How to remove BIOS password of Acer computer - Laptop and Desktop Both

How to remove BIOS password of Acer computer - Laptop and Desktop Both

by mayur khokhar softwere enginier 

Step by Step Tutorial to Remove Acer Bios password via Software. This has been done on testing machine Laptop Acer Aspire 3620/ Travel Mate 2420. Anyway, I'm not sure it will work on every Acer PC/Laptop so just consider to do at your own risk, I’m not responsible for any damages caused by this guide. Actually this information is intended for experienced users. It is not intended for basic users, hackers, or computer thieves.

BIOS password remove alternatives:

• Reset Password BIOS via Backdoor BIOS Password.
• Reset Password BIOS via Software.
• Reset Password BIOS via hardware.
• Reset Password BIOS via default manufacturers.

As we know most of Acer computer (Laptop & Desktop) allow us to setup BIOS in Microsoft Windows (9x/XP/Vista) environment. Great, this is the powerful that help us to remove the BIOS password cuz all we know if we enter Setup Utility at the boot time we have only three times of filling the password and if all wrong then the system will halt.

The program helps us to enter Acer BIOS setup in Microsoft Windows is “Acer eSettings Management” which comes with the CD when we buy Acer PC/Laptop. If you lost the CD then just come to Acer website to download the program.

Before you can install “Acer eSettings Management” you have to install program called: “Acer Empowering Technology” so you’d better to download both of them from Acer website and install & restart your computer to be ready for the job. Here is the link of Acer website, just come there and sellect right series/model of your computer to download these programs:

Code:

• ftp://ftp.support.acer-euro.com

or

Code:

• ftp://ftp.work.acer-euro.com

Another one program is also very important we will need called: “CmosPwd” - CmosPwd is a cmos/bios password recovery tool. CmosPwd is under GNU Public License. You can freely distribute it. It can be compiled under Dos, Windows, Linux, FreeBSD and NetBSD.

Download it here: Code: http://www.cgsecurity.org/cmospwd-5.0.zip

Guide to install CmosPwd and remove password:

• Download & extract to a folder. I put it in drive D like this: d:\ cmos
• To work on cmos memory, ioperm need to be installed and running. ioperm gives direct port I/O access for specified ports to user-mode process (ring 3) using Ke386SetIoAccessMap and Ke386IoSetAccessProcess kernel functions.

Log on to Windows as Administrator priviledges and do as follow: (see picture):

• Click Start >> Run: type CMD hit Enter on your keyboard.
• now us the CD command of Dos to come to d:\cmos\windows. (here is: d: hit enter; cd cmos hit enter; cd windows hit enter).
• when you are already in d:\cmos\windows in drive D then: type “ioperm.exe –i” hit enter.
• to start ioperm service: type “net start ioperm” hit enter.
• ok, type: “Cmospwd_win.exe /k” hit enter, we will see:

1 - Kill cmos

2 - Kill cmos (try to keep date and time)

0 - Abort

Choice:

Type 1 and hit Enter to clear cmos.

• run the Acer eSettings Management program: start >> program >> Acer Empower Technology >> Acer eSettings Management.

• now come to the: Bios Password to see: if you still see password enable, that means we fail but if we see they are Disable so we are done. Remember if we success remove password then we have to create a password for it and then remove it and click Apply to save to cmos memory. This is very important because sometimes we see it Disable but when reboot the computer they are Enable again cuz the password is still in the CMOS.

That’s all, good luck & don’t forget to set an easy password later.

8.15. BIOS Tips

by mayur khokhar 

8.15.1. Booting from CD-ROMs

A bootable CD-ROM has a special layout that is detected by the BIOS boot loader code, and executed if it conforms the specifications. This layout is called "El Torito Bootable CD-ROM Format Specification" and has been published by Phoenix and IBM. A copy of this spec is on Bochs tech specs page.
El Torito specifies 3 ways to have a bootable CD:

• floppy emulation boot: A standard floppy image is burnt on the CD. In this case the BIOS has to redirect all first floppy accesses to this image and the real floppy drive becomes the second one.
• a "no emulation" boot: In this case the BIOS is instructed to load an arbitrary number of sectors straight into memory, and execute it.
• hard disk emulation: A hard disk image is burnt on the CD. The BIOS has to redirect all hard disk accesses to that image. The real hard disks are still available, with BIOS numbers 81h and up.

In Bochs 2.0, hard disk emulation is not implemented in the BIOS. There are also subtilities about multiple boot-images CD-ROMs, that are not handled by Bochs. However, our BIOS may be more strict than real PC BIOSes, I don't know. But I would definitely be interested to know of any CD that can boot on real hardware, but does not in Bochs.
When failing to boot from CD-ROM, the BIOS outputs the reason of the failure as an error code, in the log file, and on the screen.
Here is a summary of what can happen when booting from the CD.

