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good laptop

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  1. #1
    cyberdan started this thread.
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    good laptop

    Last week, at a yard sale, I bought 2 laptops and 4 tablets for $3.00. Haven't checked out the tablets yet but one of the laptops looks to be in new condition. But it is password protected. Years ago on a PC I was able to bypass that are and get into a computer. Now I can not remember what I did to reset the password.

    Any suggestions?

    Here I am cyberdan, at yardsales I am dollardan


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    Please don't take this the wrong way but you said you were working with kids teaching them in computer classes and you don't know how to do a simple restore of a laptop.....why worry about breaking password just restore the OS and install all drivers and your done (this way computer does not have all the junk from previous owner)

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    I can get passed the passwords but you never know what people have been looking at or downloading. I would install a new OS like Mike suggested.

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  5. #4
    cyberdan started this thread.
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    Quote Originally Posted by mikeinreco View Post
    you said you were working with kids teaching them in computer classes and you don't know how to do a simple restore of a laptop.
    yep, you are right. I had been out of the recycle business for about four years. I have forgotten several things about getting into a laptop. I am not a repair guy. I can tear them down all day.

    As far as teaching there is only so much you can do with a 6 year old mind. parts, navigation and running simple programs. I have to spend 15-20 minutes before every class just getting 15-20 computers up and ready. These are old and older kids fool around with them during the week.

    As far as restore. I can not get past the password to get into the settings to do it from there.

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    So its bios password locked?

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    Quote Originally Posted by cyberdan View Post
    Last week, at a yard sale, I bought 2 laptops and 4 tablets for $3.00. Haven't checked out the tablets yet but one of the laptops looks to be in new condition. But it is password protected. Years ago on a PC I was able to bypass that are and get into a computer. Now I can not remember what I did to reset the password.

    Any suggestions?
    Download the operating system you want to use and install it on a USB stick. Then boot from the USB stick (press F12 during the startup and go to the boot menu and select your USB drive) and install the operating system. And there you go.

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    The usb stick method will work but there are other ways to lockdown a laptop....you can put a password on the bios and/or hard drive and this can be a little more tricky

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    I usually pull the hard drive and throw in one that has been wiped & tested. Install the operating system and then update. It's a good idea to check the device manager to make sure there aren't any missing hardware drivers if you're doing a pc.

    The main thing with the laptops is that they aren't generally intended to last a long time. It's a good idea to replace the battery and maybe even the charger if the laptop is over three years old.

    I've never run across a locked BIOS but there's usually a jumper on the mainboard that can be used to bypass that password. Most of the newer machines have gone to UEFI fastboot so it can be a bit challenging access the BIOS. That's the beauty of UEFI. Most will automatically boot from the USB when there's a new hard drive installed.

    All around ...pretty simple and hassle free. You get a nice clean install and the machine is ready for re-sell with minimal effort.

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