Prompted for password at power-up

Jeepfreek · 04-25-2005, 06:34 AM

Hi all,

My coworker just gave me a Gateway k7-600 Select computer because his church is getting rid of them and updating. They told me that they had wiped the drive and the computer was ready to be rebuilt in whatever fashion I desire. Be that as it may, I powered it up and I'm immediately prompted for the CURRENT password. No one recalls ever having to use one to get on the system. I can't get into the BIOS or boot into safe mode or anything. I even tried removing the CMOS battery and letting the system sit for a bit but that didn't do anything either. Does anyone have any ideas on how I can get past this password protection? I've also tried booting from CD and floppy thinking that perhaps they had one of those devices as the first boot device but no joy there. I could probably use my Linux utility to get past it but I'm wondering if there is another way.

Thanks and have a great week.

Mike

Geekgirl · 04-25-2005, 09:07 AM

They may have not wiped it. Place your win98 startup disc in the floppy drive, and boot. At the A:\ type in fdisk. This will wipe everything on the h.d.d. You will then need to format the drive. After formatting you can place your 98 disc in the cdrom and install 98 back on it.

04-25-2005, 06:34 AM	#1 (permalink)
Jeepfreek Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Southern California Posts: 7 OS: Vista Ultimate	Prompted for password at power-up Hi all, My coworker just gave me a Gateway k7-600 Select computer because his church is getting rid of them and updating. They told me that they had wiped the drive and the computer was ready to be rebuilt in whatever fashion I desire. Be that as it may, I powered it up and I'm immediately prompted for the CURRENT password. No one recalls ever having to use one to get on the system. I can't get into the BIOS or boot into safe mode or anything. I even tried removing the CMOS battery and letting the system sit for a bit but that didn't do anything either. Does anyone have any ideas on how I can get past this password protection? I've also tried booting from CD and floppy thinking that perhaps they had one of those devices as the first boot device but no joy there. I could probably use my Linux utility to get past it but I'm wondering if there is another way. Thanks and have a great week. Mike

04-25-2005, 09:07 AM	#2 (permalink)
Geekgirl Assistant Manager, Microsoft Support Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Six-burgh, Pennsylvania Posts: 14,163 OS: XP Home SP3/XP Pro SP3/Vista Ultimate SP2/Windows 7 Professional	They may have not wiped it. Place your win98 startup disc in the floppy drive, and boot. At the A:\ type in fdisk. This will wipe everything on the h.d.d. You will then need to format the drive. After formatting you can place your 98 disc in the cdrom and install 98 back on it. __________________ Compare NOD32 to your current antivirus and anti-spyware solution, HERE How to back up and restore the registry in Windows XP and Windows Vista Or Windows 7 How to back up and restore the registry in Windows 98/ ME / NT 4.0 / 2000 I DO NOT ACCEPT EMAILS AND WILL NOT REPLY TO THEM !!!!! TSF DOES NOT SUPPORT ASSISTANCE THROUGH EMAIL OR PRIVATE MESSAGES, PLEASE KEEP ALL QUESTIONS IN THE OPEN FORUM *The Pittsburgh Steelers - 6 X Superbowl Champions !!!!!!!* *The Pittsburgh Penguins - 2009 Stanley Cup Champions !!!!!!!*