Windows 7 HDD1/SSD1 password reset

redvert

Well-Known Member
I inherited a Toshiba laptop from a recently deceased relative. It had a BIOS password which I was able to remove but still has a password listed as a HDD1/SSD1 password. I read the post by Mike Fara titled "Resetting Windows Passwords." I downloaded the repair program but could not get the laptop to boot on the CD/DVD drive. I went into the Bios (F2) during startup and set the boot order to CD/DVD drive first. I also attempted to start in the boot menu (F12). Each time the screen came up with the request for a HDD1/SSD1

I am guessing that this is not the same thing that Mike was discussing in his thread. Am I correct and yea or nay , what are my options to remove this password?

I have no interest on the files etc. on the computer now, I just want to keep the Windows 7 operating system.

The laptop is a Toshiba Satellite Model A505-S6005
 
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Hi

Does the Toshiba laptop have a recovery partition.
Maybe you could just reset the computer back to it's original state.

http://support.toshiba.com/support/viewContentDetail?contentId=2737864

If this doesn't work...

http://en.kioskea.net/faq/4811-toshiba-laptop-reset-to-factory-settings

There seems to be several different versions of how you get to recovery.
If you have any info that came with the computer check that out.

http://en.kioskea.net/forum/affich-58528-reset-toshiba-laptop-to-factory-settings

Mike
 
I do not have any info, discs etc. with the laptop, I tried your options but none worked. The problem is that when I power on, the initial Toshiba logo screen flashes on for a instant, during which, down at the bottom it says to hold the F2 to get into the BIOS or the F12 key to get into the Boot manager. I did Google the trick to eliminate the BIOS password by shorting the (B500) solder points, that worked. I can get into the BIOS and set it to boot on the DVD drive but it will not boot on the DVD drive. I can not get to the boot manager by holding down the F12 key. After the initial Toshiba screen, all I get is the dark screen with the following login request so I never can get to where I can do anything else.
Toshiba.JPG
 
According to Toshiba the laptop does have a recovery partition.
This is how they say to access it...

1) Hold down the power button until it shuts down.

2) Press and hold the zero key and tap the power button once.

3) When you hear beeping release the zero key.

4) Click Yes to continue system recovery.

5) Click 'Recovery of Factory Default Software', click Next.

6) Click 'Recover to out-of-box state', click Next.

7) Click Next to Start recovery.

***This will erase all your unsaved data!***

Here's a video showing how it works...



I've found other information that says you hit the F12 key when booting but this seems to be the most consistent answer.

Mike
 
As I stated in my last message, when I hold the zero key down and tap the start button one time I get the screen that I showed. Now there is no beeping sound and I do not get to a screen that offers me any yes/no options. Also, I can not get into a boot screen by holding down the F12 key so I have no options. It seems that this password controls whether or not the Hard drive and any of it's partitions can be accessed. That may explain why the F12 boot option does not work.
 
Hi

The only other thing I can think of is to take the hard drive out of the computer and plug it into another computer using a USB converter and format it. That should get rid of the password since it's stored on a segment of the hard drive.

This is the one that I use.

http://www.amazon.com/Apricorn-Driv...36174&sr=8-11&keywords=hard+drive+usb+adapter

Or you could just put in a new hard drive.

If you can then, get it to boot to a DVD, and, if you have a Windows serial number for the computer you could download a Windows install file and make a disk to reinstall Windows from scratch.

http://www.w7forums.com/threads/official-windows-7-sp1-iso-image-downloads.12325/

Everything I can find says that there is no way to actually unlock a hard drive that has been password protected without the password.

Mike
 
Yea Mike, I have come to the same conclusion, I will find someone that has the adapter to plug my hard drive in as a secondary and then reformat. I am sure I will find someone locally that uses a adapter like you described in order to backup a laptop type HD. I also have not been able to find anything out there that says how to remove a hard disc password unless you know the password and if you do know it you remove it by booting up into the BIOS.

