Solved Lost Setup admin password.

[billberry12]

I bought a laptop on ebay. I can not get into BIOS because it asks for a setup admin password, which I do not know. It is a Dell Vostro 3700. The seller did not know the previous owner, therefore no idea what the password is.

Can anyone help me work around this?
Thanks,
Bill

 

[Kaktussoft]

Power off and detach power from wall socket first!!
Pull out the CMOS battery from motherboard. Wait 10 minutes and put it back.
Attach power again and power on. Be sure to set time correct afterwards and adjust any BIOS settings you want.

 

[billberry12]

Already tried that. Didn't work. More suggestions.

 

[Kaktussoft]

Already tried that. Didn't work. More suggestions.

Are you sure you removed the battery long enough? Was date/time automatically reset in BIOS to long time ago... so it lost that setting (and most likeliy all settings)?

 

[billberry12]

I left it out 45 minutes, and yes, the date and time changed back to 2005, but when I tried to go do things in setup, it still asked for setup admin password.

 

[Kaktussoft]

I left it out 45 minutes, and yes, the date and time changed back to 2005, but when I tried to go do things in setup, it still asked for setup admin password.

Very strange. Don't know how to solve it

 

[SandeepP]

I bought a laptop on ebay. I can not get into BIOS because it asks for a setup admin password, which I do not know. It is a Dell Vostro 3700. The seller did not know the previous owner, therefore no idea what the password is.

Can anyone help me work around this?
Thanks,
Bill

Hi Bill,

We can reset the BIOS password for you. However, we would also require details of the original customer for verification.

So, first you need to transfer the ownership of the system under your name using the link below:

http://dell.to/Y500kh

If you have any further queries, please feel free to contact us.

 

[billberry12]

I have already filled out the transfer of ownership. The problem is that I bought laptop on ebay, and the seller has no idea who the previous owner was. When I filled out the form to transfer, I simply put unknown in the blanks asking for it.

What can I do?

The seller has offered me a refund, but I would rather get this to work for me.

Any hope in solving this problem?

Thanks,
Bill

 

[SandeepP]

I have already filled out the transfer of ownership. The problem is that I bought laptop on ebay, and the seller has no idea who the previous owner was. When I filled out the form to transfer, I simply put unknown in the blanks asking for it.

What can I do?

The seller has offered me a refund, but I would rather get this to work for me.

Any hope in solving this problem?

Thanks,
Bill

Hi Bill,

In order to reset BIOS or system password we need to verify the owner details, to ensure Data Protection for our customer.

Please check with the seller if he can get the original owner information because without it we won't be able to reset the password.

It would be better you return the system to seller if he can't get the details. I hope you would understand we have this policy to ensure data protection for our customers.

 

[Faladu]

SandeepP, so basically Dell has a backdoor for getting into password protected laptops, of course that's it.
I wonder which pins have to be jumped, oh lookie here it's marked DRP. [made that up]

Bill, got a great price, didn't you? Now you know why.... :busted:

I had this happen to a co-worker years back, got amazing laptop from a pawnshop and was asked for password right after turning on, the pawnshop did take it back.

 

[billberry12]

Great price. But I don't feel so bad. The laptop works fine, and I can hit F12 to change the boot order as needed, so no big deal on my part. The boot sequence is set to log on to the LAN rather than the HD in setup, so I get an error message, then in about 3 seconds, it goes on to log in to HD. Seller offered me a refund, but I 'm keeping it. Can't see any real reason not to.

 

[Faladu]

AH, 3 secs.... yeah fair enough.

I wonder what will happen when the time comes to replace the hard drive on it.

You have enough time perhaps to guess the password.

 

[billberry12]

"I wonder what will happen when the time comes to replace the hard drive on it."

The hard drive is not password protected, so replacing should not be a problem. Am I missing something I need to know?

 

[Faladu]

The bios settings that might need adjusting for the hard drive, it's probably not an issue, as long as it is auto-sensing them, back in the good old days, the bios was inept as such things.

 

[billberry12]

Ahhhh...the good ole days......do miss them....life was simple,

 

[Faladu]

The Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor battery dies on you, that could reset settings in the bios, to a *cough* unpleasant default state, but you kind of already eliminated that by yanking it for 45 mins.

I wonder if there are some other things in your BIOS effecting performance, but if you are satisfied with it, that is OK.

Ah the good old days of QEMM, oh what a nightmare, nevermind.... <---tears of joy

 

[AddRAM]

I know I`d be upset if I couldn`t get into the bios, have you considered getting a refund ?

 

[billberry12]

I can get a refund. I'm not sure I want one. I'm not sure why I should be upset. Everything works fine, and there is no HD password required, so I really don't know what the big deal is. Am I missing something?

 

[SandeepP]

Great price. But I don't feel so bad. The laptop works fine, and I can hit F12 to change the boot order as needed, so no big deal on my part. The boot sequence is set to log on to the LAN rather than the HD in setup, so I get an error message, then in about 3 seconds, it goes on to log in to HD. Seller offered me a refund, but I 'm keeping it. Can't see any real reason not to.

Hi billberry12,

I would like to inform you that you can keep the system without BIOS access as well. However, it won't be possible to make any changes in BIOS to troubleshoot any issues that might happen in future.

Otherwise, it should be fine. If you can get a similar system as replacement you should go ahead with it.

If you have any further queries, please feel free to contact us.

 

[Sub Styler]

This is just a setup password and not a system password?

Simple solution, Re-Flash the BIOS, even if it's not a update, just with the same verion.

Boom, back to default!