Can I remove a hard drive user password?

Hi again all,

I've just bought a second hand hard drive which I've discovered has a "Hard Drive User Password" on it, is it at all possible to remove this password?

I don't mind if it wipes all the data from it as the drive is going to be wiped anyway.

The laptop will not let me boot from any CD without putting in the hard drive's password which is really annoying as I was hoping to use "Active Killdisk" to remove it but it won't let me get as far as to boot from the CD when the hard drive is connected in the laptop.

The hard drive is a Western Digital WD1600BEVS, is there a way of completely wiping it so the password is removed?

Many kind thanks

Hi Mark, thanks for your reply.

I have tried both ways, using the internal (master) SATA connection in the laptop and also via a USB to SATA connector.

As soon as you switch the laptop on you get the "VAIO" screen and then it goes straight to a blue box asking for the password when the hard drive is inserted into the laptop.

I tried Active Killdisk via Hirens Boot CD when using the USB to SATA connector, the hard drive was not picked up by the software and it only displayed the DVD drive.

I don't believe it is possible to use the drive. The password is stored on disk in a location not accessible to normal software. Even if it were possible to format the drive this would not remove the password.

Return the drive if possible.

Yes it is possible, but not generally by software means. There is a program that for a fee can unlock the drive, but it wipes all data in the process. If you need the data you'll need to seek out a data recovery pro who has specialized tools like PC-3000.

It shouldn't cost you much. I only charge $150 for that service in my lab.

Hi there, thanks for letting me know. I shall stick it straight into the bin and buy another one then.

Kind regards.