I last thing Mike, when you referred to the Windows serial number, did you mean the "Product Key", I have that key on a sticker but no discs with it?

Thanks for trying to help Mike, appreciate it.

davidhk129, booting up into the BIOS does me no good since you have to know the password in order to change it or delete it. That was the first thing I tried!
 
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Yes the Windows Product Key is what you need.
Make sure you install the same version of Windows that was already on the laptop.
I.e. Windows 7 Home Premium etc.
 
It has been awhile since I last posted but I have been busy taking care of other issues since my nephew's passing. I could not find anyone who had a adapter like Mike had mentioned to use to reformat the laptop hard drive so I took the laptop to a local computer store and they claimed that they could not format the harddrive so therefore the harddrive must be bad. Rather than have them replace the harddrive and reload windows, I bought a harddrive, installed it and downloaded the Windows 7 64 bit Home Premium program from the site Mike provided and everything is working fine.

I am curious as to whether the original hard drive is actually bad and also I am curious as to whether you can actually reformat the drive if it is password locked? I would think that you would have to be able to communicate with the hard drive in order to be able format it but I am not that knowledgeable about the process so I will wait until I get to Ohio for the summer where I do know someone that would have the equipment necessary to do a format. Meanwhile I will just remain curious.

Thanks again for the help Mike!
 
Hi redvert:

Just like to add a short list of possible "gotchas" on the suggestion link from Mike and Bass. If you decide to try and unlock and or reformat your old hard drive:

1.) Creating the ULTIMATE BOOT CD is not for beginners or those with no patience. It's an advanced tool for power-users, and it's a linux-based toolset, and therefore not easy to create. If you have tried it and it didn't work, don't be surprised. It took me 2 weeks of effort to figure it out, and I've been doing computers for 40+ yrs. I would suggest that you borrow one from your local Computer Pro if possible. It's completely free, so he should be willing to make you a copy of the disc. Or let you use it for a week, and then return it when you're done. If it's his only copy, he probably won't let you borrow it unless he can make you a copy. I use that to run my computer repair business, and I have multiple copies as you can imagine.

2.) I suggest you use the IMGBURN program instead of the PowerISO or MagicISO programs to create your UBCD live boot cd. I tried both of those programs for many hours and they did not work for this particular application.

3.) Once you buy a "drive caddy" as we like to call them; that's the little device that connects your old hard drive to another computer; and you are attempting to use "Derek's Boot & Nuke" program mentioned in Mike's linked article, make very sure NOT to use the AUTONUKE option!! It's been years since I used this option and last week while wiping a Customers hard drive from a broken computer, I hit that option and it erased both my Vista boot drive (C: drive) and my 2nd hard drive with a Win8.1 setup on it!!! Both of those were completely unrecoverable after that. It's taken me a week of working night & day to rebuild my Vista computer *Dell Studio540* and I had pretty good backups of the data. I haven't even gotten around to rebuilding my Win8.1 drive yet. Make sure you select the INTERACTIVE AUTOBAN, or MANUAL WIPE options. If you attempt the drive wipe on your old hard drive and it fails, don't take the last option, the AUTONUKE option, as it is only intended to wipe the internal drives on the computer you are using to attach to your old drive via a USB connection through the drive caddy. Instead, take the old hard drive and hook up to a difference computer desktop or laptop using the drive caddy and try again; using the Interactive or Manual options only! If it still fails, the hard drive is probably toast. If you are able to wipe it, and you put it back into your laptop or a different computer there is still a possibility it can be repurposed if Windows will install on it. If none of this makes any sense to you, I suggest you leave this to the professional you mentioned you had access to in Ohio I think it was.

