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July 24th, 2022 17:00
Hdd password PLEASE HELP
Hdd password PLEASE HELP
Ok I have a laptop my dad gave me has been in storage, upon cleaning storage out I found it again and have no clue what hdd password was I would ask my dad(he gave me laptop) but he passed due to covid last year. After wrong pw entered twice gives unlock key hint 82e63396..... can someone help me out plz
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ejn63
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July 24th, 2022 17:00
There are two parts to a hard drive password - the part stored on the mainboard and the part stored on the drive. There is no way to recover a lost password. You will need to call Dell support. Upon verification of ownership, they will unlock the system board.
After that you have a choice to make: if you do not need the data on the drive, the less expensive option is to simply replace the drive. Note, though: do not install a new drive until the system board is cleared, or the replacement drive will inherit the unknown password.
If you do have data on the drive, it will need to be sent to a data recovery service (Gillware, Ontrack, Drive Savers, etc.) to have the password cleared. The cost will vary but expect a couple of hundred dollars in service charge at minimum.