locked out...

last night i tried to get onto my computer so i could run a defragment while i did some homework, but when i turn it on, it shows the first little startup up screen with the name and brand of computer then it goes immediatley to a black DOS like screen with a "key" shape in the upper left hand corner. i type things and i found out there is a 7 character limit on the password you can enter and after three tries, it says "Incorrect Password. System Halted." or something to that effect. i have no idea why it suddenly did this... so can anyone help me out?

that sounds like a computer laptop bios screen.

if that is indeed a laptop and it is password protected, you will need to contact the vendor.

its not a laptop, its a desktop

sorry about that short post, i accidentally hit the post button with my mouse....its an IBM Aptiva.... dont know what year it is but its fairly old... if it was up to me id just get rid of the damn thing but its not mine and i doubt that the owner wants to spend any money to buy a new one so im trying to keep this thing running as long as possible

Could you just hit the reset button on the PC, and start the computer again? would it go straight into windows, or does it stop at that black screen asking for a password?

IBM APTIVA BIOS - Press both mouse buttons repeatedly during the boot

see if that lets you in.

egghead

Did you leave the computer un-attended at some point? I could only think that someone put on a password, perhaps as a joke?

i didnt know there was a reset button on computers, i mean, besides the power button if thats wat u mean and im gonna try to go do this clicking mouse repetedly thing real quick and theres no possibility it is a joke, im the only one in the house who knows how to work the damn thing

ya that mouse clicking thing didnt work either... sounds like my comp is screwed ehh? nothing works....

There is probably a jumper on the motherboard that will clear the passwords. Resetting that should allow you to boot Windows normally. You will have to check either on the IBM website, in the documentation or call them to see if that jumper exists and where it is and how to operate it.

Does removing the BIOS battery do the same thing? If so you can take out the battery for a while, then but it back in and boot up.

i guess ill try and find out if it has a jumper and where it is, and what is the BIOS battery.... i didnt know desktop computers had batteries, this is all pretty discouraging though...

No need to get discouraged :D...We're here to help if we can. Opening the system and moving the jumper is no big deal. You're just training and increasing your "Geekdom".

well i opened my computer up and its really dusty in there.... i only saw one set of switches that i could mess with, i must have been looking at the wrong diagram or something but i screwed around with them.... the only thing that happened was a different screen came up before the little key on the black screen... it said something about the clock beign misconfigured and somthing else and i trued to push F1 to get into setup like it said, but it just took my straight back to the key....:S i guess ill try lookin at a couple more things before i give up for the night

i cant find anything about the jumper switch.... i must not be looking in the right area or something.... i dont know...

No sign of any battery? PC's have little batteries about 1.5 cm in diameter in order to keep some basic settings (like the time).

Not sure about laptops though.

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Not sure about laptops though.

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I'm sure they have the same, all the ones i've dropped ... err... opened did ;)

With the PC turned off remove the BIOS battery (disc battery usually near bottom of MoBo) and short the two parts of the battery holder together for a couple of seconds. This will clear the BIOS. Re-insert the battery and turn the PC on, you will now need to re-configure the BIOS for your hardware. If you don't know how to configure the BIOS for the hardware - don't do any of this, take it to someone that can.

i cant find any battery to remove other then this little 3v mini thin battery.... and removing that doesnt do anything

IBM have securities options that are famous. I see you found out why :p
That is why they are so popular in corporate enviroments. It is very posible that you had that password from before. Did you buy the PC used?
Probably something was skipping the password, and that is no longer active. They usually have s jumper, but it might not be so obvious since they want to hide it. If you forget your thinkpad password you have to send the laptop to IBM.
Unplug the power cable, remove the batery, try to switch the PC on, both from the button at the front and from the button in the power supply (if it has) then leave it withouth the batery for 10, or more minutes. Relax, watch The simpsoms, then re-insert the batery, and try again

Humm, I did a litle research, the password is saved in Flash memory, so removing the batery might not help at all (Try anyhow). Also, it is stored in the HD.
F1 enters you into the BIOS, right??
There seems to be a chip to replace the security chip of the PC
I found this link. It is for the thinkpad. You might want to contact them to find out more. http://www.nortek.on.ca/hdd_pw.html
I had to be in the IBM web site for Support on Lotus, man, I hate their support.
They have forums thought
Do you knwo the model number?
I read in the IBM web site that the numbers from the numpad and from the number keys are different. So check that when entering the password
http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview...cs=utf-8&lang=
I also found some information. I would need the model number again to give you exact information. Look at this:
http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview...cs=utf-8&lang=
Check that S1. SW2 is to bypass password

I read somewhere that removing the CMOS lithium battery will clear the BIOS information. I dont know if it will clear the bios info completely, or what u will need after removing it.
I'm not very sure, so u could take a look at the removing the cmos options. Dont do it before asking some of the TZ guys
this link offers somin - http://www.experts-exchange.com/Hard..._10224072.html

CMOS battery removal COULD be an option.But once again, i dont know much abt this.

I dont have any personal experience with a laptop but i did remove the battery on my desktop PC once and the password was indeed cleared