Homeless Diver

A guy lost on Boracay

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READ FULL POST BEFORE ATTEMPTING! (click images for full size)

I have done this successfully several times recently. On a desktop, its easy. Not so easy on a laptop.

I sold my Acer to a local guy and he promptly messed it up. He’s so bad on computers (putting it lightly) that he doesnt know what he changed. Unfortunately, the boot-up screen says < press F2 to enter setup>… he did this…. and changed not 1, not 2, but enacted 3 passwords.  A Supervisors PW, a User PW, and a boot PW.  I needed these cleared.  Acers tech support was helpful only in what they managed to not be clear about. They said it could be sent back to them— or turned into a local computer repair shop.  Local….. hmmmm that told me all I needed to know.

…that it was possible for me to do it. I succeeded. Here are the instructions:

take it apart by following these instructions: (note- the 3 ‘back screws’ mean you have to pull that upper plate off first b4 you can get to the lower 3 small screws under the screen, doesnt explain that): Ramblings of a Coder <– details

To clear out BIOS passwords, you have to remove the CMOS battery ( a watch battery) on the motherboard.

• Careful! It’s holder is fragile and might break off of the MB. Mine did….but I’m good at soldering circuit boards so I fixed mine.
• RECOMMENDATION: use a tiny flat blade and softly push it under the battery until it pops out. Trying to flex the retainer clips will result in popping the entire holder or breaking the clips.

I took the battery out for a full 24 hours to be safe.. less might work, I haven’t tested that. Acer uses a version of flash chip/drive for storing BIOS unlike desktops. I was worried about how to discharge the gateways but this apparently works just like the old way—- jumper 1.

Look on the pic.  After the battery was out for a day, I used a small flat blade screwdriver (magnetized from a diver-equipment set) to bridge the jumper for 30 seconds. I did this 3 times in 5 minutes. Its a pain in the ass to put back together so I was thorough.

Put back together… it works.  CMOS/BIOS passwords are cleared

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3 Responses

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1. 

   JD

   sweet, something to read. Yea, its how I was looking to clear them out but couldnt for the life of me… find the jumper. Several boards said it was impossible because of a different way Acer stored it.

   Oct 21, 2008 at 5:37 AM

   Reply
2. 

   Chad

   I know back in the day thats how alot of BIOS passes were cleared.

   Now feed your mind! hahaha

   PC Magazine November 2008
   http://rapidshare.com/files/153470397/2008_11_Pc_Magazine.zip

   PC World, November 2008
   http://rapidshare.com/files/153487609/2008_11_PC_World.zip

   Oct 19, 2008 at 10:36 PM

   Reply
3. 

   mccawff

   ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Yeah. So how’s that ear healing up?

   Oct 19, 2008 at 6:24 AM

   Reply