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Thread ID: 139422	2015-04-29 04:30:00	Clear Cmos in acer Aspire v13 133	kioti (17360)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1399614	2015-04-29 04:30:00	Friend has problem with the Acer aspire v13. Forgot user login password, entered Setup and entered a supervisor password and either a User password or a hard drive password......end result, hard drive is locked..... Cannot get into setup, can't boot from USB to run either UBCD or Herens Boot disc. When computer starts it immediately shows a small window that informs the make/model of the hard drive and after it is written "Locked" I removed the HDD and connected it to sata connectors in my PC as a slave drive and I get these results: HDD is showing in POST....but does not show in 'My Computer'......GParted does not see the HDD but if I open Easeus Partition Manager v10 it shows in there as 456GB Unallocated space, has no drive letter and any attempts by my self to Wipe/Format/ Create new partition fail. I used a program called HD Unlock to test the drive from my open W7 Pro and the diagnosis is HDD Make/model # and under that it reads :Security: High. Locked. Trying to find a manual to show where a Clear Cmos is or a Cmos Battery so I can remove it to reset Bios. There is not a visible Cmos battery on the mobo that is visible when I remove the back panel of the laptop, it has a built in Battery that is not removable to run/power the unit....the keyboard does not remove, the keys are protruding from the complete one piece top on the unit.....so....how the heck do I clear the comoe in this Aspire v13? I cannot get a tech manual from the internet to help me with this problem.....so I wonder if the laptop is now toast? I had a quote from ComputerMate here in Dunedin NZ...he said its easy to do just reset cmos...ha ha...quote is $79 to do the job. But I wonder if the lappy HDD in my computer shows as Locked, will resetting Cmos to factory default remove the HD Password that she has creared or will a new HDD be required after cmos reset?? advice please	kioti (17360)
1399615	2015-04-29 05:03:00	You could stick another hdd in for about the same price	gary67 (56)
1399616	2015-04-29 06:09:00	Laptops can be a lot different to reset. In some I found I had to short the chip itself and highly risky if you don't know the right pins but you maybe lucky and have an easy one to do. Flashing the BIOS may not solve it as it may ask for the password. You may have luck with bios recovery tools though. Cheers, KK	Kame (312)
1399617	2015-04-29 14:40:00	Cheers Kame. PC's I know the ins and outs of fairly well but laptops are alien to me. I would not flash the BIOS....too easy to kill the computer even though the one I mention could well be dead as a dodo. If only I could find a tech service manual/circuit diagram for the V13 it would help a lot......I may have to get inside the casing and get the Motherboard manufacturer and model details and seek out the info I require from that. In all of the reviews I read last night not one of them stated the Mobo details. Will carry on searching the haystack. Thanks (y)	kioti (17360)
1399618	2015-04-29 15:00:00	gary87,....My thoughts entirely but I tried another 2.5 Sata HDD last night and received onscreen message along the lines that no usable device found. I have raised the matter with a few computer techs today and received various replies from the HDD is encrypted and without the WEP there is no way that it can be unlocked (the Data on the HDD was not encrypted)... the Cmos can be cleared (my thoughts are that if the CMOS is cleared will that remove the Password or allow access to the computer......to use the USB drives to unlock the HDD using suitable software....Difficult one this is.......it seems opinions are that the Aspire doesn't have a CMOS battery and power to BIOS it taken from the fixed Battery....which can be shorted (if i can find it o.O) So with that message about no usable/system drive found when I fitted another HDD and the complete lockout that is happening now, it is a major challenge. If only she hadn't entered Setup and created those two Passwords it would be so much easier...........now the computer cannot be booted to any Mode whatsoever. I googled last night for Password reset on the Aspire V13 Laptop/Notebook....finding a video that shows how to reset user password simply pressing ALT+F10. then performing 2 or three more steps and the new password is in place, all done within 30 seconds.	kioti (17360)
1399619	2015-04-29 15:01:00	You could get motherboard from the FCC code but to be honest, just take the back off and you maybe able to just see it. For Acer, they usually have the cmos battery positioned by the ram, but I have not had to open an aspire v13 yet. Who knows, you might have more trouble getting the screws off. Cheers, KK	Kame (312)
1399620	2015-05-01 06:17:00	Kame, thanks. I have been inside the laptop, removed the back and there's not a battery in sight. I did a bit of googling and asking about and learned about UEFI and BIOS similarities/differences and decided to call it a day. However, before I handed the machine back to the neighbor I tried simply typing the password she had used to create the Supervisor and HDD/User password and lo and behold I was back and able to pressF2 and get into setup where I removed the two passwords which were for supervisor and HDD. That then opened up to User Account Log in screen and at that I I gave up and returned the machine to her. I told her that she will either have to go online to MS to reset the Password.....use her MS Account Email and password to open it or remember the User Login password she had used. She told me when she bought it 5 week ago it was bought to her house and the seller had it running.......she bought it, left it running and used it for the few days before she went away and turned it off. When she returned she couldn't get back in to open Windows. I think that the seller has failed to tell my neighbor that the machine is protected by MS User Account and that my neighbor has to do a change of account with MS. Don't know....The computer was/is running Win8 or 8.1 and if it was purchased new with operating system pre-installed as they seem to be these days, well, its a Contact with MS she and the seller have to make to change ownership of the computer. New age MS Security Procedures I am told. As far as BIOS Passwords go, only once did I use one myself and that was in about 2004 when I was running early XP Pro and thought I would use one to make my computer more secure......and to get past the POST the BIOS password had to be entered and there was a request for it on the screen........this Aspire V13 did not have any request for a BIOS/UEFI Password..all it had onscreen was that window giving the HDD Make/Model# and the word Locked after it. That's the end of this problem and good riddance to it I say. As for replacing the HDD well I don't know if doing that will remove the security from the place it is stored...fine I guess if it is stored in the HDD Firmware...but I don't think it is.	kioti (17360)
1399621	2015-05-01 06:23:00	HOW DO i mark my Post as being solved??	kioti (17360)
1399622	2015-05-01 07:50:00	You just have. The only way is to say so	gary67 (56)
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