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1. scraprider - Member

   Hi all i have offerd a cheap panasonic toughbook lap top, very cheap but has got a bios password on it,its not stolen or anything like that the chap buys and sells old pc stuff and hes got a few of these , i fancy one for mapping softwhare when i go off roading etc, anyway my question is can the bios password be removed if you dont know it .
   Cheers.
   Darren.

   Posted 4 months ago #
2. MrOvershoot - Member

   Desktops were easy usually as it was a jumper on the MB.

   I would do a Google search on removing the BIOS pw before you commit

   Posted 4 months ago #
3. chojin - Member

   There is no way to change the password on modern bios systems, we use panasonic tough books at work and when they are sent back to panasonic for repair, panasonic themselves ask for the password to be removed by us first!

   Posted 4 months ago #
4. AlasdairMc - Member

   Presumably you can't strip it and remove the CMOS battery? Does this work for Toughbooks?

   Choijin - any BIOS password can be overcome, the manufacturer will have a utility that will allow them to reset it using an unlock code, but distribution of this tool is tightly controlled.

   Posted 4 months ago #
5. scraprider - Member

   cheers lads, may just take a punt at 70 quid, i use them at work as well motor trade diagnostics.
   cheers.

   Posted 4 months ago #
6. chojin - Member

   CMOS battery trick hasn't worked in years, not at least since they've been storing bios on EEPROM chips.
   I'm pretty sure toughbooks don't have a "back door", else panasonic wouldn't request we unlock them before sending back - plus the fact that they need to be secure to a military standard for us to use them at work.

   Posted 4 months ago #
7. Cougar - Member

   There's a tool called 'killcmos' which corrupts the CMOS settings with the idea that it reverts back to defaults. Whether it'd work on the Toughbook I've no idea (and it's a bit of a frig to use) but it might be worth a punt. Assuming that the password is just on the setup screen, anyway; if it's preventing it from booting you're knackered.

   Any particular reason why the guy selling can't contact the original owner?

   Posted 4 months ago #
8. soma_rich - Member

   Try flashing the bios with a new version?
   http://www.ehow.com/how_7561222_update-bios-toughbook.html

   Posted 4 months ago #

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