Bios password help or not help ?

Question

I always feels guilty when we don't help people having a problem with their bios password . I am nearly sure that somebody stealing computers knows the way to delete the bios password . What about those people on the forum asking help to be able to use a computer bought on ebay or anywhere else ?
One day , I bought a mobo on ebay and I realised that a bios password was locking the computer . In this case , my only option was to remove the password . I was lucky to be able to remove it . Some others people have just the option to put it in the bin !

boppo · Answer

if you know how, you can't tell anyone on this forum or you will be band for LIFE.

NemesisDB · Answer

i don't feel guilty at all. *very* few people actually set their bios password and forget it (and then can't get dell to clear it). if you bought a passworded board off ebay and the seller couldn't provide the password for it, then that board was likely stolen -- feel guilty about that and the poor person who doesn't have their laptop anymore

i fully support dell's policy here -- notebooks get stolen all the time and any prevention is a good thing

boppo · Answer

well said.

Ed C · Answer

@NemesisDB wrote:

i don't feel guilty at all. *very* few people actually set their bios password and forget it (and then can't get dell to clear it). if you bought a passworded board off ebay and the seller couldn't provide the password for it, then that board was likely stolen -- feel guilty about that and the poor person who doesn't have their laptop anymore

i fully support dell's policy here -- notebooks get stolen all the time and any prevention is a good thing

Well said and I totally agree.

Bay Wolf · Answer

I too totally agree.   As for the ones buying something off of ebay, they should ask if it is password protected.  If the seller can not answer that, then I wouldn't buy it.   If they say it is password protected, tell them to remove the password and once again if they can't, don't buy it.  If they can, then you can rest assure that it probably is a legal sale.

Patmichalouski · Answer

My own experience on ebay was with a power seller and his feedback was very good .There was no way to find this password .Luckily I found a very simple way to remove the password just with a very little unexpensive tool and no chip .This was my aim I said on the first post that I beleive most of the people honest coming on this forum and asking for help . Right now I have never given any help with removing any password but I am really wondering since I had my experience !
It's very easy to say no and to judge quickly somebody .

NemesisDB · Answer

leduke, buying from a corporate sale or surplus is one thing ... buying the computers (or boards) from ebay or a local pawn shop (or flea market) is another.

i think we'll all agree that on ebay, buyers should ask the seller in advance if the board is passworded. if they can't tell you or are selling 'as is', I don't think it's worth buying (or paying much). if they lie on that question and you used paypall or a credit card, a refund is easy.

while I sympathize with the wasted money and the negative feedback to boot, you have no proof that that board wasn't stolen. i don't know why you would assume it was legit if he wouldn't provide you with help?? this gets back to the initial point of the OP that the people who buy the stolen boards are often victims too ... but I still think it is good policy to not make it easy to break bios passwords, because I do think it discourages sales and thus theft of such items.

If I needed a new board I wouldn't buy one with a password on it (even if I thought I could clear it, and I'm by no means sure that I could) unless I knew the source first hand.

To sum up, I agree with part of what you're saying. I doubt that the actual theives come on to these forums very often to ask how to crack a password -- I agree that it's much more likely to be an innocent buyer. I just don't think it matters.

Message Edited by NemesisDB on 03-14-2006 01:46 AM

leduke30 · Answer

While a certain percentage of Passworded laptops are likely to be stolen, let me relate a personal experience. I bought a CPiA on Ebay from a CEO of a large Gas co. in Kentucky. Nothing was said about Passwords in his listing, but when received it had an Admin Password locking the BIOS. I emailed the guy and he refused to give me the Password, do a transfer of ownership or help in any way. He also refused a refund. I ended up having to replace the M'board and on top of everything else, the guy left me negative feedback on Ebay because of my persistence. I also have a dealer friend in NH who buys laptops by the flat, most of them come from defunct firms and many are Passworded. He replaces the EEProm chips using a Wave SMT soldering machine, something that is out of the question for the average laptop buyer.

So do not be so quick to judge; I was at first in agreement with you all, but not now after that experience.

Patmichalouski · Answer

In my case ,when I buy a mobo from an USA seller , the shipping cost for the seller is 14 USD . Because I live in France , the only tracking way is to use UPS or Fedex .They cost me at least 60 USD if I want a proof for paypal and to be refund .
I don't have any option than to keep it to try to solve my problem . What should I do ?
To give a bad feedback for a powerseller doesn't mean anything but for me ,it's a bad solution .

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Bios password help or not help ?

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