bios help

[alabamatoy]

Dell Inspiron 1100 notebook with Phoenix BIOS.  My daughter's computer, and it was stolen at college, and later found and returned to us, but now it appears to have a BIOS password.  The machine starts bootup, and asks for password, three tries and it shuts down.  Dell has a backdoor PW which apparently was changed, as it no longer works.  Dell says only alternative is send it back and get a new motherboard.

Any suggested alternatives?  Things to try?

I took the battery out for several days and that didnt help......

Any suggestions would sure be appreciated!

[Neil]

Unless anyone else here can think of any ideas, I'm afraid you might need a new motherboard, which may mean you need to reinstall Windows too. It is possible to put the harddrive in another computer and retrieve the data from it (unless the theif as passworded the harddrive too!) In future, consider putting your own BIOS password in, to prevent a future theif from doing this again?

Edit: Just realised this is a laptop, so it won't be so easy to remove the harddrive.

Second edit: do you mean the laptop's battery/powercell, or the CMOS battery?

[Mastrg]

it is possible to change the jumpers on the motherboard

there is a set of 3 jumpers on motherboards as a back up procedure, when a motherboard is made 2 of the jumpers are connected for normal mode and the 3rd is left alone, when things go bad and u need direct link to Bios u unhook the the line between say jumper AB and hook it to jumper BC.  Connecting these jumpers overrides all security on the board and directs you to the main bios page where you can change all passwords and such.  

Where it is in a Laptop i dont w/o looking but ive used it so many times its second hand knowledge to me.

The jumper would be set up A B C with a casing around Prongs A B. if you have the manual look it up it should be in there.

[alabamatoy]

Edit: Just realised this is a laptop, so it won't be so easy to remove the harddrive.

Its easy on this one, and there's nothing of value on the harddrive that wasnt backed up.

Second edit: do you mean the laptop's battery/powercell, or the CMOS battery?

regular battery, I cant seem to find the cmos battery.  I guess I'll try taking the cover off.

The jumper would be set up A B C with a casing around Prongs A B. if you have the manual look it up it should be in there.

Yep, I'll try to get the cover off.  Thanks for the suggestions!

[Neil]

Make sure this doesn't void the warrenty with Dell!!!!!!!!1

[alabamatoy]

Make sure this doesn't void the warrenty with Dell!!!!!!!!1

Its outa warranty.

Here's the MB:


and


I cant find a jumper on it, anywhere.

The CMOS battery is visible at left on the second pic, but its a solder-on type.  I dont have any SMT soldering capability.....I would probably flow the whole board anyway.

Is this thing a loss?

[ale52]

Laptops don't normally have jumpers, so it's a waste of time looking for one.

From your second pic it seems the battery is the one with the yellow ring and the clip on.  It shouldn't be soldered in because over time it HAS to be replaced. You should be able to lift the arm up and pop the battery out.

Leave it with that battery out, the removable battery out and the power source unplugged for a few hours, replace the motherboard battery (the one in the yellow ring) removable battery and power it up using the AC adaptor.

Good luck !

Alan <><  

[alabamatoy]

It shouldn't be soldered in because over time it HAS to be replaced. You should be able to lift the arm up and pop the battery out.

Its definitely soldered in place.  I think I can cut one of the leads and leave it then perm restablish the connection somehow.  Will give it a shot.  Thx

[GX1_Man]

Laptops are inherently different than desktops and the security is different. You will need a new motherboard, as Dell advised. Those passwords are stored in the ROM, so batteriy status is irrelevant.

[alabamatoy]

Those passwords are stored in the ROM, so batteriy status is irrelevant.

stored....in...ROM....acronym contradiction.....aaaaAAAAARRRRGH!!!!

Phooey.  Oh well.  I learned something in the process, thanks for the help.  Anyone need any dell laptop parts?  :-)

[GX1_Man]

Not from an Inspiron.