Jim Watt <jimwatt@aol.no_way> wrote in
news:qhf8d19eivn8je4tlm2j6jmti43j70n9hq@4ax.com:

> On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 19:32:02 GMT, "a.draper" <adraper@verizon.net>
> wrote:
>
>>Notan wrote:
>>> Wolf Halton wrote:
>>>
>>>><snip>
>>>>
>>>>That sounds like good trouble-stooting. Seems like to me the
>>>>password on the bios has not been cleared yet. Have you considered
>>>>taking it to a certified repair center to have the password cleared?
>>>> That would be cheating, but it is probably not a lot more than a
>>>>new hard-drive that might not work. I have never heard of a
>>>>hard-drive-attached rom passwording feature. This is very
>>>>interesting.
>>>
>>>
>>> Here's a pretty good explanation, from Barry Watzman, in
>>> comp.sys.laptops.
>>>
>>> The OP was questioning how to reset a hard drive password...
>>>
>>> "This mechanism is entirely in the hard drive itself, and the design
>>> philosophy that the hardware should become useless before the data
>>> should become available without the proper password.
>>>
>>> Basically, at power-on, you have to supply the password before the
>>> drive will even respond to any IDE data transfer commands --
>>> including the commands that let the BIOS recognize that the hard
>>> drive exists. Until the proper password is entered, the command to
>>> enter the password is the only command that the drive will respond
>>> to. Therefore, until it's entered, you can't use FDISK or anything
>>> else, because the drive effectively doesn't yet exist.
>>>
>>> It's not physically impossible to reset the password, but the
>>> knowledge of how to do it is generally unknown, and the equipment to
>>> do it is generally not available. There are a few places (very few)
>>> that offer the service, but the cost is higher than the cost of a
>>> new hard drive, so it only makes sense if it's the data, rather than
>>> the drive, that's important. [and, hopefully, the places that can
>>> reset it ask lots and lots of questions first]"
>>>
>>> Notan
>>
>>At last we're getting somewhere! Let me see if I can sum up the
>>situation correctly. If a HD password has been set the Bios cannot
>>process any commands in the presence of a set HD, OR the absence of
>>any HD at all. BUT the presence of an HD without a set password will
>>allow the Bios to process commands normally without seeking a
>>password. Is this a fair statement of the facts?
>
> Basically yet, the first thing the BIOS does is check the HD for a
> password. The password is recorded in the non-volatile memory
> of the drive electronics.
>
> I have a working laptop which did have a drive protected by a
> password.
>
> --
> Jim Watt
> http://www.gibnet.com
>



Actually the IDE standard supports TWO passwords directly on the HD itself:
the first a user password, the second a master (administrator) password.
There are methods of resetting, etc. the user password while retaining the
data on the HD; the only method of removing the administrator password
(unless you already know it!) entails losing all data on the drive.

The standard tool (if your BIOS doesn't support this directly - and many
don't!) is ATAPWD by Alex Mina.

Regards,