Reset Administrator Password - Optiplex 760

[Optiplex760]

OK I have followed the instructions on Dell's website:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/op780/en/sm/sm_usff/bios.htm#wp1163645

I need to change/delete the administrator password because the systems
guy has passed away and I need to change the boot order on one of the machines so that we can
perform a clean install of the operating system.

I removed the jumpers as described in the instructions but nothing
changed. I also removed the bios battery CR2032 and this too didn't
change anything.

Can I remove the battery and leave the machine un-powered for 24 hours
to wipe everything that is hard coded in the bios? Or can somebody tell
me where else is the power coming from to keep remembering the
passwords? There must be a way of wiping everything to get me going.

I thought I will flash the bios if this would work but I can't boot from
any media because the first media it looks for is HD and I can't change
anything without the Administrator password.

Thanks.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

OK I have followed the instructions on Dell's website:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/op780/en/sm/sm_usff/bios.htm#wp1163645

I need to change/delete the administrator password because the systems
guy has passed away and I need to change the boot order on one of the machines so that we can
perform a clean install of the operating system.

I removed the jumpers as described in the instructions but nothing
changed. I also removed the bios battery CR2032 and this too didn't
change anything.

Can I remove the battery and leave the machine un-powered for 24 hours
to wipe everything that is hard coded in the bios? Or can somebody tell
me where else is the power coming from to keep remembering the
passwords? There must be a way of wiping everything to get me going.

I thought I will flash the bios if this would work but I can't boot from
any media because the first media it looks for is HD and I can't change
anything without the Administrator password.

Thanks.

You are confusing me. You talk about resetting the administrator
password, but you link to instructions for resetting the BIOS password.

The BIOS password keeps you out of the BIOS setup. The administrator
password keeps you out the Windows administrator login.

Please clarify.

 

[G. Morgan]

OK I have followed the instructions on Dell's website:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/op780/en/sm/sm_usff/bios.htm#wp1163645

Do the "Clearing CMOS Settings" on the same page and see if that
does it. Pulling the battery may or may not work, the password is
probably stored on non-volatile memory.

 

[Optiplex760]

The Optiplex has two passwords: Systems password and Administrator
password. both accessible from Bios.

Systems hasn't got a password so people can login in as and when they
want. Administrator password is to stop users from messing around with
the systems setup such as booting up from a DVD drive or from USB drive
and wiping things off (or changing the systems time). Administrator password is there for a reason and
the problem is I have 22 optiplex machines which needs to be dealt with
in due course but first I need to deal with one machine that needs a new
HD and a clean install of the operating system

The Dell's page deals with the Administrator password. See the link I
provided earlier.

Please don't confuse with Windows Administrator password. I am not
bothered with it because the HD will be wiped clean.

Thanks.

 

[Paul]

The Optiplex has two passwords: Systems password and Administrator
password. both accessible from Bios.

Systems hasn't got a password so people can login in as and when they
want. Administrator password is to stop users from messing around with
the systems setup such as booting up from a DVD drive or from USB drive
and wiping things off (or changing the systems time). Administrator password is there for a reason and
the problem is I have 22 optiplex machines which needs to be dealt with
in due course but first I need to deal with one machine that needs a new
HD and a clean install of the operating system

The Dell's page deals with the Administrator password. See the link I
provided earlier.

Please don't confuse with Windows Administrator password. I am not
bothered with it because the HD will be wiped clean.

Thanks.

Can you use the popup boot menu (F12) to cause the optical drive
to be the boot source ?

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/op760/en/sm/systemse.htm#wp1157779

In addition to installing from the optical drive, you can also install
Windows 7 from a USB stick. Perhaps the solution remains the same though,
in that you may need the F12 popup boot feature to be able to use those
solutions.

Since the web page there mentions TPM, perhaps the TPM is tied into
the BIOS password scheme. Not all computers use CMOS RAM to store
BIOS passwords. The most devious (business laptops) use a separate
2KB serial EEPROM to store the password. And removing the CR2032
won't erase a chip like that. So password schemes vary - consumer
computers are easy to crack (drain via CR2032), business machine,
not so much.

Paul

 

[Paul]

Can you use the popup boot menu (F12) to cause the optical drive
to be the boot source ?

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/op760/en/sm/systemse.htm#wp1157779

In addition to installing from the optical drive, you can also install
Windows 7 from a USB stick. Perhaps the solution remains the same though,
in that you may need the F12 popup boot feature to be able to use those
solutions.

Since the web page there mentions TPM, perhaps the TPM is tied into
the BIOS password scheme. Not all computers use CMOS RAM to store
BIOS passwords. The most devious (business laptops) use a separate
2KB serial EEPROM to store the password. And removing the CR2032
won't erase a chip like that. So password schemes vary - consumer
computers are easy to crack (drain via CR2032), business machine,
not so much.

Paul

And to my embarrassment, scanning further down that page, there *is* a
"PSWD" jumper.

I see there is also a BIOS setting for TPM. If you "clear" that, you
might lose access to BitLocker encrypted volumes. The admin should
have had a recovery disk of some sort, as a backup for the TPM scheme.
(I.e. If the computer was ever damaged, that would be another way to
lose TPM state info, in which case a recovery disk would be needed to be
able to access the volumes.)

Paul

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

The Optiplex has two passwords: Systems password and Administrator
password. both accessible from Bios.

Systems hasn't got a password so people can login in as and when they
want. Administrator password is to stop users from messing around with
the systems setup such as booting up from a DVD drive or from USB drive
and wiping things off (or changing the systems time). Administrator password is there for a reason and
the problem is I have 22 optiplex machines which needs to be dealt with
in due course but first I need to deal with one machine that needs a new
HD and a clean install of the operating system

The Dell's page deals with the Administrator password. See the link I
provided earlier.

Please don't confuse with Windows Administrator password. I am not
bothered with it because the HD will be wiped clean.

Thanks.

Sorry for the misunderstanding. The only place where I was right is when
I said "You are confusing me", and obviously that problem was mine

Luckily, Paul and G. Morgan have also replied...