Harddrive password

higster

I've an old laptop that i haven't used in ages...was planning on giving it to the in-laws to try and get them into using pc/internet etc. They (and especially I) don't want to spend money on a new pc/laptop because the chances of them staying with it are low. Anyhow, when I went to use it the harddrive is password protected and for the life of me I can't remember what the bleeding password is.

So the question is does anyone know how I can get around it...doesn't matter if need to do a complete wipe of harddrive but when I try and use the original windows cd it still looks for password...any ideas?

Thanks.

jum4

are you sure it's a hardrive password and not a bios password?

higster

hmmm, don't know. how can i tell?

jor el

Does the laptop boot at all? Can you boot from the Windows install disc?

If you can then it's not a BIOS password. When you re-install Windows did you choose a complete or repair install? A repair will not erase the current user accounts or passwords. Choose a complete install and overwrite the current one and you can set new users and passwords (or leave the password blank).

zilog_jones

If it's a BIOS password (i.e. something that comes up before Windows starts), you may need to reset the BIOS somehow. I remember finding some magical program from some Russian website that somehow tricks a BIOS into resetting itself - I used it to reset the BIOS on a laptop which had the BIOS menu password protected.

Thrill

What OS is it? 98, xp??

EDIT: Try this site. scroll down to free tools and you will find free software that may solve your problem.

http://www.petri.co.il/forgot_administrator_password.htm

hope this helps.

jman0

If it's a BIOS password then at worst case, you gotta remove the CMOS battery for a minute to reset the BIOS to default (which will wipe out the pw you set).
But getting at it inside a laptop could be interesting....or not.