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How do I reset the BIOS password of an Advent 4211 netbook?
I'm hoping for a software solution to remove the password or find out what it is or even change it.
It's my laptop but I can't remember what I set the BIOS password too. I know on a PC to take out the battery and clear it with the jumpers but on a laptop I'm slightly scared of breaking something.
its in no-way really needed a BIOS password; don't do it if you don't need it. I wonder why you did that in the first place. Do you have multiple users or so? what i know from PC's is that you'll need to push some kind of thing on the motherboard to reset the BIOS, but i don't know what's the safest way on a notebook. – Deniz Zoeteman – 2010-02-07T12:26:02.703
4@TutorialPoint - I beg to differ, the fact that I set a BIOS password got me back a stolen laptop once, eejits walked into a computer shop and wanted the password removed, clerk contacted the police with make and model and the rest is history :) – None – 2010-02-07T13:08:25.150
@Molly: Could it be that the OP has a stolen laptop and wants the password removed? Curious. When I want to protect my laptop, I use whole-disk encryption rather than BIOS. You can't circumvent encryption by pulling a battery out. – OwenP – 2010-02-07T15:51:00.037
@OwenP - no, i'm not saying that. but i'm rather wary to give advice on how reset a BIOS password with a laptop, and i certainly wouldn't do that for someone unbeknown to me without proof of ownership. hence my answer would be: contact Acer technical suppoort. and as for disconnecting the CMOS battery, this doesn't work for modern laptops. – None – 2010-02-07T17:22:54.353
@Molly, although I agree with the sentiment, I think security through obscurity is bad thing. My answer is pretty vague; so perhaps I can get away without feeling too guilty :P – RJFalconer – 2010-02-07T19:38:36.940
I have a receipt for my laptop thank you very much. – Andrew – 2010-02-08T10:28:44.060
I've bought industrial-surplus laptops from e-bay with bios passwords on them.
There are a whole host of reasons one could want this info that aren't malevolent. – Fake Name – 2010-04-23T04:25:41.793
@Molly Pulling the CMOS battery absolutely clears the BIOS password on modern laptops. Thats what the battery is there for, without it the CMOS will lose its setting over time. I dont know if this holds true fro EFI/UEFI though. – Keltari – 2011-09-13T03:51:19.100