Bios password for IBM thinkpad R40?

Question

The problem is this... my boss decided to get me to fix labtops which is not my speciality... i have never had to before. I am working on a IBM thinkpad R40. When i turned it on there was a prompt for a password to get into the BIOS. I work for a job where we get recycled computers for other companies and then fix them up and do a fresh install so that the computers and labtops can be used by schools. So the passwords on the machines we have no way of knowing. My boss told me one to try and it worked.. so he said when i get into bios to get him. So i did. He went into the supervisor password option and entered the old password and for the new password he just hit enter which disabled it. So when i go to do the install i turned the computer back on. And now it prompts me for a password again except this time the old pass dont work and either does hitting enter. Anyone have an idea on how to get past this password so i can get back into the BIOS?????

Answer 1

the manufacturer usually has a default BIOS password that will work.. u can contact them for that, here are some of them if u wanna try:



concat

AMI_SW (case sensitive)

AMI!SW/

AMI?SW/

j262



the hard ways:

u can use jumpers, but that's kinda advanced..

U can remove the battery from the motherboard for 10 mins or so, (Be aware that this will reset the CMOS, plus that it might not stop asking for a password, but it will ask for the default (manufacturers) password instead)..



I do believe there is also software to do this, but it's really risky!

Answer 2

Ibm R40

Answer 3

The only solution I know to bypass a BIOS password is removing the battery..



I don't mean the laptop battery - that would be too easy ;-) - I mean the motherboard battery (that little battery that lets the laptop remember the date/hour and the BIOS settings).



But I'm not sure it's an easy task with a laptop :-S



I guess some software solutions exist, but it's usually not a good idea to play with that..

Answer 4

Some notebooks won't let you change without a technician-repairman password. Check this tech article. It sounds like you have nothing to lose. There is a paragraph about a DOS cracker.

Answer 5

I too have the same question