Need help with HDD password

[romj3115]

Hi everybody!

I have a laptop and it has a HDD Password, but i forgot the password. I was wondering what can i do to take the password off or to format it. :sad:

[kc0arf]

Hello,

You can re-install windows, and during the initial setup, be sure to kill the partition, and create a new partition. I would make it a slightly different size, so that the OS is forced to re-partition and update the disk tables. Then install windows.

I hope that you do not have any data on here that needs to be rescued.

But I am also wondering if this is a special password, or the general Windows 2000 login screen that you are referring to. If that is the case, then if you have the administrator account information, you can login as the administrator and change the password in there within the Computer Management administration tool.

Christian

[dlh6213]

Hi everybody!

I have a laptop and it has a HDD Password, but i forgot the password. I was wondering what can i do to take the password off or to format it. :sad:

Is this a Dell laptop? If so, you can contact them and they'll give you a password to unlock it if you can offer them sufficient proof that you are, in fact, the owner of this laptop. This may be true with other makes as well, but Dell is the only one I know for sure.

[alc6379]

Is this a Dell laptop? If so, you can contact them and they'll give you a password to unlock it if you can offer them sufficient proof that you are, in fact, the owner of this laptop. This may be true with other makes as well, but Dell is the only one I know for sure.

True as this is, Dell's not going to be able to get past an Administrator password. It's key to know exactly what password we're talking about here.

[romj3115]

Well i try to reinstall windows but i won't let me since it has the HDD Password. When it turns on that's the first thing that ask. That's not the password that you put in windows as different users or administrator. That's the Hard Disk Drive, if that's what HDD means.

Also is a Gateway Solo.

[caperjack]

if HDD Password= A 3rd pardy password software !
http://www.soft32.com/download_25507.html

If this is the case then you may need to Fdisk ,and format the harddrive to solve the problem ,Me thinks :)

[JR85023]

Can you move the drive to another computer and try to format it there.

[dlh6213]

True as this is, Dell's not going to be able to get past an Administrator password. It's key to know exactly what password we're talking about here.

He said it was a HDD password, not an Administrator password; I've dealt with this before and the only way is to contact the vendor that I could find. Someone else suggested putting it in another computer, which he can try, but it didn't work for me.

[dlh6213]

if HDD Password= A 3rd pardy password software !
http://www.soft32.com/download_25507.html

If this is the case then you may need to Fdisk ,and format the harddrive to solve the problem ,Me thinks :)

With an HDD password, you can't use fdisk either; if you can't get the password, you have an expensive paperweight.

I went to the link you posted and all I saw were programs to use a password, not remove one. If there is a program out there to remove this type of password, I'd sure like to have it!

BTW, a HDD is excellent protection for a laptop in case it gets stolen, but as shown here, you can't forget it! The HDD can be replaced and the computer will still be useable, but no one can get to your data.

[JR85023]

Maybe you can but in another computer and format it with Partion Magic or Acronis. Its worth a try. Or I saw this link on another forum http://rockbox.haxx.se/lock.html. Besides that you may have yourself an expensive paperweight.

[Bear]

Are you speaking of a BIOS password perhaps? If so please click HERE. You will need to know what bios chip is on your motherboard. HTH

[dlh6213]

Well i try to reinstall windows but i won't let me since it has the HDD Password. When it turns on that's the first thing that ask. That's not the password that you put in windows as different users or administrator. That's the Hard Disk Drive, if that's what HDD means.

Also is a Gateway Solo.

Contact Gateway and see if they can give you a password.

[DMR]

Are you speaking of a BIOS password perhaps? If so please click HERE. You will need to know what bios chip is on your motherboard. HTH

If it is a BIOS password that we're talking about, you might be able to reset the BIOS by: unplugging the laptop's power cord, removing the laptop's main battery, opening the lappy, and removing the CMOS battery on the motherboard. Leave the CMOS battery out of the system for a while (in some instance, up to 30 minutes), and then put it all back together.

[Killer_Typo]

If it is a BIOS password that we're talking about, you might be able to reset the BIOS by: unplugging the laptop's power cord, removing the laptop's main battery, opening the lappy, and removing the CMOS battery on the motherboard. Leave the CMOS battery out of the system for a while (in some instance, up to 30 minutes), and then put it all back together.

i was just about to say that, it sounded like a bios password and is a simple matter of reseting the CMOS

[DMR]

and is a simple matter of reseting the CMOS

Yup, should be if it's only the BIOS password.

[JR85023]

Its not a a BIOS password he said it is a HDD password look here
-->http://www.soft32.com/download_25507.html This is just one of the thousands available.

[alc6379]

Its not a a BIOS password he said it is a HDD password look here
-->http://www.soft32.com/download_25507.html This is just one of the thousands available.

That's just impossible. There has to be *some* way to be able to reformat this drive.

Trust me, if you can get the disk in a system, you can reformat it. I know of debug commands you can enter in DOS that will wipe out the drive. Heck, using the UNIX dd command correctly can simply write all 0's to the drive, effectively wiping out anything on the drive. This doesn't just reformat it-- it wipes out the partition table itself. That should do it for you, and you should be able to reuse that drive afterwards.

[DMR]

Its not a a BIOS password he said it is a HDD password...

It never hurts to clarify though- people will often mix up technical terms, and it this case the differentiation is important. :)

[romj3115]

Thanks guys,

I will just take it to give me estimate $$ of on this. I go from there. :-|

[senterstyle]

You can always try the Ultimate Boot CD. Not sure it would help, but whenever I have problems related to that I use it.

[Mrlaz]

I have tried everything off of that (Windows Ult. Boot Disk) for this particular problem. If it is the HDD password then none of them have helped me to format,copy,browse or anything. Short of retrieving name/SMART/ info about the drive it was compltely locked to all utilities. No info about the contents, partitions or table was showing up, nor was any writing to that disk going to happen, couldn't do any sort of copy/backup at all. The only last resort is to try Darik's Boot and Nuke from the beginning options of the boot disk. Here are some other things that might work now that I think of it...prolly too late for me; but let me know if you try and it succeeds. 1.: Try doing a flash upgrade on your BIOS (possibly resetting password to blank). 2.: Enter setup and disable IDE controller and HD leaving only windows setup to run on CD (I believe it would take some serious messing around to get it to install). Well, I will let you know what happens with the DBN program if it ever finishes, been over 36 mins and I can't tell if its actually doing anything short of climbing in runtime and falling in throughput. Probably shouldn't of selected the Pentagon Clean for its first pass. TTYL

EDIT-- If the problem is a cmos/bios password *(either on entering setup or powering on) you can use the CMOS Password Recover in the Windows Ult Boot Disk under Programs and Passwords. Start the program and then look for the bios you have in the window that pops up and your password will be next to it (maybe in seperate parts) between some [brackets]. Lot of times, most people use the same pw for bios/cmos and HDD.

[kpenno]

Did anyone find a solution to this problem? I have the same problem, and I suspect HDD is different from BIOS. I never set up an HDD when I got the computer, just one day it shut down and refused to do anything unless I give it the HDD. It won't boot in safe mode, won't let me reinstall operating system, nothing. Worse, Gateway won't help because my warantee expired 4 days prior. And suggestions?