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Hey all!

I need to reset a Laptop's BIOS, and cannot get to the battery itself.
I CAN however get to the BIOS chip, which is socketed.

Do y'all think pulling the chip for awhile have the same effect as
pulling the battery?

Thanks for your thoughts....

In article <>,
mhaase-at-springmind.com (Mark Haase) wrote:

> Hey all!
>
> I need to reset a Laptop's BIOS, and cannot get to the battery itself.
> I CAN however get to the BIOS chip, which is socketed.
>
> Do y'all think pulling the chip for awhile have the same effect as
> pulling the battery?
>
> Thanks for your thoughts....

I dunno... but I have a concern about pulling a chip that has power
applied to it. If you damage the chip, the laptop immediately becomes a
paperweight...

On Sun, 14 Sep 2003 20:54:37 -0700, (Ghost) wrote:

>In article <>,
>mhaase-at-springmind.com (Mark Haase) wrote:
>
>> Hey all!
>>
>> I need to reset a Laptop's BIOS, and cannot get to the battery itself.
>> I CAN however get to the BIOS chip, which is socketed.
>>
>> Do y'all think pulling the chip for awhile have the same effect as
>> pulling the battery?
>>
>> Thanks for your thoughts....
>
>I dunno... but I have a concern about pulling a chip that has power
>applied to it. If you damage the chip, the laptop immediately becomes a
>paperweight...


Yeah but:

a) It's useless now...can't get by a password prompt

b) it's probably worth all of $50....it's a P-133!

Thanx for the help!




I resisted 'till I couldn't take it anymore.

(sigh) Address altered against Spam.

Replace the -at- and put the "spring-mind" in the correct order

In article <>,
mhaase-at-springmind.com (Mark Haase) wrote:

> On Sun, 14 Sep 2003 20:54:37 -0700, (Ghost) wrote:
>
> >In article <>,
> >mhaase-at-springmind.com (Mark Haase) wrote:
> >
> >> Hey all!
> >>
> >> I need to reset a Laptop's BIOS, and cannot get to the battery itself.
> >> I CAN however get to the BIOS chip, which is socketed.
> >>
> >> Do y'all think pulling the chip for awhile have the same effect as
> >> pulling the battery?
> >>
> >> Thanks for your thoughts....
> >
> >I dunno... but I have a concern about pulling a chip that has power
> >applied to it. If you damage the chip, the laptop immediately becomes a
> >paperweight...
>
>
> Yeah but:
>
> a) It's useless now...can't get by a password prompt
>
> b) it's probably worth all of $50....it's a P-133!
>
> Thanx for the help!
>
>
>
>
> I resisted 'till I couldn't take it anymore.
>
> (sigh) Address altered against Spam.
>
> Replace the -at- and put the "spring-mind" in the correct order

then take it apart.. somewhere inside will be the CMOS battery!

In article <>,
(Richard Ballard) wrote:

> In article <>,
> mhaase-at-springmind.com <mhaase-at-springmind.com@> writes:
>
> >On Sun, 14 Sep 2003 20:54:37 -0700,
> > (Ghost) wrote:
> >
> >>In article <>,
> >>mhaase-at-springmind.com (Mark Haase) wrote:
> >>
> >>>Hey all!
> >>>
> >>>I need to reset a Laptop's BIOS, and cannot get to the battery
> >>>itself. I CAN however get to the BIOS chip, which is socketed.
> >>>
> >>>Do y'all think pulling the chip for awhile have the same effect
> >>>as pulling the battery?
> >>>
> >>>Thanks for your thoughts....
> >>
> >>I dunno... but I have a concern about pulling a chip that has
> >>power applied to it. If you damage the chip, the laptop
> >>immediately becomes a paperweight...
> >
> >Yeah but:
> >
> >a) It's useless now...can't get by a password prompt
> >
> >b) it's probably worth all of $50....it's a P-133!
>
> Many motherboards have a removable jumper specifically designed
> to allow user reinitialization of the PC's BIOS settings.
>
> 'Hope that helps.
>
> Richard Ballard MSEE CNA4 KD0AZ
> --
> Consultant specializing in computer networks, imaging & security
> Listed as rjballard in "Friends & Favorites" at www.amazon.com
> Last book review: "Combatting Cult Mind Control"
> by Steven Hassan

I have never seen a CMOS jumper on a laptop before- and I work on a lot of
laptops...

