Bios config password

Question

I have a D600 lattitude which some one has set a BIOS config password on and now cant remember it, I do have the ADMIN password is there a way in or do I have to spend hours on customer supports phone system?

Ed C · Answer

Yes you need to call Dell tech support and prove ownership of the system. If you are not the owner but you are trying to help the owner get all the info from him before calling. Other wise you are SOL.

leduke30 · Answer

Did I understand correctly? You do have the Admin Password? If you do, you use it 1st to enable Configure Setup. When you have done that , you use it again to Disable Admin Password. The instruxtions for this is on the right hand side of the page when you highlight an entry. The Configure Setup does not use a different password; I think the other owner is confused. There are only 3 passwords that can be set in BIOS, Primary, Admin, and Harddrive; no others.

Ed C · Answer

I think he has the OS Admin password. But hay I could be wrong.

leduke30 · Answer

As I said previously in this thread,  the Admin Password is also the Configure Setup Password. You use it first to enable Configure Setup and then again to disable the Admin Password. When you disable the Admin Password , the Configure Setup line disappears. Read my previous post.

morganda · Answer

Hello all,

I'm new to this forum so forgive me (and inform me) if I'm breaking any forum conventions.

I have a similar password problem. My laptop was stolen from the school where I work about ten days ago and 'found' again on Monday. Presumably, the thief couldn't get by the passwords to get into XP or into RedHat so decided to play in the BIOS instead.

Some passwords were set in the BIOS preventing me from getting anywhere. After 14 hours spent on various phone calls to Dell support (?) in Hyderabad, India, I was given a hard drive password that allowed me to get into my OSes. But the Configure Setup password is also set so I can't change anything in the BIOS.

Strangely, Dell appears to have some master passwords for the hard-drive password (and also for the Admin password, I think) but not for the Config setup password. They're sending a technician with a new motherboard for me! (Under the service contract, I presume). This seems a bit of overkill. Or an oversight from Dell when building or spec-ing the BIOS. But I've had such a lot of conflicting information from support that it is quite possible that the people I've been dealing with don't really know what the problem was - after about the first 12 hours of discussion they told me the solution was a new hard drive and I had to explain for the umpteenth time that the problem was in the BIOS.

Does anyone know whether this is a real problem with the BIOS and Dell doesn't have a master password? Or is there a fix that will allow me to alter BIOS settings again?

Thanks,

Dave

morganda · Answer

Thanks for your prompt response. I had read your post.

Unfortunately, my Admin password was set by the thief. It is enabled and unknown. And it cannot be changed because (quoting the BIOS documentation on the rhs of the security settings page) "the 'Admin password' field is locked until the Configure Setup field is enabled". And I need the Configure password for that.

I think Dell has a master password to unlock the Admin password. But they don't appear to have one for the Configure password.

I have the A10 BIOS. I have tried to revert to an earlier BIOS (A06) but I can't boot from a floppy with my current boot order. Sort of a Catch-22.

Dave

leduke30 · Answer

It will not do you any good to revert to an earlier BIOS. The passwords are stored on a different chip and messing with the BIOS does no good at all. There is NO Configure Password; as I said the Admin Password takes care of both the Admin and the Configure, same word for both. If  Dell will change the M'board, that is probably the course you should take. If you insist on updating or downgrading the BIOS, pull your CDROM and Harddrive out and boot from a Floppy Diskette only. If it checks for those missing drives and does not find them, you get a boot from the Floppy as it is the only thing left.

DELL-Corey · Answer

morganda,

We do have the master password for your system’s BIOS, but if it does not work then there is something wrong with your BIOS and it would need to be repaired.
Us sending out a motherboard will indeed

sh4d0w · Answer

i have a similar problem except i cant get the infromatin needed .... a friend of mine bought a laptop from a thrift store and when he got it home discoverd that he couldent even get it to turn all the way on it always stoped him at a white screen saying the computer was protected by an admin password . When he went back to the thrift shop to ask about the owner and infromatin he was told that they didnt know the infromation and they had lost contact with the owner and that was why they were selling the laptop... well needk\less to say my friend didnt want to just give up and get his money back so he decided to let me have a look at it ....... now i know what im looking for ive broken into the laptop using my desktop and a patch cable but i cant get this pw to go away and i cant exactly call dell.. i mean it wont even let me go into set up i thiinking i should find a way to purge the machine of its OS and instaling Xp .... but i wanted to check and see if any of you had an idea on how to make the pw go away .

leduke30 · Answer

Users of and contributors to this forum are forbidden to comment on this subject of bypassing the passwords, on pain of being ousted. Talk to Dell support. I can tell you that the Password(s) generating the White Screen is a Primary or Harddrive Password, or both. The Admin Password does not prevent a boot or entry into the BIOS setup. It just prevents you from changing any of the BIOS settings Message Edited by leduke30 on 02-07-2004 02:05 PM

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Bios config password

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