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The BIOS should have a reset option for the case open switch. It's just a warning you toggle off in the BIOS. The idea is that only a tech would know the BIOS p

The BIOS should have a reset option for the case open switch. It's just a warning you toggle off in the BIOS. The idea is that only a tech would know the BIOS password to turn it off, so that's how you know that someone knows about it. It's also unusual that discharging the CMOS removed the boot password. It shouldn't do that. I also worked on similar desktops (they were IBM desktops from before they were spun off) and they didn't have this problem that I can recall. Very few systems had boot passwords, however. I'm certain that the BIOS passwords didn't clear this way, however, because we had a few systems that had old passwords that nobody knew. Instead, we had a copy of the tech software used to program the BIOS. You had to boot that program and use it to clear the password. HP had a similar program, but that stopped working around 2010 when the computers started to ship with a TPM and you could no longer just clear the content.

shakna 7y ago
> It's also unusual that discharging the CMOS removed the boot password. It shouldn't do that. That's actually the official way to reset the password for a number of systems. [0][1][2] [0] https://www.dell.com/support/article/au/en/aubsd1/sln170684/how-to-clear-the-bios-password?lang=en https://www.dell.com/support/article/au/en/aubsd1/sln170684/... [1] https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkStation-Workstations/How-do-I-reset-the-BIOS-and-or-password-on-my-ThinkStation/ta-p/542883 https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkStation-Workstations/How-d... [2] https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Boot-and-Lockup/how-to-remove-bios-password/td-p/6022150 https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Boot-and-Lockup/how-to...
ineedasername 7y ago
They were Compaqs at the time, but if I recall correctly, we switched to Dell at one point and it was pretty much the same situation.
hunter2_ 7y ago
> HP had a similar program, but that stopped working around 2010 Can I obtain this somehow? I have a business grade HP laptop from 2006 (nw8440 I think) and I forgot my BIOS setup password. I need to enable the NX bit to upgrade from win7 to win10! Removing the CMOS battery overnight (and all other power) did not help.
- shakna 7y ago
  You place a file you _may_ be able to get from support (called SMC.bin) onto a FAT32 USB drive, and then: 1. Power off. 2. Hold the Windows, Up arrow and Down arrow keys all at the same time. Only then hit the power button to start. 3. Release all buttons and press F10. 4. You should see something about "SMC Command" starting. 5. Press File, press "Reset BIOS security defaults" or similar. The only way to get the SMC.bin file, that I know of, is directly from HP Business Support.

shakna 7y ago

> It's also unusual that discharging the CMOS removed the boot password. It shouldn't do that. That's actually the official way to reset the password for a number of systems. [0][1][2] [0] https://www.dell.com/support/article/au/en/aubsd1/sln170684/how-to-clear-the-bios-password?lang=en https://www.dell.com/support/article/au/en/aubsd1/sln170684/... [1] https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkStation-Workstations/How-do-I-reset-the-BIOS-and-or-password-on-my-ThinkStation/ta-p/542883 https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkStation-Workstations/How-d... [2] https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Boot-and-Lockup/how-to-remove-bios-password/td-p/6022150 https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Boot-and-Lockup/how-to...

ineedasername 7y ago

They were Compaqs at the time, but if I recall correctly, we switched to Dell at one point and it was pretty much the same situation.

hunter2_ 7y ago

> HP had a similar program, but that stopped working around 2010 Can I obtain this somehow? I have a business grade HP laptop from 2006 (nw8440 I think) and I forgot my BIOS setup password. I need to enable the NX bit to upgrade from win7 to win10! Removing the CMOS battery overnight (and all other power) did not help.

shakna 7y ago
You place a file you _may_ be able to get from support (called SMC.bin) onto a FAT32 USB drive, and then: 1. Power off. 2. Hold the Windows, Up arrow and Down arrow keys all at the same time. Only then hit the power button to start. 3. Release all buttons and press F10. 4. You should see something about "SMC Command" starting. 5. Press File, press "Reset BIOS security defaults" or similar. The only way to get the SMC.bin file, that I know of, is directly from HP Business Support.