What is he trying to do?

Removing power will NOT reset the password in most modern laptops. It's
stored in non-volatile flash memory, not in battery backed up memory, in
most models.


Ghost wrote:

> In article <>,
> mhaase-at-springmind.com (Mark Haase) wrote:
>
>
>>Hey all!
>>
>>I need to reset a Laptop's BIOS, and cannot get to the battery itself.
>>I CAN however get to the BIOS chip, which is socketed.
>>
>>Do y'all think pulling the chip for awhile have the same effect as
>>pulling the battery?
>>
>>Thanks for your thoughts....
>
>
> I dunno... but I have a concern about pulling a chip that has power
> applied to it. If you damage the chip, the laptop immediately becomes a
> paperweight...

On Mon, 15 Sep 2003 15:38:16 -0700, Barry Watzman <>
wrote:

>What is he trying to do?
>
>Removing power will NOT reset the password in most modern laptops. It's
>stored in non-volatile flash memory, not in battery backed up memory, in
>most models.

Yes, that's what I'm trying to do (reset the password). As to
"modern", the thing is circa 1995. Does that fall into the "modern"
category?

FWIW, I DID remove the chip for about 12 hours, and it did NOT reset
the password - you were right.

Any ideas on a plan of action? There's something holding the two
halves together that I haven't been able to find yet, and I'm a
little tenuous about dismantling the whole thing - I don't do much
laptop work at all and even though the thing isn't worth much, I'm
reluctant to risk not being able to get it all back together and
leaving it worse than I found it.

What's the Hypocratic Oath start with? "First, do no harm"?

Thanks for any suggestions!





>Ghost wrote:
>
>> In article <>,
>> mhaase-at-springmind.com (Mark Haase) wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Hey all!
>>>
>>>I need to reset a Laptop's BIOS, and cannot get to the battery itself.
>>>I CAN however get to the BIOS chip, which is socketed.
>>>
>>>Do y'all think pulling the chip for awhile have the same effect as
>>>pulling the battery?
>>>
>>>Thanks for your thoughts....
>>
>>
>> I dunno... but I have a concern about pulling a chip that has power
>> applied to it. If you damage the chip, the laptop immediately becomes a
>> paperweight...



I resisted 'till I couldn't take it anymore.

(sigh) Address altered against Spam.

Replace the -at- and put the "spring-mind" in the correct order

In article <>,
mhaase-at-springmind.com (Mark Haase) wrote:

> On Mon, 15 Sep 2003 15:38:16 -0700, Barry Watzman <>
> wrote:
>
> >What is he trying to do?
> >
> >Removing power will NOT reset the password in most modern laptops. It's
> >stored in non-volatile flash memory, not in battery backed up memory, in
> >most models.
>
> Yes, that's what I'm trying to do (reset the password). As to
> "modern", the thing is circa 1995. Does that fall into the "modern"
> category?
>
> FWIW, I DID remove the chip for about 12 hours, and it did NOT reset
> the password - you were right.
>
> Any ideas on a plan of action? There's something holding the two
> halves together that I haven't been able to find yet, and I'm a
> little tenuous about dismantling the whole thing - I don't do much
> laptop work at all and even though the thing isn't worth much, I'm
> reluctant to risk not being able to get it all back together and
> leaving it worse than I found it.
>
> What's the Hypocratic Oath start with? "First, do no harm"?
>
> Thanks for any suggestions!
>


Try doing a google search for the manufacturer of the laptop and keywords
such as: +password +reset +cmos

Re: "As to "modern", the thing is circa 1995. Does that fall into the
"modern" >>category?"

It probably does, for this purpose. Laptops have used flash memory for
longer than desktops. The last laptops that I saw in which the password
could be reset by removing the battery were some early 1990's Compaq
486's. I have Zenith 386 and 486 Z-Notes, from 1992-1993, and they
cannot be reset by removing the battery. This varies by model, of
course, but in any Pentium based laptop -- even a Pentium 75 -- it's
very unlikely that you can remove the password by disconnecting the battery.

What kind of laptop is it? Be specific.

The procedure for resetting the password varies greatly from laptop to
laptop, from mfgr. to mfgr. Some commonly used techniques are:

1. Insert a special diskette (a VERY special diskette) into the floppy
drive before turning on power.

2. Connect a special "password removal dongle" to the parallel printer
port socket.

3. Momentarily short two point on the motherboard while turning on
power. The points are normally accessible without major disassembly
(often they are in the memory expansion area, but they are completely
unmarked).



