RTC Reset is Disabled if BIOS Administrator Password is Set

Summary: This article provides information about RTC reset being disabled after setting a BIOS administrator (Admin) password.

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.
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Symptoms

Affected Platforms:

  • Latitude 5400
  • Latitude 5410
  • Latitude 5420
  • Latitude 5420 Rugged
  • Latitude 5430
  • Latitude 5440
  • Latitude 7450
  • Latitude 9410
  • Latitude 9420
  • Latitude 9430
  • Latitude 9440 2-in-1
  • Precision 7730
  • Precision 7740
  • Precision 7750
  • Precision 7760
  • Precision 7770
  • Precision 7780

Computers with a BIOS Admin password:

  • RTC Reset cannot be started
  • The computer boots normally
  • No error messages or warnings are displayed

Cause

This is a design change to prevent users without a BIOS Admin password from loading default BIOS settings over RTC Reset, which could potentially regain functionality of ports that IT Admins disabled.

Resolution

This is working as designed.

Dell Technologies is updating documentation to reflect RTC Reset limitations.

Affected Products

Latitude 5400, Latitude 5410, Latitude 5420 Rugged, Latitude 5440, Latitude 7450, Latitude 9410, Latitude 9420, Latitude 9430, Latitude 9440 2-in-1, Latitude 5420, Latitude 5430, Precision 7730, Precision 7740, Precision 7750, Precision 7760 , Precision 7770, Precision 7780 ...
Article Properties
Article Number: 000337968
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 22 Sept 2025
Version:  3
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