Table 8-2. CD Boot error codes

Error code	Reason
0x01	no atapi device found
0x02	no atapi cdrom found
0x03	can not read cd - BRVD
0x04	cd is not eltorito (BRVD)
0x05	cd is not eltorito (ISO TAG)
0x06	cd is not eltorito (ELTORITO TAG)
0x07	can not read cd - boot catalog
0x08	boot catalog : bad header
0x09	boot catalog : bad platform
0x0A	boot catalog : bad signature
0x0B	boot catalog : bootable flag not set
0x0C	can not read cd - boot image

0x01 no atapi device found
0x02 no atapi cdrom found

For the first two errors, an ata-*: type=cdrom is probably missing from the configuration file. This is what you get if no cdrom has been defined in Bochs conf file.

0x03 can not read cd - BRVD

For this error, the cdrom support has not been compiled in Bochs, or Bochs could not open the file or device. This is what you get if Bochs is not able to read the cd.

0x04 cd is not eltorito (BRVD)
0x05 cd is not eltorito (ISO TAG)
0x06 cd is not eltorito (ELTORITO TAG)

For these errors, the data has been read from the cd, but the cd does not conform to the El Torito specification. This is what you get if the cd is not bootable.

0x08 boot catalog : bad header
0x09 boot catalog : bad platform
0x0A boot catalog : bad signature
0x0B boot catalog : bootable flag not set

now the cd is eltorito, but the boot catalog is corrupted, or the cd was made to boot on a ppc system. This should not happen for a x86 bootable cd.

0x07 can not read cd - boot catalog
0x0C can not read cd - boot image

here, specific part of the cd could not be read. This should definitely not happen.

8.15.2. Disk translation

Since the beginning of the PC era, disks have grown in size by a factor of 10000. Due to differences between the ATA specification and BIOSes implementations, when disks reached critical sizes, it became necessary to translate the CHS geometry (cylinders, heads, sectors per track) between the BIOS (int 13h) and the ATA interface. Please refer to the ATA-FAQ and Hale Landis' document for a complete discussion of the problem.
Unfortunately, there has never been any standard on the translation algorithms.
Bochs implements 4 well-known algorithms, selectable in the configuration file in the "ataX-xxxx: ..., translation='algorithm'" section.

Table 8-3. Disk translation algorithms

Algorithm	Maximum disk size	Maximum logical and physical geometry (CHS)	Description
none	528MB (1032192 sectors)	LCHS:1024/16/63 PCHS:1024/16/63	no translation is done. The CHS received at the int13h interface is sent as is to the ATA interface.
large	4.2GB (8257536 sectors)	LCHS:1024/128/63 PCHS:8192/16/63	a standard bitshift algorithm (named Extended-CHS) is used to translate the CHS between the int13h interface and the ATA interface. The translation is achieved by multiplying/dividing the cylinder/head count by a power of 2 (2, 4 or 8). (a factor of 16 could not be used because the head count would become 256, and MS-DOS thought this was 0) Note that the number of sectors per track is not changed, so a lower spt value will lead to a lower maximum disk size.
echs			synonym for large
rechs	7.9GB (15482880 sectors)	LCHS:1024/240/63 PCHS:15360/16/63	a revised bitshift algorithm (called Revised Extended-CHS) is used to translate the CHS between the int13h interface and the ATA interface. First the number of physical heads is forced to 15, and the number of cylinders is adjusted accordingly. Then, as in the simple extended CHS algorithm, the translation is achieved by multiplying/dividing the cylinder/head count by a power of 2 (2, 4, 8 or 16). The head count being forced to 15, it can safely be multiplied by 16 without crashing dos. Note that the number of sectors per track is not changed, so a lower spt value will lead to a lower maximum disk size.
lba	8.4GB (16450560 sectors)	LCHS:1024/255/63 PCHS:16320/16/63	a LBA-assisted algorithm is used to translate the CHS between the int13h interface and the ATA interface. The translation is achieved by first computing the physical size of the disk (LBA=C*H*S). Then the sectors per track is forced to 63, and the head count to 255. Then the cylinder count is computed (C=LBA/(63*255)) Note that the number of sectors per track is forced to 63 in the logical geometry, regardless of the actual geometry reported by the disk. Also note that the LBA-assisted algorithm has nothing to do with LBA access at the ATA interface.
auto			the best suited algorithm between none, large and lba is used

Setting a specific CHS translation should be done if you use a disk dump of an actual disk, or use a real disk as a block device. You need to know which geometry was used to format the disk, and which translation was used. You must not set the translation to 'auto'.

Note: rechs translation should only be useful for Compaq users who wants to use a disk as a block device. Please report if you know any other system that use such translation.

If you plan to create a new disk image (for example with bximage), format it and install an OS on it, select the "auto" translation for an automatic selection of the best algorithm based on the disk image size. Be warned that an image created with the "auto" translation might not be readable with previous versions of Bochs. Upward compatibility will be maintained.

Note: This translation applies only to int13h BIOS disk accesses. Older OSes (e.g. MS-DOS) tend to use them a lot. On modern OSes, disk accesses through BIOS int13h are limited to boot loaders. The usual rules and tricks of the installed OS still apply (ie 1024 cylinders boot limit).