Ghost wrote:

> In article <>,
> mhaase-at-springmind.com (Mark Haase) wrote:
>
>
>>On Mon, 15 Sep 2003 15:38:16 -0700, Barry Watzman <>
>>wrote:
>>
>>
>>>What is he trying to do?
>>>
>>>Removing power will NOT reset the password in most modern laptops. It's
>>>stored in non-volatile flash memory, not in battery backed up memory, in
>>>most models.
>>
>>Yes, that's what I'm trying to do (reset the password). As to
>>"modern", the thing is circa 1995. Does that fall into the "modern"
>>category?
>>
>>FWIW, I DID remove the chip for about 12 hours, and it did NOT reset
>>the password - you were right.
>>
>>Any ideas on a plan of action? There's something holding the two
>>halves together that I haven't been able to find yet, and I'm a
>>little tenuous about dismantling the whole thing - I don't do much
>>laptop work at all and even though the thing isn't worth much, I'm
>>reluctant to risk not being able to get it all back together and
>>leaving it worse than I found it.
>>
>>What's the Hypocratic Oath start with? "First, do no harm"?
>>
>>Thanks for any suggestions!
>>
>
>
>
> Try doing a google search for the manufacturer of the laptop and keywords
> such as: +password +reset +cmos

On Mon, 15 Sep 2003 20:32:46 -0700, Barry Watzman <>
wrote:

>Re: "As to "modern", the thing is circa 1995. Does that fall into the
>"modern" >>category?"
>
>It probably does, for this purpose. Laptops have used flash memory for
>longer than desktops. The last laptops that I saw in which the password
>could be reset by removing the battery were some early 1990's Compaq
>486's. I have Zenith 386 and 486 Z-Notes, from 1992-1993, and they
>cannot be reset by removing the battery. This varies by model, of
>course, but in any Pentium based laptop -- even a Pentium 75 -- it's
>very unlikely that you can remove the password by disconnecting the battery.
>
>What kind of laptop is it? Be specific.
>
>The procedure for resetting the password varies greatly from laptop to
>laptop, from mfgr. to mfgr. Some commonly used techniques are:
>
>1. Insert a special diskette (a VERY special diskette) into the floppy
>drive before turning on power.
>
>2. Connect a special "password removal dongle" to the parallel printer
>port socket.
>
>3. Momentarily short two point on the motherboard while turning on
>power. The points are normally accessible without major disassembly
>(often they are in the memory expansion area, but they are completely
>unmarked).

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find much about it on line.
It's an Everex "4500 Series". That's the only identifying markings on
it.

I've posted in a few possible NG's looking for someone who might have
info on it, but no luck yet.

As always...any help is appreciated.






>Ghost wrote:
>
>> In article <>,
>> mhaase-at-springmind.com (Mark Haase) wrote:
>>
>>
>>>On Mon, 15 Sep 2003 15:38:16 -0700, Barry Watzman <>
>>>wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>What is he trying to do?
>>>>
>>>>Removing power will NOT reset the password in most modern laptops. It's
>>>>stored in non-volatile flash memory, not in battery backed up memory, in
>>>>most models.
>>>
>>>Yes, that's what I'm trying to do (reset the password). As to
>>>"modern", the thing is circa 1995. Does that fall into the "modern"
>>>category?
>>>
>>>FWIW, I DID remove the chip for about 12 hours, and it did NOT reset
>>>the password - you were right.
>>>
>>>Any ideas on a plan of action? There's something holding the two
>>>halves together that I haven't been able to find yet, and I'm a
>>>little tenuous about dismantling the whole thing - I don't do much
>>>laptop work at all and even though the thing isn't worth much, I'm
>>>reluctant to risk not being able to get it all back together and
>>>leaving it worse than I found it.
>>>
>>>What's the Hypocratic Oath start with? "First, do no harm"?
>>>
>>>Thanks for any suggestions!
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Try doing a google search for the manufacturer of the laptop and keywords
>> such as: +password +reset +cmos



I resisted 'till I couldn't take it anymore.

(sigh) Address altered against Spam.

Replace the -at- and put the "spring-mind" in the correct order