rizaydog

I just received a used Dell Inspiron 4000 notebook. It enters the bios just fine. I can navigate around the bios, but I cant change the settings. I need to change the boot order because I have no OS installed. The first boot device is the floppy drive, which it doesn't have. The next is the HD, which has nothing on it. The third is the dvd rom. I tried inserting my OS disc in the dvd rom but it keeps stopping on the floppy drive. I took the HD out, installed the OS on another pc, and reinstalled the HD into the laptop. But it is still waiting for the floppy.

Maybe the bios is password protected? It doesn't ask for a password. Any ideas on how to get around this?

If I go to the last page, it has a spot to put the configuration password. I tried dell but that doesn't work.

I did some searching and read something about bios password chips. Do these realy work? I found one on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=350094604096 but I am a little skeptical about this.

Any opinions?

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DarquePervert

Have you contacted Dell?
They are really good about supporting their products, even out of warranty. I'm certain there is a way you can get that BIOS password reset to a default, if needed.

Start at Dell's support site: http://support.dell.com

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danielkh

Unplug it, and pull the battery (the little round one inside and the main), wait 5 minutes, put it back in and try again. If it still doesn't work, then chances are someone has already done one of those password tricks on it. To verify this, see if the service tag number is still listed in the bios. If it isn't, then someone has already wiped the password which does interesting things overall.

You can also check by giving it a password and see if it will take it.

If the password has been wiped, Dell will ask for the Service tag number from the bottom. If it has been stolen and resold (main reason that password gets wiped), they will report you have it.

edit: if all else fails (dell will not help you if you don't show up as the rightful owner), there is a way to short 2 pins on that password chip to clear it.

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My opinion is my own.

danielkh

I strongly suggest you try and verify that the computer is NOT stolen (by contacting Dell with the Service Tag) BEFORE attempting anything further.

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My opinion is my own.

rizaydog

Thanks. I'll do that.

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