Gateway HDD Password
 

I have an arc200 Gateway laptop that has a passworded harddrive and when I talked to Gateway the Tech said that in the Forums on Limewire I would find the answer on how to remove the HDD Password. The owner of the laptop doesnt even know how the password got installed. I would appreciate any help possible. Thanks Dustyone

LOL Great video at the end there

The internet is a series of tubes!

Thanks for the help
 

When I followed the link the company had taken down the page so I went to there homepage and emailed them for a cost.
The Gateway tech said that it is code that is needed to get into this password. I may call gateway back and see what another tech has to say.

If you can enter the bios setup you can disable it there. The bios password is usually easier to crack if set than a hdd lock. If it is a Windows password search for a bypass for that on google. If it is a hdd lock than depending on the manufacture of the drive it may have a master password that can be entered using atapwd.exe. If the hdd password is set it goes with the drive and can only be unlocked with a password. No swapping or disconnecting or shorting will unlock it. It's like putting a combination on a piece of paper and locking it in a bank vault, unless you know the combination you can't see the combination or unlock it. If all else fails than these guys can help for a fee, http://www.hddunlock.com. Hope this helps.

no need to crack a BIOS password, just take out the little battery for about a minute (clearing CMOS), and its gone..OK, so you will also loose all BIOS settings and have to reset them, but that should be no biggy

You know, I find it extremely strange that a Gateway Tech would direct a person to a Limewire forum to find a crack for someone’s HD. After all, this forum does not advocate cracks for software so why should it advocate cracks for hardware.

Either this Tech does not know his job, the full story in this thread has not fully come out or someone is laying out bait to see who bites.


(Suspicious) UK Bob

I was thinking along the same lines UK Bob, I was thinking more along the lines of a stolen laptop....:eek:

DOH!!!!!

WW

You know, I was thinking "stolen laptop" too but I have been accused, in the recent past, of "mud slinging".

So I decided to be a bit more diplomatic.



UK Bob

Stolen
 

I can tell you it is not stolen. When I called gateway they had the owners name registered for it and everything. The owner is a young guy with a business and he is not very tech oriented. I am an administrator for a school system and know what cmos passwords and hdd asswords are. I would not even take the chance of playing with a stolen laptop. I did call gateway to confirm that it wasnt stolen, when I told them the name of who gave it to me they confirmed that he was the owner. I do appreciate the helpful links you guys have given me so far. Thanks.

Dustyone67

Thanks for the background to your request but you would have to admit your original posting seemed very dodgy.

However, in future, if any Technician sends you to a forum for a "password crack" report him to his supervisor.



UK Bob

Help
 

MY friend locked my cpu hdd password im real irritated & NEED HELP

say what?

I must say, I've never heard of a password for a cpu....

Passwords?????
 

You know Guys and Dolls

I thought this thread had long served it's purpose, this should also encourage people not to ask the same silly answered questions.

Oh well.



UK Bob

nice to see you around again bobby...

it never ceases to amaze me either ;)

Hi Peerless

It's good to be back, although I cannot be as prolific as I once was but I'll still try to help out where I can.

I notice too that other long time forum members are no longer active, that's just life I guess.

Glad to see you're still fighting the good fight, especially against ignorance, stupidity, craziness, etc.

Nevertheless, I will keep popping back from time to time.


UK Bob

Excellent to hear :) We all hope you do. :) Great to see you back ... even if only occasionally. :) You're always welcome. :exel: :cheers3:

i need some help...i have a gateway nv52 laptop,it has been sitting in storage for 18 months..when i finally get out and power it up..it asks for a "HDD USER PASSWORD" i never set one up,i am the original purchaser,bought it at best buy...i talked to a local tech and he tells me that after long periods of inactivity that the hard drive/bios password themselves..gateway wants $200.00 and me to pay one way insured shipping cost and cannot gaurantee any of my data will be saved. i dont have money like that anymore...can someone please help me out. i was directed to this forum by a man on "toms hardware" website

Repair Station. Overview

http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/43545/ read that thread in its entirety

On the 486 motherboard there was a prom that could be used to set a password. It was possible to change the password only three or four times, as each new password would fill the next slot on the chip. There was no way to bypass it. I don't know if the ability to set that kind of password is available on current motherboards.