Question Locked out of Asus Laptop

I managed to disable secure boot as you suggested, the CSM is still invisible and the USB is selected as boot first, but it won't. I swear this is like trying to hack into NORAD!

 

You've got it. Let me tell you what I'm facing; from what I keep seeing, I need to get to "CSM" but it's not visible in the boot tab of UEFI (which is just a new-fangled BIOS menu). I have a couple of password cracking proggies including a paid version, but without being able to launch the tablet off a USB flash, I can't use them. Now, I've changed the boot order in UEFI to launch the USB first, but it still isn't doing it. I think I see the issue, under the "Save and Exit" there is a Boot Override option, listed there is the Windows Boot Manager 1st, UEFI: Sandisk (my USB) 2nd. I read that under the boot tab, the USB must be listed without the word "UEFI" under boot option #1 for it to work. I am also supposed to turn on "CSM" but I cannot see CSM anywhere in BIOS (well, UEFI).
To end this nightmare, we need to find CSM and to have boot option #1 list my sandisk without the word "UEFI" in the same sentence. Thanks as always. Wyattspoppa

 

Hey my friend, this thing is so new it still had the screen protector on it, so I seriously doubt it has any issues yet. The device is practically empty except for valuable family photos or I'd just do a factory reset (in case I didn't say, it's my mother-in-law's, I have to swap 2 PC's with her almost weekly to remove all the viruses she get's downloading free Solitaire games off the net) I quadruple back up my own data on a 1 TB external HDD, a few 16 GB USB drives, the PC I DL them to, and the Cloud! I'm 99% sure the device is operating properly. By the way, I meant to say I don't think I ever posted a problem with my devices that you didn't help me with, so thank you! Pretty sure you once helped me with my Wii when I was learning to set up Homebrew. You're the reason I donate to sites...

 

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I added photos of the UEFI (BIOS), see if it doesn't help you understand. Notice I even disabled booting into Windows so only USB would boot up...but instructions I read say Boot Option #1 should not have the text (UEFI) it should only say "SanDisk" or whatever brand of USB you put in.

 

Plug in your usb device and access the bios pressing the "F2" key at startup.

Go to the "Boot" tab and change "Boot Option #1" from "Windows Boot Manager" to "Disabled"

Boot Option #2 and Boot Option #3 will move up the list. They both should have "UEFI: General USB Flash Disk 1.0" selected.

Go to the "Security" tab and select "Secure Boot Menu", change "Secure Boot Support" to Disabled (if you haven't already done so).

Go to "Save and Exit", select "Save Changes and Exit". Confirm to Save and Exit by selecting "Yes".

Your machine should reboot and boot from the first boot device which is your usb drive.

I used this video as a guide



If this isn't working confirm that you can boot from your usb device on another computer. If it works on another computer you should try to make a usb windows 8.1 installation disk to see if it will boot from that.

This link will help you make the bootable usb disk.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media

 

Another suggestion...I would do everything C4RN1 said first.If you can get hold of an external dvd drive you could boot to it with wind 7.Create another partition,install second O/S,boot to it.Drag and drop your files to windows 7.Boot with win 8 disc,format,create partition re-install win 8 and order cloud storage or similar.Also have a look at these TUTS from advanced options you can use the cmd line option to bypass the password(first link below) .If you can get it to boot from a dvd drive instead of flash there plenty of CMD line options and bootable media with built in password recovery(second link).

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows-8/a/reset-password-windows-8.htm

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/tp/passrecovery.htm

 

Followed this step-by-step using 3 different USB drives and 3 different password crack programs. Each time it went straight to the sign on at desktop, not the USB. Burning to a disk can't be done, the ASUS Transformer has no CD drive, it's more like a tablet than a PC in that way. Thanks for the effort.

 

Wish it were that easy but I don't know anyone with an external disc drive (what's the benefit of owning one of those? Besides this) I am fresh out of ideas, I've followed every suggestion to the letter, even when I disable windows boot, and move USB to first position it still boots into the password page on the desktop.

