Shoutbox

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Originally posted by Adeptus
The correct password reset methods for laptops are very model specific (e.g. short two points on the main board somewhere, often accessible through the memory slot cover or by removing the keyboard), are described in the service manuals, and most service manuals are on the net.  It would help to know what brand and model this laptop is.

Failing that, by far the easiest thing to do would be to remove the hard drive, connect it to another computer and use ntpasswd to reset the Windows administrator password.  Hard drives in laptops are designed to be easily removed -- often just one or two screws securing a slide tray.  Once you can get into Windows, you can find some software to reset the BIOS password.

You can put the drive in another laptop for resetting the password, or temporarily connect it to a desktop.  If the laptop's hard drive is IDE, it will need an adapter to connect it to a desktop (2.5" IDE drives use a different connector).  If it is SATA, it should be fine the way it is.

On a final note, you might want to have a chat with your friend about buying stolen goods.  That's the usual scenario where these kinds of situations come up.  It's hard to imagine any reason why a former owner selling his own laptop would refuse to remove or disclose passwords -- the thing is probably hot and the seller won't help you because he doesn't know.

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most of this has already been said, i just found the model number, it's a dell latitude d430 d series . it's an ex-university laptop and yes it is likely stolen.