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145032
March 12th, 2014 22:00
M14x, Resetting bios to factory settings
A friend of mine has M14x (not sure if R1 or R2) that he's trying to sell before college so he can get a cheaper laptop for school, and he's trying to reset everything to factory defaults but he forgot or maybe never knew the BIOS password and it's all completely locked down. I've tried removing the CMOS battery and putting it back in but that didn't do anything, I read somewhere online that you can reset it by "jumping the motherboard" with a jumper switch but I can't find one in the m14x (if there even is one. I looked through the alienware forums on here and couldn't seem to find anything to help me so i decided to post my own question, but if this is a repost my apologies guys.
Alienware-Naomi
1.8K Posts
0
March 13th, 2014 18:00
Hi!
I recommend to first try to update the BIOS to the latest version depending what M14x revision he has. He can find the latest updates on the Support page. That might override the settings and remove the password.
Resetting the CMOS battery will only work if you disconnect it for at least 5 min before putting it back, but this is advanced troubleshooting as you may know, because you have to disassemble the entire system. Here's a disassembly video if you wan't to check.
He can also try to restore just the software by using AlienRespawn or do a Clean Windows Installation.
XxazeaelxX
2 Posts
0
March 18th, 2014 23:00
Alienware-Naomi
1.8K Posts
0
March 19th, 2014 10:00
Did you go through the whole disassembly video until minute 06:55 when he removes the CMOS battery?