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Hello
can anybody help me. I loaded server 2008 on my laptop. I tried to load windows 7 on to my laptop. But it would not load. So i downloaded a free program for wipping the hard drive. Iused it and now my hard drive is locked. What shpuld i do!!!!!! Please help!!!!!

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by lucky4you

Dani AI

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"Locked" can mean a few different things after a wipe. Clarify what you see: do you get a HDD password prompt at power‑on/BIOS, or does Windows/Setup say the disk is locked/unallocated? is right to ask which wiper you used. Some tools use ATA Secure Erase and, if interrupted, can leave a temporary drive password in place. If your laptop now asks for a hard drive password, you must clear it in BIOS or complete the same tool’s Secure Erase process. Without that password, no OS can access the disk. In that case, contact the tool vendor or the laptop OEM; they generally cannot remove an unknown ATA password without it, and you may need to replace the drive. ’s suggestion applies here.

If there is no BIOS HDD password prompt, the wipe likely just removed the partition table. You can reinitialize and partition the disk from Windows 7/Server media. During Setup, press Shift+F10 to open a command prompt and run:

diskpart
list disk
select disk 0   (verify this is the internal drive)
clean
convert mbr     (or: convert gpt if installing in UEFI mode)
create partition primary
format fs=ntfs quick
active          (only for legacy/MBR boot)
assign
exit

Then continue with Setup, or simply delete all partitions in the installer and let it create them. Note: "clean" erases all data.

If Setup still refuses, check BIOS: set SATA mode to AHCI (not RAID/IDE unless required), and match boot mode with partition style (UEFI+GPT or Legacy+MBR). Also run the drive maker’s diagnostic to rule out a failing disk. If diagnostics fail or you keep seeing an HDD password prompt, the drive is effectively locked and should be replaced.

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Member Avatar for Rik_

What software did you use to wipe it?

Member Avatar for lucky4you

ask the tech support of the software

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