Acer Bios Password Reset?
 

hey guys [and gals] i really need some help. i bought an acer travelmate 230 notebook at a sale a local store had over the weekend. i got it as a gift for a family member but its got some problems. someone put a bios password on it and i cant get around it. ive tried several common backdoor passwords but no luck. i called acer and they want $100 to reset it plus shipping and going to take four weeks. really hate to go this route because like i said its gonna be a gift. i thought about pulling the cmos battery out but i read that with acer and dell (i've got one with the same problem and tried) it will not work. any ideas?i sure would appreciate it

I'd take it back to the store and get them to fix it (if that's possible). Otherwise...dunno.

If you have access to the mobo battery, I suggest taking it out, leaving it out for about 1/2 hr, then put it back in. Should flash the bios and reset it to original factory state. You may have to reset your system clock though.

Eww. Good luck with battery tricks. Laptops can be difficult.

Try some of the BIOS backdoor passwords listed <a href="http://labmice.techtarget.com/articles/BIOS_hack.htm">here</a>

There are also cracking programs wandering the net. Is it a Phoenix BIOS? Award?

Last idea: A fair number of laptops will zero their BIOS config and password when the right pins of their printer ports are shorted for a limited amount of time. I'm hesitant to suggest you try it unless you're willing to accept the possible damage. I won't say more unless everything else strikes out.

taking it back is out of the question. i bought it knowning there was an issue but i didnt know how bad. thanks for link ive tried several of those already and no luck. im trying to figure out which bios it is but having trouble. itll just boot with a acer logo and thats it. i may just have to bite the bullet and pay acer. thanks

Unplug it and leave the battery out for an extended period of time (overnight perhaps).

If not, I have a neat little bios reset utility, but you have to at least be able to boot to the floppy first. I can e-mail it to ya if you like.

just got off the phone with acer (real nice over there btw) and its a phoenix bios. im going to try some more backdoor passwords.

thanks... i was gonna try killbios if i could ever boot the dang thing up..lol. ill keep you posted. btw which program you got?

I'd like to know the result of this, too.

I dunno...

reaches into the Bag O' Goodies and roots around...

Oooh, forgot I had that one *evil laugh*

looks like it's called "Killcmos"


I have the Ultimate Boot CD in my arsenal as well. It has quite a few useful apps on it.

well i got a update on my problems. the dell i fixed. they had to generate a master password then press crtl & enter and let it reboot. works like charm now.

the acer i'm going to have to send in. they have a special chip bypass that resets it. thanks for the ideas i appreciate it.