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Bios password

Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2015 1:09 pm
by Rich
I have seen some toughbooks on eBay that are bios password locked. Is there any way out of that? Some are low prices under a hundred and some, cf-31, was over $699. Can anybody shed some light on the darkness of my inexperience?

Re: Bios password

Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2015 2:06 pm
by toughasnails
pp999 wrote: Can anybody shed some light on the darkness of my inexperience?
Sure can...no way around it. No software program will unlock it. Only way around it is to send it to Heartlands Services (Panasonic) and the cost is $250.00 - $400.00 .

Re: Bios password

Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2015 5:26 pm
by Rich
Thanks, that helps a lot. It would have to be a really good deal to make it worth it.

Re: Bios password

Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2015 1:20 am
by ADOR
IF you find one that is locked and the boot order is correct sometimes you can make a deal, but you later on can't go into the bios and activate GPS if you add it later or if someone cut it off for example.

What are you looking for and what price range? I am sure one of the members here probably has it.

Re: Bios password

Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2015 1:35 pm
by Rich
Possibly cf-31, but just kicking around that idea. I won't get serious until I straighten out my cf-29 and set aside some funds. Thanks, when I get serious I will ask the forum.

Re: Bios password

Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 2:11 pm
by Rob
This is something which we (I)/Rugged Depot can do as needed.

Please PM me and I can set up an RMA.

Thanks!

Re: Bios password

Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 5:39 pm
by Rich
Thanks Rob. I don't have anything bios locked, and probably wont get anything like that unless it was a screaming deal.

Re: Bios password

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 9:40 am
by dryster
I was wondering what parameters are restricted with a bios locked with an unknown password - I understand the boot order issue, which could be a deal breaker - how would you know what the boot order was without access to the bios? - in addition, does a bios lock out constrain the HD and RAM size to the original build or will it adapt?

Re: Bios password

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 10:44 am
by Shawn
You can swap HDD without a problem.
The issues are some companies disable all of the wireless devices and / or the USB ports. I have seen them with the DVD disabled also.
The gov't is good for disabling all external ports and devices. It prevents idiots from stuffing a usb stick in and uploading the latest game that contains malware which ends up on the main server.

Re: Bios password

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 11:05 am
by kode-niner
Shawn wrote:...It prevents idiots from stuffing a usb stick in and uploading the latest game that contains malware which ends up on the main server.
Or copying/stealing confidential files.


Side note: I was very lucky with one of my MK2 CF-19's that had a BIOS password. Somehow I managed to reset the system by removing the CMOS battery. I suspect that if a password is present but TPM is not enabled, this may work on certain older models, though I am not willing to set a password to test and confirm my suspicions.