 

I've put multiple password hack proggies on several different USB drives and I cannot boot into USB following every single recommendation. The only thing I'm fairly certain of is I need to find some way to access the CSM menu and when I plug the USB in, it's supposed to come up without the prefix "UEFI" in the boot menu for this to work, and I don't know how to do either. If any of you know how to unhide CSM on a UEFI (BIOS0 in Win8, I'd be very grateful. Also, why I can't make USB come up without "UEFI" in the title, every intelligent post I've seen is quite specific about these two things being an absolute to reset a Win 8 password. Thanks guys.

 

I have a good program you can use to reset any xp/vista/7/8/8.1 computer that's tested and works (PM me if you want it). But there's no way to use it if you can't get it to boot from an external source. I would bet it's fairly easy getting it to boot to an external but without physically trying different methods with it I can't really help any further.

Your only option left is to stop at a local pc store and see if the techs can figure it out. A local pc store should have an external dvd drive as well.

 

Last go..Found some links on how to boot from a UEFI flash drive.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/15458-uefi-bootable-usb-flash-drive-create-windows.html

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/53297-usb-drive-boot-surface.html

These hopefully will enable a UEFI bootable drive to be used under advanced settings.So in theory creating another partition via usb boot and installing another o/s if it works you can then grab your files,format the whole lot and start again.Or use one of the password recovery programs.

 

Hiren's can be installed on a USB stick and booted off USB

 

Guys, I'm still fighting with this. Everyone says I have to find Legacy to set this in motion, but Legacy is hidden on the ASUS Transformer UEFI (newfangled BIOS) Can anyone help me?

 

It seems that legacy is not supported even through hirens from all the googled pages i have been through.There are 3 bios updates but even those don't give details of legacy support.Also pretty much useless atm.
edit: I came across these instructions to boot Ubuntu via flash using a t100.Im not familiar with it.Im sure someone who is in the know can tell you after booting this what can be done to remove your password or similar

http://liliputing.com/2013/10/booting-ubuntu-asus-transformer-book-t100.html

There is also this for resetting/removing a win 7 password through ubuntu.I know you have win 8 but it may be similar.

http://www.chntpw.com/reset-windows-7-admin-password-with-ubuntu/

You may need these instructions for installing chntpw.deb to access the password options.

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntucat/resetwindowspassword/

 

Hi, these password unlock programs, am I supposed to run the exe files while on the desktop I'm loading them up on the USB drive that I'm plugging into my ASUS laptop that I'm locked out of, or do I launch the ASUS with the program just loaded on the USB? If it isn't "loaded and launched", the ASUS isn't going to USB (even though it's first boot option), it just keeps going to the password login page. Should I launch the exe file while still plugged into my desktop? Thanks

 

It wouldn't make any sense to run an executable file on the desktop if you're locked out of the computer. The password unlock programs are usually bootable, which means it uses a different operating system or mini os to access your hard drive and change the registry keys for your passwords in windows.

Still you're not going to be able to do anything if you can't get past the uefi boot.

I know that tablets can be a pain, I fought with one at work for about 20 mins before I was able to get it to boot from usb. It was so frustrating one of our system engineers was about to tell them to pull it from the list of models available to our executive clients and return all of them as DOA (we had a shipment of about 300).

It was a Samsung series 7 tablet, and it was an absolute nightmare.

Anyway, I'm sure you can get it to boot to usb, you'll just have to figure it out.

 

Having just found this solution with this problem with an identical device, I can tell you the solution lies down a different path entirely. Since, as you know by now, this device has a specific BIOS, it will not allow USB boot to any solution so the only solution is a Windows 8 refresh. To achieve this, put the tablet in the keyboard, press and hold the F9 key, continue to hold the F9 key while you power on. Once the screen begins to come on, you can release the power button but not the F9 key. Hold it through the Windows logo and please wait message until you see a light blue screen. It will then populate with the advanced recovery options. You need to continue through those to choose 'refresh.' Do not choose 'reset,' as this will wipe the files you're wanting to preserve. It will give you a second chance to refresh or reset. Once you choose and confirm, make sure it's plugged in, because this will take some time and it will go back to Windows with your files still onboard. If your files are not important, the device can be reset instead of refreshed to make it the same as fresh out of the box. Hope this helps.

 

Do you mean the PCUnlocker Live CD? I am using the latest version 3.8 of PCUnlocker Enterprise and it works well with my Windows 8 laptop with UEFI.