How to Reset BIOS / CMOS Password?

There are two passwords in BIOS. One is start up password, the other is BIOS setting password. If you have forgotten the start up password that means you cannot open computer at all. Then the first method is the only thing you can do. Other methods can use to clear setting password.

==Step1:Motherboard Battery Discharge==
The common way to reset start up password is discharge Motherboard Battery. Most of the current motherboard BIOS is using the button batteries to provide electric power. That means if there is no electricity, the information it contains will be lost. When it’s on power again, BIOS will set back to its original state, of course, there will be no BIOS passwords. But you will lose your setting at the same time.

What we need to do is to power off computer, open the computer box, and then unplug the power plug of the computer to make sure that it is no electricity at all. Then locate the white silver button battery on the motherboard. Remove the battery carefully. Perhaps 30 seconds later, put back the battery.

After put back the computer box then power on, the system will prompt “CMOS Checksum Error-Defaults Loaded”. That means CMOS errors detected during inspections, had been included in the system default, BIOS password cracking success!

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.

==Step2 : Backdoor BIOS Password==
Each motherboard manufacturer has set a backdoor password in order to facilitate the provision of technical support. 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:

Manufacturer	BIOS Password
VOBIS & IBM	merlin
Dell	Dell
Biostar	Biostar
Compaq	Compaq
Enox	xo11nE
Epox	central
Freetech	Posterie
IWill	iwill
Jetway	spooml
Packard Bell	bell9
QDI	QDI
Siemens	SKY_FOX
SOYO	SY_MB
TMC	BIGO
Toshiba	Toshiba

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.

==Step3: Software Crack==
There are a lot softwares to test systems or start up password, but they need to run on Windows. So it is only used to reset BIOS setting password.

BIOS/CMOS Password Recovery Tool is a program that works instantly to reset or remove any lost or forgotten BIOS/CMOS password. Simply boot your PC from the supplied Boot CD, and get access to forgotten BIOS/CMOS passwords in just seconds.

It will recover the BIOS password for most common BIOS versions, including IBM, American Megatrends Inc, Award and Phoenix.It 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

If all else fails, you might be going to lose some money for technician.
But they will use these same methods, try hard by yourself.

how to Protect Your Computer Privacy ( e.g. windows password).

1.Administrators Password:

It is the most common way to lock your computer. But is it the safest way? Mostly, it is the easiest way to lock your computer.

How to set administrators password?

These steps work in every case as long as you’re able to log in as an administrator.

①In Windows Vista, click the Start button, and in the “Start Search” field, enter lusrmgr.msc .

②In Windows XP or 2000, from the Start menu, select Run… . In the window that opens, type lusrmgr.msc and click OK.

Double-click the Users folder. On the right, in the list of local users, right-click the account name for the Administrator account, and select Set Password.

Note: On some computers, the account will not be named “Administrator” because the owner or administrator either changed that name or added administrative accounts with different usernames. In either case, you will need to know which of the accounts in the list is the designated Administrator account.

Also be aware that on Windows Vista by default, and in some Windows XP computers by owner or administrator choice, the account named “Administrator” is disabled (this doesn’t apply to Windows 2000; built-in accounts cannot be disabled in that operating system). Setting a password does not automatically re-enable the account, but it is useless to change a disabled account’s password if your goal is to affect currently active administrator accounts.

Alternate methods

You can also change the administrator password by going into the Control Panel and using the “User Accounts” control. Some users may prefer this method to the universal steps above. Follow the instructions below for your situation and operating system.

But if you forgot your windows password, how can you recover administrator password?

Please refer to How to Recover and Reset Password in windows 7/Vista/XP/2003/2K/NT for Free

2.BIOS Password/ Start up Password:

Your computers BIOS is the first program that is run when your computer starts. You can tell the BIOS to ask for a password when it starts, thus restricting access to your computer.

BUT it is very easy to clear BIOS password for some people.

How to set BIOS password?

Turn on or reboot your computer. The screen will display a series of diagnostics and a memory check.

A message like “Hit the key to enter the BIOS setup program” will appear.

When you do hit DEL(It’s not always the DEL key some BIOS’s use F2 or F10 or anothother key combination, check your motherboard manual) at the right time you’ll see a menu screen something like this:

Note: Some BIOS versions use a graphical type menu with icons (a GUI) or have a text interface that appears differt to the one shown, the principle however is exactly the same.

As you can see there are two options that relate to passwords, Supervisor Password and User Password, these relate to controlling access to the BIOS Setup Program and the Machine Boot respectively.

Note that not all BIOS’s have this password feature, your bios may not have it in which case you won’t be able to restrict access to your computer in this way.

Select USER PASSWORD and you’ll be prompted to enter a password:

You should now enter a password of up to eight characters (most BIOS’s are limited to eight characters unfortunately). I recommend you use the full eight but take care that you choose something you’ll not forget.

The BIOS will then prompt you to confirm the password, just type the same thing again.

Now you’ll want to set your system to ask for that password every time it boots, so select the BIOS FEATURES SETUP option, to see a menu something like this:

Fairly obviously, it’s the Password Check option we’re interested in, so select it and change the setting to ALWAYS.

Now navigate back to the main menu and select SAVE & EXIT SETUP. Your machine will then reboot and you’ll be prompted for the password.

Each and every time you boot you’ll be asked for password you chose.

Please note that this method of restricting access to your computer is not completely foolproof, there are ways around it. But it will stop or at least delay the majority of casual attempts to get access.

If you forget your BIOS password, refer to How to Reset BIOS Password?

3.Hard Disk Password

It is not a very well known fact, but all hard disks have a very strong hardware password capability build in. This password is usually stored both in a chip on the HD controller (the printed circuit board on the hard disk) and on the hard disk itself in a special hidden sector.

Setting this password will make the hard disk completely unusable to anyone that doesn’t know it. And not only on your computer, but on any computer.

A lot of newer laptops will set the HD password together with the BIOS password, completely

locking all the hardware.

How to set Hard Disk Password?

This procedure is for setting password on the HDD in the ThinkPad, for HDD in the Select-A-Dock refer to your user guide.
1. Start Easy-Setup by pressing and holding F1 and then turning on the computer.
2. Select Password icon and then select HDD-1 or HDD-2 according to the hard disk type you want to set.
3. Type your desired hard disk password; then press Enter. You can use any combination of up to 7 characters. Use a combination of any letters or numbers (A to Z, 0 to 9) in uppercase (A) or lowercase (a). Uppercase and lowercase letters are treated the same.
4. Type your hard disk drive password again to verify it; the press Enter.

The hard disk manufacturers are unable to unlock a password protected hard disk, as there aren’t any “secret” master passwords build into the firmware. Even swapping the controller of the password-protected hard disk with exactly the same controller from an unprotected HD will not remove the protection on most disks, as the password (together with most of the firmware) is also stored on the hard disk itself.

The only way of retrieving any files from a password protected hard disk without knowing the password is to send it to a data recovery company for unlocking, but not all data recovery companies could or would unlock a password protected HD.

In this time of rising identity theft, protecting your personal data by locking your hard disk with a password is indeed a good idea. The downside is that when the HD eventually malfunctions it will be harder or even impossible to retrieve any files from it. So, the first rule of using a computer applies here in full strength – “Your data is only as good as your latest backup”!

Enjoy your private computer!!