hi i got a laptop off ebay and everytime i turn it on i get a message " please enter built-in user password" has anyone had this happen before? im not sure what to do would resetting the bios work or even scrubbing the drive completely or removeing the cmos battery . is this the same as a bios password? could someone please help thanks
If you don't see a windows/linux logo before the PW prompt comes up, then it is a bios password. Usually resetting the cmos will do the job. If you can't get at the bios reset easily (or if there isn't one), then you can do the same thing by removing the cmos battery as well as the main battery and the power cord...and leave it like that for at least an hour. [edit] i forgot, there are also programs that lock just the hard drive...if it is one of these, the easiest fix (other than contacting the seller) would be to reinstall windows.
thanks m8 i was gonna take out the cmos battery but after hours of looking on the web i found that it wouldnt work as its not a bios password its a hdd password and that there was no way to bypass it i got a new hdd but would like to scrub the old one and use it as a spare.
