Reinstalling Windows XP

aj9648

Hi

I got a laptop a few weeks ago which looks like a ex corporate machine - HP. bought from a car boot sale !!

When I turned on it looks like it still has all the passwords etc on and has not been cleaned.

I have managed to sort the BIOS password out but it is also installed with McAfee Safeboot which needs a password.

I was hoping that by sticking my windows XP CD in it would reinstall XP and delete everything but it wont go past the McAfee Safeboot screen.

Any tips or workaround to sort this?

Lil306

I'm not sure if McAfee safeboot is similar to pointsec boot security

Can you get to the BIOS itself, or is it protected by McAfee too. To me it sounds like you're saying you can go into BIOS but when booting it's asking for a McAfee password before loading windows?

Anyway, there's two options.

1) This option suggests deleting the safeboot files by deleting the executable that runs (presuming F8 works) to select boot device.....
http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_5818590_disable-mcafee-safe-boot.html

2) If you can't boot the machine but can access the BIOS, suggest you change the boot order of the computer to CD / USB first as booting from the hard drive is where the encrypted files are. if you change it to boot from CD it should ignore the HDD and go straight into the install

Notmyrealname

aj9648 wrote: »

Hi

I got a laptop a few weeks ago which looks like a ex corporate machine - HP. bought from a car boot sale !!

When I turned on it looks like it still has all the passwords etc on and has not been cleaned.

I have managed to sort the BIOS password out but it is also installed with McAfee Safeboot which needs a password.

I was hoping that by sticking my windows XP CD in it would reinstall XP and delete everything but it wont go past the McAfee Safeboot screen.

Any tips or workaround to sort this?

I bet its nicked.
I've bought and sold a lot of ex-corporate HPs from a legitimate source, none of them have had this enabled and they've all had the HDDs securely wiped.

If it has Computrace on, you've got a pile of spares.

aj9648

Yeah I can get to the BIOS blue screen. I have tried making the CD drive the primary drive but this did not seem to work for some reason.

If it has Computrace on - what does that mean? Is there no way round it?

Lil306

aj9648 wrote: »

Yeah I can get to the BIOS blue screen. I have tried making the CD drive the primary drive but this did not seem to work for some reason.

If it has Computrace on - what does that mean? Is there no way round it?

You did save settings didn't you ?

Sorry I have to ask a blunt question to make sure

You could try booting from USB then using a bootable USB to try recover

With Computrace persistence technology, organizations stay connected with each device in their deployment. This consistent connection allows them to monitor status and take proactive and reactive measures regardless of device location or user.

NiftyDigits

Think about updating the BIOS.

aj9648

How do I get a bootable USB? The size of the windows XP install files is over 600MB

Also how do I update the BIOS

To lil306 - yes I did save changes before exiting BIOS

NiftyDigits

Reluctant to help over a possibly stolen machine. But if you didn't steal it and it's old.....

Model number?

aj9648

Definitely not stolen - well at least not by me

You will see from previous posts (a few years back) that I had a similar problem from a PC i bought from a fair.......I cant afford to buy new PC's!!! (or just reluctant to)!!!

Model no is 6910 p

NiftyDigits

ROMPaq for HP Notebook System BIOS - FreeDOS Bootable Media

No guarantee that it will work or even make a difference, but updating or downgrading the BIOS might stop Endpoint from working.

Of course, it is at your own risk.

NiftyDigits

Actually it appears to be much more simple that that after all