password for bios

Question

Need the password for BIOS. I just reformatted the hard drive and need to change the boot device order to CD first. Unfortunately, I discovered there is a password requirement that is disallowing me to set the order.

I recently purchased an Inspiron 4000 thru eBay and was not given the password. Dell said that I would need some pertinant info from the seller. I then asked the seller and was told that he didn't have it but would try and get back to me. That has been a week and still no reply.

What am I to do? I was hoping to boot from the Win XP CD for a fresh install.

I just bought a floppy drive in hopes that I could boot from it. Unfortunately, I do not know what CD I have in order to copy it to the hard drive.

Ed C · Answer

Sorry to say but if you don't get the info from the person you bought it from you have a door stop. I would send it back to that person and demand my money back. Good luck.

clazman · Answer

Yoooooooooooooooooooou have got to be kidding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

techking · Answer

if it were a desktop you could reset the password using the jumper on the mobo. But alas, there is no way around this for a notebook (unless you know what you are doing). Im a certified dell tech and the only way to get help is by having the original info on the system (there are passwords which can override the password, but the only way to obtain them is if you can prove that you are the original owner). So without that information you will not be able to do this. You would have to completely strip the notebook but without technical knowledge of the notebook i wouldnt recommend trying this yourself. Hunt down the person who sold the notebook, tie him to a chair and torture him until he gives you the password. But in many cases, these type of sales are stolen systems to begin with. Good luck!

bacillus · Answer

I should also like to point out this link which explains what help we can offer you for your password. http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_bios&message.id=16628

VBdotNet · Answer

Contact Dell and ask what is needed for an ownership transfer - what info Dell needs from the previous owner and what info (name/addr, etc) about the new owner that the previous owner needs to give to Dell.

After you get all the instructions, provide this information to the seller and ask that they contact Dell on your behalf and do an ownership transfer.

This costs the seller nothing - this way they don't need to give you the ownership info. If the seller does not want to do this then they may not have been the original owner of the machine.

Once the machine ownership has been transferred to you then Dell will be able to assist you in bypassing/resetting the bios password.

NemesisDB · Answer

I have a possible solution, but I'm checking with a mod before I post it ...  while I sympathize somewhat, you're not worth getting banned over

TheComputerDude_7aedf4 · Answer

If you have this trouble, I would ask Dell to hunt down the owner of the Express Service Code. Make sure the owner listed is the same as the person you bought it from. Contact that person, if possible, and ask if the laptop is theirs. If it is and it was stolen, turn the person you bought it from over to the authorities. They can make him give you your money back.

I don't think Dell will refuse to look it up, especially if you believe it might not have been lawfully obtained.

leduke30 · Answer

If you can boot from the Floppy-if it is set ahead of the Harddrive- in the present locked boot order, you can download a Setup Diskette Utility for W-XP from Microsoft. That will allow you to start your install from the floppy drive, and the diskettes will allow you to switch to the W-XP CD in the CD Drive without it being necessary to boot from the W-XP CD. There are 8 different varieties of these diskette sets; the links are on this linked page. I can not help you with the Password, but this may help you get W-XP installed.   http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/results.aspx?productID=&freetext=utility+Setup+disks&DisplayLang=en.

clazman · Answer

That's what I don't understand.

I do not have a doorstop!

I am writing to you via the laptop thru a wireless connection. In addition the laptop is networked with my desktop, via this wireless connection.

In other words, this laptop works just fine.

Jerry

Locked Topics – Laptops General

password for bios

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