Today I've had a case with an Acer Aspire 1350 which had his bios locked with a password and I couldn't boot from a cd to install windows because the boot up menu was set up to boot from hard disk first. I've tried to remove its hdd and then connect it to a different pc, install windows on it and then put it back on the laptop, but that did not work also, because of the windows protection. So after a little googling I've managed to find a code which can reset the bios password and unlock it. If you have a similar case with a locked bios and can't change the bios settings, here is what might work for you. It works with most of the old notebooks who has the same bios.
Here is the model that worked for me:
System Manufacturer: Acer Inc.
System Model: Aspire 1350
BIOS: PhoenixBIOS 4.0
Solution:
If you can't boot from the cd, Remove the hard disk from the laptop and since there is no hdd available it should boot from the cd(because the boot order in the bios is set to boot from cd if there is no hard disk)
Boot your pc in MS-DOS mode. A bootable diskette might also work, but if you don't have floppy drive, you might try with a bootable win98 or make a bootable cd with dos, just google it, you should manage to solve this)
After you get to the c:\> or c:\WINDOWS> prompt type DEBUG and then press Enter.
A hyphen(-) prompt will come up waiting for you to enter commands.
Enter the following commands, pressing Enter after each one. (Note: the o is the letter o and stands for OUTPUT).
o 70 2e
o 71 ff
q
After the q command type exit.
Restart the computer and check to see if you can enter in the bios and change the values like it should.
19 comments:
Hi,
i have an Aspire 3620, but this method doesn`t work.
Can you help me?
huda
ok, can you tell me more about your notebook? What kind of bios it uses? Is it phoenix? Also how is it locked? You can't enter the bios only or you cannot boot into your OS ? I need to know if your bios is locked only or your hard disk is locked too?
hi,
it is an Asoire 3623-100 (Model Aspire 3620).
Yes it is a Phoebnix Bios.And there is an update of the firmware (v1.06).If I want to enter Bios it is locked with a password.there is no password on the harddisk-only bios is locked.
Well then I think you some options:
1. Try the same technique that I described in my post and try some of these values, try the one for phoneix:
- REMEMBER O IS A LETTER, NOT ZERO -
AMI/AWARD BIOS
Code:
O 70 17
O 71 17
Q
PHOENIX BIOS
Code:
O 70 FF
O 71 17
Q
GENERIC
Invalidates CMOS RAM.
Should work on all AT motherboards
(XT motherboards don't have CMOS)
Code:
O 70 2E
O 71 FF
Q
2. Since you can boot from your laptop, I suggest you try flashing with the latest bios, if you know how to do it, I can't find clear information at Acer's site about flashing bios, so I suggest you ask some of the support guys there, by the way tell me where did you buy your laptop from(what region) maybe I can find some info on that too.
3. You can try a bios password cracker, you can google for one, there are a lot floathing around the net. I haven't used one myself for your model, so I can try some that works and try them these days if I can and tell you which to try.
4. If none of the techniques works for you, you may have a laptop which uses a security chip for storing the bios password. If that is the case, you will have a hard job to get into that bios. There is a lot info here maybe something will work:
http://www.go4expert.com/forums/showthread.php?t=114
P.S. Tell me what have you tried and what worked/or not. Maybe I can recreate the problem if I get my hands on the same model these days, and try to help.
I hope this helps.
Thank you very much.
But I think it is saved on a chip on the mainboard.
I have tried an Update of the bios firmware,No Chance :(
Maybe it is Point 4
But I am sure that there is an algorithm how to crack it.
I have tried point 1-3.Maybe it is point 4 :(
I think that there must be an algorithm to crack this password.
Well the best thing I can suggest now is to try to find and download the hiren's boot cd. It is a bootable cd with many good software for a pc technician, also contains many bios reseters and crackers. If you can't find where to download it, leave me an email and I will tell you where you can get it.
hello, i have a similar problem: Its a "hyrican D400S" notebook with a 4.0 phoenix bios.i can enter the bios and can modify nearly all options, too - but not the FSB respectively the clock options.in the menu
its prewritten that i can`t edit those in user mode and that i should contact the system supervisor. is there a possibility to get in "super-user" mode? and if it is so,how i can enter it?
I just flashed the bios (I've done this for many bios updates, but this time, when it ased for my hard drive password (bios password was cleared), it said it was incorrect when I entered it. I don't remember changing the password as I never had a reason to. Is there a way to bypass the hard drive password or troubleshoot this? I can access the bios settings no problem.
i have laptop of hp which has vista as operating system i want to install xp, but i am unable to do that as its bios is locked. please help me how can i do that?
i how a dell inspiron 640m. it is bios locked. cannot boot in window. cannot go into bios. what can i do unlock the bios or crack the password?
dellie
If you can still boot to the old OS...get ur self OSL2000 (Boot manager)
install on OS
run
reboot
you will see the CD option
navigate with the arrow key and hit enter
it will come up with a message..... don't click ok just yet
put the CD of ur new OS in the drive and click ok on the message
it will then boot from CD
format and start fresh
hope this helps
.
.
.
Tiyo
Wow! Thanks for the advice, SpiritFly - I had the laptop in bits and still couldn't reset the BIOs, but your tips worked first time and I can get into the BIOS again!
Hello,
I also have an ASPIRE 1350 (that's how i could find this site ;)
I'm happy that my BIOS is unlocked, but i think my Harddisc is locked..
The Hdd has some defect sectors i think. I tried to delete the partitons and format again but it didn't.
Any idea?
r3ap3r
hy , i have a blocked hard disk i ve been trying to unlock ...but i didn t made it, i have tryed diffrent things but no use ...can anyone help me or at least tell me what to do ( it s a laptop hard disk)??? ....do i have to buy another one ?
hey, I just bought a laptop from a family member and it has recently locked me out... the bios is locked and I have no clue how to fix it... What do I do? PLEASE HELP ME! I have a fujitsu lifebook p 7230 and phoenix bios lock i think... HELP?!
hi
i have hp 530 laptop and its automatically locked. when i turn it on then the message apear on the screen that hdd locked enter hdd bay password. how i can open it .
i have a laptop of toshiba it has been locked by the BIOS(system)password and now m unable to unlock the password n i gave to the engineer to open the CMOS battery from the motherboard but it does not n now m in a great trouble
I just reset the BIOS password for an Acer Aspire 3620 by shorting the jumper switch on the motherboard. It was such a pain in the butt to find the stupid switch in the first place. Then it was hard to figure out how to short the thing, but this is how to do it:
1. Follow guides on the internet to remove the keyboard. Once you do that, you have access to the jumper switch. It is labeled "sw1", but you may have a hard time reading the label, since it may be hidden and is very small. It is not a component attached to the circuit board, you just see 8 lead bulbs sticking out, similar to this:
4 3 2 1
. . . .
. . . .
5 6 7 8
You can find it by locating the keyboard connector on the motherboard. It will be directly to the left of it. Turn your laptop off. Take a paperclip and attach one end of it to pin 1 and the other end to pin 8. Keep the two pins attached via the paperclip and start up your laptop. This should take care of the problem. If not, then try the same procedure, just with different variations of connecting the corner pins (i.e. 4-5, 4-8, 1-5, 1-8 according to the diagram above). Seriously, this was a major pain and Acer Support was worthless garbage. I kept pushing them for help and they kept regurgitating the same answers. It is really pathetic. Please use this and don't pay them $100. Good luck!
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