Forgot Dell administrator password? Ever been locked out of Dell BIOS or even Windows? Need to reset the Hard Drive password set on your Dell computer? There are many users asking help for password recovery on Dell laptop / desktop computers, but we can't find a comprehensive or ultimate tricks on such topic. In this article we'll cover all possible password problems you may experience with Dell computer.
In general, there are three types of passwords for any Dell computer: Hard Drive password, BIOS password and Windows password.
1 Hard Drive Password
It is not a very well known fact, but all hard disks have a very strong hardware password capability build in. This password is usually stored both in a chip on the HD controller (the printed circuit board on the hard disk) and on the hard disk itself in a special hidden sector.
Setting this password will make the hard disk completely unusable to anyone that doesn't know it. And not only on your computer, but on any computer.
The hard disk manufacturers are unable to unlock a password protected hard disk, as there aren't any "secret" master passwords build into the firmware. Even swapping the controller of the password-protected hard disk with exactly the same controller from an unprotected HD will not remove the protection on most disks, as the password (together with most of the firmware) is also stored on the hard disk itself.
Click here to learn more about Hard Drive password.
2 BIOS Password
A BIOS password is a protection measure that can be used to stop someone powering up a computer system or making changes in some of the computers most sensitive areas.
The simplest way to remove a BIOS password is to simply remove the CMOS battery. A computer will remember its settings and keep the time even when it is turned off and unplugged because these parts are powered by small battery inside the computer called a CMOS battery. If we pull out this battery, the computer will forget lots of its hardware settings, including its BIOS password.
Additionally, you can also recover Dell BIOS password by following this guide.
3 Windows Password
Forgot Windows administrator password and can't log in to your Dell computer? You can fix this problem by resetting your lost or forgotten Windows password using the third-party software: WindowsUnlocker. The program works with Windows 8, 7, Vista, XP and Windows Server 2012 / 2008 / 2003 / 2000.
- Download the self-extracting Zip file of WindowsUnlocker package.
- Uncompress the package, there is a ISO image: pcunlocker.iso. Burn it onto a CD/DVD or USB flash drive.
- Boot your locked computer from the newly burned CD/DVD or USB flash drive.
- Wait until the boot process is finished. When a window pops up with all your Windows accounts, select the target one to reset its forgotten password.
