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June 23rd, 2011 22:00
HDD (ATA) Password via BIOS - Same HDD, But PW Doesn't Work in New Dell
I'm hoping to get the attention of a moderator (Terry?) -- or any knowledgable person -- to help me with this issue...
It's quite simple:
Old Dell Inspiron E1705: I had set 3 BIOS passwords on it:
#1) BIOS Master
#2) BIOS User
#3) HDD (probably 'User') via BIOS -- for ease, I set it as same pw as #2
When booting, I could enter either #1 or #2 to proceed with booting. If I entered #2, I was *not* prompted for the HDD password since it was the same -- the BIOS saved me a needless step. Cool. (It's been a while, but I think if I entered #1, then I also was prompted for #3.)
Oh shoot! My video card (or motherboard) just fried (unrelated to hard drive issues) and I need to access my data. So, I move the pw-protected HDD to a new Dell XPS laptop system I just bought. I pop it in, and as I expected, I'm prompted for a HDD password, whether or not I have a Master or User BIOS pw set in that new machine.
The problem: entering the same HDD password I'd used for that exact HDD on the old Dell laptop for years *doesn't work* when the HDD is in the new laptop. This is very frustrating. What's going on?
I'm very clear about which passwords I've set for which places - BIOS, HDD, old machine, new machine, etc. And I'd tried them all for this issue, but no cigar.
Any ideas?
There was some rumor I read on a thread in this forum years ago that the HDD password that's set is encrypted first by Dell/BIOS, not the raw characters entered by the user. Is this true? This seems like an unnecessary -- and counterproductive -- step. A simple password for the HDD should remain the same no matter where it's placed.
Any help would be appreciated - thanks much!
-jake898
clint1974
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June 24th, 2011 03:00
Can you not put the HDD back in the old machine and boot to bios and remove/reset password ?
ejn63
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87.5K Posts
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June 24th, 2011 05:00
One of the downsides of the hard drive password is that it's stored in a user-inaccessible portion of the drive. You can't move the drive to a new system and read the drive -- what you'll need to do is have a company that is so equipped, remove the password. The cost should be about $100 US to have it done.
Password protecting drives makes it all the more essential that you keep backups - because as you now know, you can't just mount the drive in another system and read it.
www.nortek.on.ca is one company that can remove the password.
speedstep
9 Legend
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47K Posts
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June 24th, 2011 07:00
Drive Savers will get your data back.
They won't charge you if they cannot recover your data.
DriveSavers Data Recovery - PC World: How to Recover (Almost) Anything
jake898
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June 24th, 2011 23:00
Thanks, everyone, for your responses and help.
My replacement video card arrived in the mail today ($240 on eBay vs. the $550 Dell was asking), and with some pushing and shoving I managed to get it installed in my old laptop. It worked -- I got video back, and I was able to thus get into the BIOS and remove the HD password.
I haven't tried the drive in another computer yet, but feel confident that with the pw removed, it should be readable.
Good to know there are services out there that can bypass the pw, if needed.
BTW, I noticed that the BIOS in my old Dell is made by Dell, whereas the BIOS in the new Dell is good ole Phoenix. I think I prefer the Dell BIOS -- it has many more options. ... Anyhow, maybe the difference in BIOS brands effected the HD pw set.