I inherited an old Dell XPS PP09L (giant XPS backpack and all, in total weighing just over 20 lbs with power brick and manuals!) from a retiring member of our department who had no clue as to the BIOS password that had been set long ago.

I thus cannot get it to boot nor can I get into Setup - the BIOS password request stops everything, and all educated password guesses have failed. I need to make sure all documents etc. have been cleared but would like to do so without destroying the HD.

I know desktops often have a workaround via a password bypass jumper on the motherboard. What is available for this vintage laptop?