4.) Lastly, if you do download and use the IMGBURN program on a Windows7 computer to burn your UBCD disk, ensure that you remove it IMMEDIATELY from that Windows7 computer after you've created your new UBCD disk. If you don't and you leave it on there, you will start to get crashes and BSODs (Blue Screens Of Death). It took me 8 months or more to figure out that this little cd burning program (Freeware) was causing all of my crash problems on my main PC! Thankfully, folks here on Windows Forums helped me to nail down the offending App--in this case the IMGBURN program. It's a great little program, but, it doesn't seem to like Windows7, and I have sent a note to the developers, but they have yet to fix it! This is part of the risk of using complex tools that are developed by various folks on the Internet. Most do a very good job at what they claim to do, and if they are virus-free of course that's a help, but it's one of the pitfalls of our business.

If you decide to venture into the DIY world of computer repair, and more specifically, hard drive repair, these are a few things you have to watch out for. I've worked for 4 hard drive manufacturers during my career, and I understand the inner workings more than most, and I STILL have problems every so often, as I attest to above <blushing>.

If this puts you off from trying it yourself, you can still give to your friend in Ohio to unlock/wipe that drive for you for a small fee. And you don't have to deal with all the caveats I've listed above.

Best,
BIGBEARJEDI
 
UPDATE:

My curiosity got the best of me so even though I was doubtful as to whether or not the hard drive could be formatted while it had the HDD password activated I decided to go ahead and purchase a hard drive adapter. I had two old IDE desktop hard drives that I wanted to possibly retrieve some data from so it was worth the small investment for me.

After a number of attempts I can say that this method of trying to format the locked hard drive will not work. This will be somewhat lengthy but I think you will see that my conclusion is correct.

1) I attached the locked hard drive to the “SATA/IDE to USB 2.0 Adapter) per the enclosed instructions.

2) I connected the USB plug to the Toshiba computer which contained the replacement Seagate hard drive.

3) I powered up the laptop and once it had completed startup I flipped the switch to apply power to the locked hard drive.

4) In a couple seconds a popup appeared on the lower right side of the screen stating that the computer was downloading a software update. I guess it was so the laptop could communicate with the second hard drive. At this point the hard drive was running since I could hear it when I held it next to my ear.

5) I now clicked the start button and then the “computer” screen. All that showed on the screen was my internal hard drive and my DVD drive. The external hard drive did not show up so I therefore had no access to it.

6) When I clicked on the little icon at the lower right of the screen that allows you to disconnect a USB plugin it did tell me that it was safe to "eject USB to ATA/ATAPI BRIDGE" so the adapter was working.

7) To be sure that everything was correct, I then hooked the setup to my second laptop which is a ACER and everything happened exactly as happened when connected to the Toshiba.

8) I now removed the replacement hard drive from the Toshiba and connected it to the adapter which was still connected to the ACER laptop. This time the external hard drive showed up on the “computer” screen and I was able to access the hard drive.

9) Last, I hooked up a old IDE hard drive, copied a couple files from it and then formatted it.

Conclusion: Even though the adapter allowed the hard drive to spin up, apparently the HDD password lock does not allow it to be identified or for the read/ write arm to move which I believe would be required to format.

I do not know if I will attempt what BIGBEARJEDI and badrobot discussed, might be asking for trouble. I did try the "32 space" Toshiba master password thing but it did not work. I will still look for another master password if there is such a thing when I get a chance.

At this point let me thank everyone again for all the help, really appreciate it!
 
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Hi

It's starting to sound like just buying a new hard drive is the easiest option.
You can probably get a 750 gig hard drive for well under $100.

Mike
 
Opps, hit the wrong reply!

Yes, I had bought a Seagate 320GB replacement hard drive for ~$60 since all I will use the laptop for is when traveling. I got encouraged when I hooked everything up and the locked hard drive started spinning but since it was not recognized that was as far as it would go. Glad I bought the adapter though, I can use it for other things and trying this did satisfy my curiosity. That is not saying that it might not work with another type of password or possibly a different brand laptop I would guess.

If someone has a old hard drive and a adapter and they can test the format idea with BIOS passwords, windows passwords etc. it might be interesting to know what the results were. I am sure I am not the first with this problem and will not be the last!!!
 
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