is there anything I can try before reformatting?

edit
ok, so ill just reformat
/thread

loaderbull · July 14th, 2008

Originally Posted by nod32

Ok, so i let it sit for about an hour and the password is cleared

...but i get a BSOD on bootup (even in safemode). He said this had happened before the password prompt started coming up, so I know i didn't cause it. Is there anything I can try before reformatting?

edit
ok, so ill just reformat
/thread

Hey,

Did you try googling the error code given in the BSOD? Or try a repair install?

I know a format is nice every once in a while, but i'm assuming there was no data on the drive that needed backing up?

nod32 · July 16th, 2008

I googled but nothing solid came out of it, and there was no repair option. He said there was nothing important so i reformatted.

And then it started... I installed xp for him because he says he cant get used to vista. HP doesn't provide xp drivers so i had to find them for everything. Finding the driver for an audio/modem chip was especially difficult.

loaderbull · July 16th, 2008

Originally Posted by nod32

I googled but nothing solid came out of it, and there was no repair option. He said there was nothing important so i reformatted.

And then it started... I installed xp for him because he says he cant get used to vista. HP doesn't provide xp drivers so i had to find them for everything. Finding the driver for an audio/modem chip was especially difficult.

Realtek by any chance?

Has the re-install stopped the BSOD now?

**Mastershakes** · July 16th, 2008

Give up the make / model number - and if you still have some missing drivers let us know, we will find them.

nod32 · July 16th, 2008

No i found most of them by using the device and vendor numbers in system info and then looking them up. The one that was a mess was a Conexant modem/audio combination. Conexant doesn't provide drivers on their site and neither does HP. I had to install UAA, download vista drivers, extract them and force windows to use them. It was being identified correctly but not working. I googled it and other people were having the same problem, and I ended up using some Toshiba driver.

I think the BSOD was being caused by some sort of sata setting in the bios. A legacy mode or something like that for older OS's. It only boots when disabled.

JPRuss · July 17th, 2008

By the way, many motherboards have jumper that will reset the BIOS password, you usually just enable the jumper, turn the mother board on, then turn it off and remove the jumper and the password is then reset.

Although it's probably technically possible to create software that sets a bios password, I would think it likely. However, sometimes when you buy a machine a default password is set, or someone else could have set it possibly as a 'joke' at some point.

Glad you got it all working now !

**ElementalDragon** · July 17th, 2008

JPRuss: uuh.... this is for Laptop BIOS's..... and i don't think i've ever seen a standard, easily accessible jumper on a laptop. Usually there's a very tiny reset button on the bottom of the laptop that needs to be pressed with a pen or unfolded paper clip or something.

Also, the computer usually isn't turned on in order to reset the BIOS.

July 14th, 2008	Top \| #1
nod32 OSNN Addict Joined: February 2006 Posts: 81 Reputation: 30 Power: 73	reseting laptop bios I'm fixing a laptop for someone. Every time it turns on it asks for a bios password. Seeing as I can't get into the OS, I downloaded the manual and re-seated the RTC battery. I tried it right after and it still asked for a password, so I figured it must be unplugged for longer. I googled it and it said somewhere that for a desktop pc, it should be unplugged for 20 - 30 minutes to reset CMOS. How long should i leave the battery out to clear the password? Oh and he insists he didn't set the password himself, but how else could it have happened? Malware can't do that sort of this can it? thanks, Nod32

July 14th, 2008	Top \| #2
nod32 OSNN Addict Joined: February 2006 Posts: 81 Reputation: 30 Power: 73	Re: reseting laptop bios Ok, so i let it sit for about an hour and the password is cleared ...but i get a BSOD on bootup (even in safemode). He said this had happened before the password prompt started coming up, so I know i didn't cause it. Is there anything I can try before reformatting? edit ok, so ill just reformat /thread

