Chosen Solution
Bought a Dell M4400, understand it was a government computer. It appears to have BIOS passwords that prevents it from booting at all. It asks for a password when powered on. BIOS password removal tools do not work because the password prompt appears before the machine can boot from CD, etc. I’ve tried removing the battery for 5 minutes, and several other suggestions. I’m not very experienced with laptops and at a loss with one. I would appreciate any ideas. Thanks!
Dell laptops use a master password, but BEWARE: Anything with a Broadwell or newer processor has a baked in Master lockout option (it was also added retroactively to Haswell systems) in firmware. If this is enabled, the laptop will need a motherboard replacement!PLEASE READ: If you see this and are asking about a newer computer, normally I am apprehensive to touch these. For the M4400 I’m answering it because anything from the Core 2 (Solo/Duo/Extreme) era is thoroughly decommissioned, as well as 1st gen (Core i), up to 4th gen (Haswell, Core i), same for AMD. The odds of a Core 2 laptop being stolen are so low I’m confident enough to answer this. If this was a newer system, I would have not answered this.I’m not going to sugarcoat it: YES, I WILL TAKE THE “BIOS LOCKED” DISCOUNT IF I KNOW THE UNIT IS NOT STOLEN OR “RESET” THE PASSWORD ON THESE LAPTOPS TO REMOVE THE PASSWORD WHEN IT IS MISSED. The reason I will do this (especially unadvertised password issues) is I can either: Remove it in 5 minutes, be done with it. Use laptop.Start a return, spend ~1-2 hours getting there (or paying for a Uber)wait for it to showget a refundLook again For locked units if I’m getting it cheap over this I make sure it’s decom old, then negotiate down as CYA, unlock the Admin and POP passwords, see how to deal with the HDP (if it’s present) and then wipe the HD to know I did it. Sometimes the hard drives are goners, but that’s why I account for it and treat it as optimistic trash. If you knew how to do this, would you not be like “I’m not returning this, lemme just get in and be done with it” or take the deal and run? Exactly, it’s like saying someone who knows how to work on a classic car would buy it even with common issues a fix is known for, but it was sold due to the amount of issues by a non-DIY owner.Here’s the thing: In IT, we know and laugh at Dell’s nonsense about how it’s “secure”. It goes both ways, too by the way; Dell knows we know how (yet leaves our way in easy to decrypt, and open) but had to introduce the master lockout because someone complained loud enough. The IT department knows this too (we cover against it in the AUP under the “security configuration” clause), and anyone who plays on eBay knows how as well. The amount of us who break in rather than say no are so common being called out for it is like pointing out a needle in a haystack; saying that I reset a Dell with a BIOS password is like saying water is wet. Nobody will be shocked (outside of the people who were lied to). Even then as they hit decom age, the need to do this becomes more common anyway; if there’s a way in and someone wants it gone buy the laptop and do the work in the car AFTER they leave. I’m not going to provide links, but there’s a site which can generate it if you look (but the ST MUST MATCH, uppercase and lowercase). On Dell, you need to press F2 or F12 (select BIOS setup if you use F12, as it’s the OTBM), generate it and then press Shift+Enter on these. Once that’s done, go under security and then make sure Admin says, “Not set” as well as the other security options; they all need to go. NOTE: In some cases, you need to permanently commit the change on the Core 2 machines by typing the master code into the admin prompt under security once you initially bypass the password. Once done, it’s done; you can usually get rid of all of them including the HDP but this sometimes requires a unique key not shared by the Admin and POP. I ran into that permanent commitment quirk on a E6400 I got from a charity I got with the NVS 160M 256MB GPU and 900p direct drive LED display and motherboard.The reason I happily cracked it at the risk of a future return denial is the spec is desirable and I know how (that said, I would do the same on the IGP units as well, but my point stands). I showed them the issue (not the method!), told them don’t worry I’m in and to be more careful because some buyers don’t know what to do, and will demand a return for this. ALSO, BEWARE OF COMPUTRACE! Contact Absolute SW, give them the ST of the laptop and get it checked. If it is active, they need to disable that crap server side. You’ll need a new drive and a new copy of Windows anyway being the gov’t destroys drives, but once it’s disabled and rpcnet.exe is dead, you’re good. On yours, you can’t turn it off on being Persistence 1.0, sadly. 2.0 (Absolute Computrace PK can be disabled once stopped) can be, but you’re not that lucky :(. You do not want to use this laptop until it’s neutralized. Once it’s done, re-wipe the computer and start over with a clean copy of Windows.
