Here i am going to tell you the password reset process by following ways:
1.Resetting the BIOS Password using Hardware
2.Resetting the BIOS Password using Software
3.Using a Backdoor BIOS Password
4.By vendor specific solution
Resetting the BIOS Password using hardware
In this process we use the traditional ways of password resetting. As we all know the BIOS password is stored in CMOS memory that is maintained while the PC is powered off by a small battery, which is attached to the motherboard. If you remove this battery, all CMOS information (including the BIOS password) will be lost. You will need to re-enter the correct CMOS setup information to use the machine. The machines owner or user will most likely be alarmed when it is discovered that the BIOS password has been deleted.
On some motherboards, the battery is soldered to the motherboard, making it difficult to remove. If this is the case, you have another alternative. Somewhere on the motherboard you should find a jumper that will clear the BIOS password. If you have the motherboard documentation, you will know where that jumper is. If not, the jumper may be labeled on the motherboard. If you are not fortunate enough for either of these to be the case, you may be able to guess which jumper is the correct jumper. This jumper is usually standing alone near the battery. If you cannot locate this jumper, you might short both of the points where the battery connects to the motherboard.
If all else fails, you may have to clear the BIOS password by resetting the RTC (Real Time Clock) IC (Integrated Circuit) on your motherboard.
Many RTC's require an external battery. If your RTC is one of this type, you can clear the BIOS password just by unsocketing the RTC and reseating it.
RTC's which require external batteries include:
* Dallas Semiconductor DS12885S
* TI benchmarq bq3258S
* Motorola MC146818AP
* Hitachi HD146818AP
* Samsung KS82C6818A
Most RTC chips with integrated batteries can be reset to clear the BIOS password by shorting two pins together for a few seconds.You can discover how to reset the BIOS password stored in most RTC (Real Time Clock) chips by reading the manufacturers data sheet for that RTC. Some RTC's, like the Dallas DS1287 and TI benchmarq bq3287mt cannot be cleared. The solution to resetting the BIOS password on systems with those RTC's is to purchase a replacement RTC chip.
Resetting the BIOS Password using Software
Many software also provide the functionality to resetting the password as we know every system must store the BIOS password information somewhere. If you are able to access the machine after it has been booted successfully, you may be able to view the BIOS password. You must know the memory address where the BIOS password is stored, and the format in which the BIOS password is stored. Or, you must have a program that knows these things.
You can write your own program to read the BIOS password from the CMOS memory on a PC by writing the address of the byte of CMOS memory that you wish to read in port 0x370, and then reading the contents of port 0x371.
!BIOS will recover the BIOS password for most common BIOS versions, including IBM, American Megatrends Inc, Award and Phoenix.
CmosPwd will recover the BIOS password for the following BIOS versions:
* ACER/IBM BIOS
* AMI BIOS
* AMI WinBIOS 2.5
* Award 4.5x/4.6x/6.0
* Compaq (1992)
* Compaq (New version)
* IBM (PS/2, Activa, Thinkpad)
* Packard Bell
* Phoenix 1.00.09.AC0 (1994), a486 1.03, 1.04, 1.10 A03, 4.05 rev 1.02.943, 4.06 rev 1.13.1107
* Phoenix 4 release 6 (User)
* Gateway Solo - Phoenix 4.0 release 6
* Toshiba
* Zenith AMI
Using a Backdoor BIOS Password
Some BIOS manufacturers implement a backdoor password. The backdoor password is a BIOS password that works, no matter what the user sets the BIOS password to. These passwords are typically used for testing and maintenance. Manufacturers typically change the backdoor BIOS passwords from time to time.
AMI Backdoor BIOS Passwords
Reported AMI backdoor BIOS passwords include A.M.I., AAAMMMIII, AMI?SW , AMI_SW, BIOS, CONDO, HEWITT RAND, LKWPETER, MI, and PASSWORD.
Award Backdoor BIOS Passwords
One reported Award backdoor BIOS password is eight spaces. Other reported Award backdoor BIOS passwords include 01322222, 589589, 589721, 595595, 598598 , ALFAROME, ALLY, ALLy, aLLY, aLLy, aPAf, award, AWARD PW, AWARD SW, AWARD?SW, AWARD_PW, AWARD_SW, AWKWARD, awkward, BIOSTAR, CONCAT, CONDO, Condo, condo, d8on, djonet, HLT, J256, J262, j262, j322, j332, J64, KDD, LKWPETER, Lkwpeter, PINT, pint, SER, SKY_FOX, SYXZ, syxz, TTPTHA, ZAAAADA, ZAAADA, ZBAAACA, and ZJAAADC.
Phoenix Backdoor BIOS Passwords
Reported Phoenix BIOS backdoor passwords include BIOS, CMOS, phoenix, and PHOENIX.
Backdoor BIOS Passwords from Other Manufacturers
Reported BIOS backdoor passwords for other manufacturers include:
Remember that what you see listed may not be the actual backdoor BIOS password, this BIOS password may simply have the same checksum as the real backdoor BIOS password. For Award BIOS, this checksum is stored at F000:EC60.
Vendor Specific Solutions for Resetting the BIOS Password
Most vendors provides their own solutions for password resetting like
Dell soluiton
Dell Dimension BIOS Password Recovery
The BIOS password may be cleared from a Dell Dimension by moving the password jumper on the motherboard.
