Hard drive password reset

[anth]

Hey guys,

I have a customer that says she had her lap stolen, got it back but it now has a hard drive password and she does not know what the password is.

I tried using a live disk to retrieve the data, but I can't get the live disk to load.

I tired slaving the hard drive, but it is still asking for a password before it loads the slave hard drive.

Can I just simply clear the bios to get around the hard drive lock/password?

I would be great full for any suggestions.

I just want to say again, it's not a bios password it's a hard drive password that is locking her out.

Thanks!

 

[RegEdit]

Sounds like it might be an encrypted drive maybe. Not sure. Is this a computer used at a place of work?

Try an Ubuntu boot CD, which cuts through all Windows red tape except encryption. Then there's always R-Studio or GetDataBack.

If it's an encrypted drive then the only way is with the password.

 

[gazza]

try this http://www.hddunlock.com/

 

[rob781]

ya if its a hd password... this is stored both on the pladers and the board on the hd.. they are very diffical to get red of.. their is a user password and a master password.. you can see if the master password will work WD's I think is like wdcwdcwdcwdc repeating or some think like that.. Most data revovery places can reset it very easy but they will probly charge you an arm and a leg to do it.. Sorry to be beard of bad news but it would be easyer just to replace the hd and restore the system with the recovery disk...

The password is on the disk it self (in the system area) (not even changing the pladers will help you) and the board to..if you need I can piont you to some peole that can read the data but if you dont want to pay for data revovery charges.. Buy new HD and start over... Sorry

Some people said you might be able to boot into win98 and revovery some data that might help you.. 98 doesnt support hd password...

 

[gazza]

If you want to keep your data, please try this program http://hdd-tools.com/products/rrs/

 

[iisjman07]

There are a few methods you can try but don't raise your hopes too high:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1f3i55ynPhsQNBKy2RRavAepdcuC5xwqM7ziFsRlSCvw/edit?hl=en_US is a small document I made which includes some master ata passwords for hard drive manufacturers. You will need to use a tool such as MHDD, and try using these passwords when trying to 'unlock using master password'.

Failing that there are some links to replacements PCB shops, but this doesn't always work. There's also a couple of tutorials for Seagate's & Western Digitals but I haven't had a chance to try them out yet. You can also try searching around the HDDGURU forums.

If you don't mind paying (or you client doesn't) then use the AFF Repair Station linked in the post above

 

[anth]

Thanks..all great suggestions and help!

 

[mraikes]

If it's a Dell, you might try one of the various password generators (based on the Service Tag). They can sometimes unlock both bios and hdd passwords.

 

[anth]

Still no luck, with all those suggestions, anybody else have anything?

Thanks!

 

[anth]

If it's a Dell, you might try one of the various password generators (based on the Service Tag). They can sometimes unlock both bios and hdd passwords.

It's a Toshiba laptop with a Hitachi hard drive.

 

[nuevotec]

have you tried hdd multiunlocker, might be sworth a shot. it was mentioned here on TN a while ago.

 

[nuevotec]

tried hdd multiunlocker? what model toshiba is it?

 

[Jsch38]

This is a longshot to try

Have thought about OPCRACK to look for the passwords ?
How about using a Linux OS like Puppy to retrive the user's data,drivers& internet bookmarks then do a N&P and reinstall the OS ?

 

[gikstar]

Have you contacted Toshiba and explained the problem? They may be able to do something if the owner has registered their computer, but their help may only be with Bios passwords.