July 14th, 2008	Top \| #3
loaderbull OSNN Junkie Joined: August 2005 Location: Midlands, UK Posts: 52 Reputation: 120 Power: 81	Re: reseting laptop bios Originally Posted by nod32 Ok, so i let it sit for about an hour and the password is cleared ...but i get a BSOD on bootup (even in safemode). He said this had happened before the password prompt started coming up, so I know i didn't cause it. Is there anything I can try before reformatting? edit ok, so ill just reformat /thread Hey, Did you try googling the error code given in the BSOD? Or try a repair install? I know a format is nice every once in a while, but i'm assuming there was no data on the drive that needed backing up? HP TouchSmart tx2 AMD Turion X2 RM72 4GB Ram 200GB 7200rpm 16MB Cache Windows 7 x64

July 16th, 2008	Top \| #4
nod32 OSNN Addict Joined: February 2006 Posts: 81 Reputation: 30 Power: 73	Re: reseting laptop bios I googled but nothing solid came out of it, and there was no repair option. He said there was nothing important so i reformatted. And then it started... I installed xp for him because he says he cant get used to vista. HP doesn't provide xp drivers so i had to find them for everything. Finding the driver for an audio/modem chip was especially difficult.

July 16th, 2008	Top \| #5
loaderbull OSNN Junkie Joined: August 2005 Location: Midlands, UK Posts: 52 Reputation: 120 Power: 81	Re: reseting laptop bios Originally Posted by nod32 I googled but nothing solid came out of it, and there was no repair option. He said there was nothing important so i reformatted. And then it started... I installed xp for him because he says he cant get used to vista. HP doesn't provide xp drivers so i had to find them for everything. Finding the driver for an audio/modem chip was especially difficult. Realtek by any chance? Has the re-install stopped the BSOD now? HP TouchSmart tx2 AMD Turion X2 RM72 4GB Ram 200GB 7200rpm 16MB Cache Windows 7 x64

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July 16th, 2008	Top \| #6
Mastershakes OSNN Veteran Addict Joined: July 2004 Location: Montreal Posts: 1,721 Reputation: 1040 Power: 120	Re: reseting laptop bios Give up the make / model number - and if you still have some missing drivers let us know, we will find them. So many idiots - so little time

July 16th, 2008	Top \| #7
nod32 OSNN Addict Joined: February 2006 Posts: 81 Reputation: 30 Power: 73	Re: reseting laptop bios No i found most of them by using the device and vendor numbers in system info and then looking them up. The one that was a mess was a Conexant modem/audio combination. Conexant doesn't provide drivers on their site and neither does HP. I had to install UAA, download vista drivers, extract them and force windows to use them. It was being identified correctly but not working. I googled it and other people were having the same problem, and I ended up using some Toshiba driver. I think the BSOD was being caused by some sort of sata setting in the bios. A legacy mode or something like that for older OS's. It only boots when disabled.

July 17th, 2008	Top \| #8
JPRuss OSNN Addict Joined: May 2008 Location: In the unknown Posts: 77 Reputation: 70 Power: 46	Re: reseting laptop bios By the way, many motherboards have jumper that will reset the BIOS password, you usually just enable the jumper, turn the mother board on, then turn it off and remove the jumper and the password is then reset. Although it's probably technically possible to create software that sets a bios password, I would think it likely. However, sometimes when you buy a machine a default password is set, or someone else could have set it possibly as a 'joke' at some point. Glad you got it all working now ! --- JPRuss

July 17th, 2008	Top \| #9
ElementalDragon The One and Only Joined: August 2002 Location: Lehighton, PA Posts: 3,160 Blog Entries: 3 Reputation: 1095 Power: 157	Re: reseting laptop bios JPRuss: uuh.... this is for Laptop BIOS's..... and i don't think i've ever seen a standard, easily accessible jumper on a laptop. Usually there's a very tiny reset button on the bottom of the laptop that needs to be pressed with a pen or unfolded paper clip or something. Also, the computer usually isn't turned on in order to reset the BIOS. Core 2 Quad Q9450 \| 4GB DDR2 800 \| Abit IP-35 Pro \| eVGA GTX 295+ I Love Windows 7! Has my post been helpful to you? If so, please click the to the left to add to my reputation.

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