BleepingComputer.com: Should I Shoot The Laptop?

A friend bought a used Dell Latitude CPx Laptop. That is all I know about it because it is password protected. It will not get beyond POST so I can't get into setup or make it boot to a CD or floopy. What I need to know is, since I've never been inside a laptop before, does it have a jumper to remove the password on the system board? It says it has a "Password Authentication System" installed and a password has to be entered before you can go any further. After a time when no password is entered it shuts down. Can anyone help me?

I'm thinking someone who works on laptops should be able to help, here.

While we are waiting, though, what is the exact model number of that laptop?

If it isn't clearly labelled elsewhere, I would think it would be on a sticker or something on the bottom.

It says Latitude CPx on the top and on the bottom of the laptop it shows the Model No. PPX with a service tag of G432C01, Latitude C Family and Ref. No. 99125. That's it. I just talked to my friend and she said not to worry if I mess it up because it's no good to her like it is. I'm a little leary of going into it!

With that Service Tag number, we can find the Service Manual and the System Information Guide on the Dell website.


Gives you something to read while we continue our search.

Can your friend contact the original owner of that laptop and obtain the password?

Putting a BIOS level password on a laptop is one way to help track a laptop (by the Service Tag ID) and eliminate unauthorized access to the system.

Two ways: call Dell, make sure that the ownership is transferred to you, and then you must talk to one of their technicians. to get the override password.

The other way is to remove the keyboard and palmrest, and the cmos battery underneath needs to be unplugged from the mainboard. leave it unpluged for 30 minutes, re plugin the battery, find the reset jumper, change it from position 12 to position 23, power up the laptop, turn it off, and place the reset jumper back at position 12. <This procedure does not work with all Dells>

The manual seems to have good illustrations on the placement of all the parts.

This post has been edited by oldf@rt: 27 June 2007 - 08:14 PM

I did download the manual and will go in to it if I have to, I was just hoping I could avoid that. I believe the computer was the property of Dell as the page that asks for the password shows, at the top, www.dell.com and under that: Dell Computer Corporation. I don't know if I can get thru to anyone that could give me that password. As for the chain of ownership I don't have a clue how she came by it. Thank you for your help and I will try removing the battery and changing the jumper.

Here is the link to dell for an ownership transfer,

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/glo...;l=en&s=gen

I am not sure if it will help you if you have to call tech support, However I so know that they will not help you at all if the laptop is not registered to you or you are not an authorized solution provider.

BTW, that page is standard on all dells when the laptop or desktop is locked and not allowed to boot.

This post has been edited by oldf@rt: 28 June 2007 - 09:24 PM