Bios - any way to circumvent this?

cerebus

Olinda99 said:

cerebus said:

Miser1964 said:

If it was a laptop issued to the OP, don't you know the boot-up password? Or do you want to get into the BIOS to change how the machine is setup?

I would have a very good guess the op missed the word "password" between "bios" and " set up" as I and several others read it that way

Op also appears to confirm this in subsequent posts

And I'm no Hercule Poiriot 

Ah sorry I read "BIOS setup" as having some kind of company custom BIOS installed. At least, that's what my friend Sherlock thought

if it is a BIOS password query then a simple Google of "I have forgotten my bios password" will produce several methods - probably the most reliable is the BIOS reset jumper on the motherboard

Nice to meet you Dr Watson

Miser1964

The OP could be looking to reset/bypass any off -

BIOS password which would allow changing machine config
Pre-boot BitLocker PIN to allow drive decryption
Windows password/PIN to login to Windows

TBH a competent company security boffin will have made bypassing any of these near impossible.

GDB2222

unforeseen said:

GDB2222 said:

Apparently, you can reset it with the service tag. Seems too easy, but here’s the link 
https://logmeonce.com/resources/dell-bios-password-reset-with-service-tag/

That has been touted for years and never works. 
There is no cmos reset jumper on a dell laptop and disconnecting the battery doesn't work either. If you do get in and rebuild it then if it has been Autopiloted then it will want a company email and relevant password to get in unless you know how to circumvent it. 

I am not surprised. It would make a mockery of having a BIOS password in the first place.

The Dell website says:

How to recover a forgotten BIOS password on a Dell laptop

BIOS passwords cannot be recovered. If you have forgotten one of the passwords that is set in the BIOS, contact Dell Technical Support to obtain a password release code. The password release code is based on the unique password prompt that is generated using information from your Dell laptop.

However, I expect that Dell tech support will require some proof of ownership?

400ixl

Miser1964 said:

The OP could be looking to reset/bypass any off -

BIOS password which would allow changing machine config
Pre-boot BitLocker PIN to allow drive decryption
Windows password/PIN to login to Windows

TBH a competent company security boffin will have made bypassing any of these near impossible.

If it is the latter two then it is not an issue and a factory reset will do the job as the OP isn't as I understand it after the data on the disk.

sophiejames

Thanks for all the replies. 

I am not after any sensitive company information. I would have liked to use this laptop in my search for a new job as my other laptop which I share with my child is not available to me during the day. 

I must admit, I am still none the wiser if it is possible to get around the Bios password request (or whatever the correct term is) at all. 

Yes, it is not my laptop and no, I won’t bother contacting the company to return it.
As per their own IT guy they don’t ask for any of the kit back & they haven’t contacted me once in over 14 months after I followed the correct process and raised a ticket to get everything returned. (In comparison the job I was in after and lost due to mass redundancy collected their kit within a matter of weeks).

I guess I can’t use it and it‘ll just sit about unused for a few more years before I dump it. 

HillStreetBlues

sophiejames said:

Thanks for all the replies. 

I am not after any sensitive company information. I would have liked to use this laptop in my search for a new job as my other laptop which I share with my child is not available to me during the day. 

I must admit, I am still none the wiser if it is possible to get around the Bios password request (or whatever the correct term is) at all. 

Yes, it is not my laptop and no, I won’t bother contacting the company to return it.
As per their own IT guy they don’t ask for any of the kit back & they haven’t contacted me once in over 14 months after I followed the correct process and raised a ticket to get everything returned. (In comparison the job I was in after and lost due to mass redundancy collected their kit within a matter of weeks).

I guess I can’t use it and it‘ll just sit about unused for a few more years before I dump it. 

I'm still none the wiser of the actual problem you are having.

Olinda99

just for clarity, could you detail.your problem.

You press the power-on button on the laptop and .....

what model.of dell laptop

cerebus

HillStreetBlues said:

sophiejames said:

Thanks for all the replies. 

I am not after any sensitive company information. I would have liked to use this laptop in my search for a new job as my other laptop which I share with my child is not available to me during the day. 

I must admit, I am still none the wiser if it is possible to get around the Bios password request (or whatever the correct term is) at all. 

Yes, it is not my laptop and no, I won’t bother contacting the company to return it.
As per their own IT guy they don’t ask for any of the kit back & they haven’t contacted me once in over 14 months after I followed the correct process and raised a ticket to get everything returned. (In comparison the job I was in after and lost due to mass redundancy collected their kit within a matter of weeks).

I guess I can’t use it and it‘ll just sit about unused for a few more years before I dump it. 

I'm still none the wiser of the actual problem you are having.

Read the second paragraph

She wants to access the bios but it is password locked (quite normal for a corporate laptop)

Now I am guessing here but I'm assuming she wants to boot from usb to install windows

@sophiejames the other way I can think of although I've never tried it is to remove the hard drive , install windows on it using another computer and seeing if it will boot, it may work and align itself to the laptops hardware or it may not. But what have you got to lose?

HillStreetBlues

cerebus said:

HillStreetBlues said:

sophiejames said:

Thanks for all the replies. 

I am not after any sensitive company information. I would have liked to use this laptop in my search for a new job as my other laptop which I share with my child is not available to me during the day. 

I must admit, I am still none the wiser if it is possible to get around the Bios password request (or whatever the correct term is) at all. 

Yes, it is not my laptop and no, I won’t bother contacting the company to return it.
As per their own IT guy they don’t ask for any of the kit back & they haven’t contacted me once in over 14 months after I followed the correct process and raised a ticket to get everything returned. (In comparison the job I was in after and lost due to mass redundancy collected their kit within a matter of weeks).

I guess I can’t use it and it‘ll just sit about unused for a few more years before I dump it. 

I'm still none the wiser of the actual problem you are having.

Read the second paragraph

She wants to access the bios but it is password locked (quite normal for a corporate laptop)

Now I am guessing here but I'm assuming she wants to boot from usb to install windows

@sophiejames the other way I can think of although I've never tried it is to remove the hard drive , install windows on it using another computer and seeing if it will boot, it may work and align itself to the laptops hardware or it may not. But what have you got to lose?

That's what I mean, it's just guess work,  the actual problem why laptop cant be used (forgotten password??), the model, what's been tried etc

GDB2222

I very much doubt that the op wants to access the bios. I assume that she just wants to log onto windows to use the machine. But, it’s a corporate machine and I assume that her account was deleted when she left the company.