The location of the password jumper on a Dell Dimension motherboard can be found by reviewing the Dimension User Guides.
For most Dell Dimension desktops, the steps to reset a BIOS password and clear all CMOS settings are:
* Locate the 3-pin CMOS password reset jumper on the system board.
* Remove the jumper plug from pins 1 and 2.
* Place the jumper plug on pins 2 and 3 and wait approximately 5 seconds.
* Replace the jumper plug on pins 1 and 2.
Dell Optiplex BIOS Password Recovery
The BIOS password may be cleared from a Dell Optiplex by removing the password jumper (PSWD) from the motherboard.
The location of the password jumper on a Dell Optiplex motherboard can be found by reviewing the Optiplex User Guides.
For most Dell Optiplex desktops, the steps to reset a BIOS password and clear all CMOS settings are:
* Locate the 3-pin CMOS password reset jumper on the system board.
* Remove the jumper plug from pins 1 and 2.
* Place the jumper plug on pins 2 and 3 and wait approximately 5 seconds.
* Replace the jumper plug on pins 1 and 2.
Dell Inspiron BIOS Password Recovery
Each Dell Inspiron has a master password which will clear the BIOS password. You can get this number by calling Dell Technical Support at (800)624-9896.
Dell Technical Support will request the Service Tag and Express Service Code from the bottom of your Inspiron.
If you were not the original owner of the Inspiron, Dell will transfer registration of the used Inspiron from the original owner with only the Service Tag and Express Service Code from the tag on the laptop.
To transfer the registration of a used Dell Inspiron, fill out the Transfer of Ownership form on Dell's web site.
Dell Latitude BIOS Password Recovery
Christophe Grenier has written a program that will calculate the master BIOS password for Dell Latitudes from the Service Tag number. That program is available at http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~skynet/zips/latitude.exe.
If you cannot boot your Latitude to run this program, you can get the master password for your Dell by calling Dell Technical Support at (800)624-9896.
Dell Technical Support will request the Service Tag and Express Service Code from the bottom of your Latitude.
If you were not the original owner of the Latitude, Dell will transfer registration of the used Latitude from the original owner with only the Service Tag and Express Service Code from the tag on the laptop.
To transfer the registration of a used Dell Latitude, fill out the Transfer of Ownership form on Dell's web site.
IBM solution
An IBM ThinkPad laptop can have three hardware passwords set:
* Power-On Password
* Hard Disk Password
* Supervisor Password
Power-On Password
RT/CMOS RAM has 8 bytes reserved for the power-on password and the check character. The 8 bytes are initialized to hex 00. The microprocessor can access these bytes only during POST. After POST is completed, if a power-on password is installed, the password bytes are locked and cannot be accessed by any program.
During power-on password installation, the password (1 to 7 characters) is stored in the security space.
Installing the password is a function of the built-in system program Easy-Setup. The power-on password does not appear on the screen when it is installed, changed, or removed. After the power-on password has been installed, it can be changed or removed only during POST.
Hard Disk Password
The hard-disk password (HDP) protects the data on your removable hard disk drive from being accessed by unauthorized persons.
Supervisor Password
The supervisor password protects the system information in Easy-Setup from being changed by unauthorized persons.
How to Reset an IBM ThinkPad Power On Password using Software
If you can boot the IBM ThinkPad, KeyMaker will recover the BIOS password.
How to Reset an IBM ThinkPad Power On Password Using Hardware
If you cannot boot the ThinkPad, you will have to reset the IBM ThinkPad password via hardware.
If only the power-on password is set, do the following to remove the power-on password.
1. Power off the computer
2. Remove the DIMM cover on the bottom side of the computer.
3. Short-circuit the two password pads or put a jumper on the contacts to short the circuit.
4. Under the short-circuit condition, power on the computer and wait until the POST ends. After the POST ends, the password prompt does not appear. The power-on password is removed.
5. Reinstall the DIMM cover.
If both the power-on password and the supervisor password are set, do the following to remove the passwords:
1. Power on the computer by pressing and holding F1.
2. Enter the supervisor password. The Easy-Setup menu appears.
3. Click on the Password icon.
4. Click on the Power on icon.
5. Enter the supervisor password and press the Space bar.
6. Press Enter twice.
7. Click on Exit; then click on Restart.
Toshiba's Solution
Older Toshiba laptops can be convinced to boot without their power-on BIOS password by attaching a dongle to the parallel port which crosses a number of the pins. The pin out is:
Pins
1-5-10
2-11
3-17
4-12
6-16
7-13
8-14
9-15
Acer Solution
If you can boot the Acer, you may be able to reset the BIOS password using Acer eSettings Management.
* Click the Start button
* Click the All Programs menu item
* Click the Empowering Technology menu item
* Click the Acer eSettings Management menu item
* Once inside Acer eSettings Management, click the Security button.
Sending Your Computer to Acer to a BIOS Password Reset
Acer refuses to assist customers with BIOS password issues. The only option they will discuss involves sending them your laptop and paying a $100 fee.
Resetting an Acer BIOS Password Using Hardware
If you cannot boot the Acer and don't want to send your computer back to Acer for an unknown amount of time, you can try to reset the BIOS password via hardware.
you can reset the Acer BIOS passwords by simply opening the notebooks and removing the CMOS batteries for 30 minutes.
Once your BIOS password is removed, you will need to press the key during POST (Power On Self Test) to enter the Acer BIOS setup.