Clearing a Forgotten Adminstrative BIOS Password in Windows 9x by mayur khokhar softwere enginier
Here's a DOS trick for Windows 9x, that will reset (delete) your motherboard's BIOS password (aka CMOS password) without any need to open up your computer to remove the battery or mess with jumpers. This method can come in very handy in the event you ever lose and forget your BIOS password or if you acquire used computers where the unknown previous owners had BIOS passwords set (in fact, this happened to me long ago—I was given a used computer, but there was no way I could enter the CMOS to make changes). It's important to note here that the password we are talking about is only the one that prevents a user from entering the BIOS setup at bootup, not the one that stops you from getting past the boot. Normally, at bootup you can press a key (usually the DEL key) to access your BIOS allowing you to view it or make changes. With a password set, there is no way to enter setup. Though a password can provide a basic and very effective level of PC security, losing it can be a real headache if you don't know how to fix the problem. The MS-DOS command that will makes this trick possible is the DEBUG command (debug itself is a utility—debug.exe—which is located in your Windows Command folder). This is not a command to be taken lightly—in other words, it's not a command to play with! You can cause serious corruption with this command and can end up not being able to even boot your computer! Debug is used to work with binary and executable files and allows you to alter (hex edit) the contents of a file or CPU register right down to the binary and byte level. To begin debug mode, type debug at a MS-DOS prompt or you can specify a file, i.e., DEBUG FILE.EXE. There is a difference in screen output between the two methods. When you type DEBUG alone, debug responds with a hyphen (-) prompt waiting for you to enter commands. The second method, with a file specified, loads the file into memory and you type all the commands on the line used to start debug. In this tip, we will be writing to the BIOS, so the first method is the one that would be used. All debug commands can be aborted at any time by pressing CTRL/C. Accessing BIOS with DEBUG The basic trick will be to fool the BIOS into thinking there is a checksum error, in which case it resets itself, including the password. This is done by invalidating the CMOS and to do that we must know how to access the BIOS and where the checksum value of the CMOS is located so that we can change it. Access to the the BIOS content is via what are known as CMOS Ports and it's Port 70 and 71 that will give us the needed access. On almost all AT motherboards, the checksum is located at hexadecimal address 2e and 2f and filling the address 2e with ff is all you should have to do to invalidate the checksum. Here's what to do if you ever need to reset the password and have no other method, and you don't want to open up your computer to remove the battery or jumpers. Note! Do this at your own risk. I can only tell you that it has worked for me more than once and has worked for others as well. But I cannot make any guarantees. When I did this, I took a willing risk. The BIOS was Award Modular BIOS v4.51PG Restart your computer in MS-DOS mode. When you get to the C:\> or C:\WINDOWS> prompt, type DEBUG and press Enter. A hyphen (-) prompt will appear waiting for you to enter commands. Enter the following commands, pressing Enter after each one. Note: the o is the letter o and stands for OUTPUT. o 70 2e o 71 ff q After the q command (which stands for QUIT), enter Exit. Then try to enter your BIOS at bootup. The password prompt should now be gone and you should now have full access to it again. However, you will now be at the default BIOS setttings and may want to change them to your preference. You may also want to have your drives autodetected again. In closing, I should state that in the case of a lost BIOS password, your first step should always be to contact your manufacturer to see if a backdoor password is available that will allow you to bypass the forgotten password. There are many sites on the net that list backdoor passwords you can try, but beware that some BIOS that are set up to lock up if you enter the wrong password more than a certain number of times, usually only 3 times! For more Windows tips and tricks, join Vic's popular user group at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WinTips-Tricks/ For another debug use and example, see my article on creating your own color file: http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc2/v8/vic8.htm And speaking of color, if you happen to be gettting into the world of DVDs and are confused by it all, check out my new Experts Guides on video, audio, Playstation, and computers:

The Home Computer Security CentreThe Home Computer Security Centre

The Home Computer Security Centre

BY mayur khokhar

LockDown is the source for security information and resources for the home computer user.

Setting a BIOS Password

Make your computer ask for a password without installing anything.

Your computers BIOS is the first program that is run when your computer starts. You can tell the BIOS to ask for a password when it starts, thus restricting access to your computer.

To enter the BIOS setup program, sometimes called CMOS setup:

Turn on or reboot your computer. The screen will display a series of diagnostics and a memory check.
A message like "Hit the <DEL> key to enter the BIOS setup program" will appear.
When you do hit DEL at the right time[1] you'll see a menu screen something like this:
Note: Some BIOS versions use a graphical type menu with icons (a GUI) or have a text interface that appears differt to the one shown, the principle however is exactly the same.
As you can see there are two options that relate to passwords, Supervisor Password and User Password, these relate to controlling access to the BIOS Setup Program and the Machine Boot respectively.
Note that not all BIOS's have this password feature, your bios may not have it in which case you won't be able to restrict access to your computer in this way.
Select USER PASSWORD and you'll be prompted to enter a password:
You should now enter a password of up to eight characters (most BIOS's are limited to eight characters unfortunately).  I recommend you use the full eight but take care that you choose something you'll not forget, for help choosing passwords see here.
The BIOS will then prompt you to confirm the password, just type the same thing again.
Now you'll want to set your system to ask for that password every time it boots, so select the BIOS FEATURES SETUP option, to see a menu something like this:
Fairly obviously, it's the Password Check option we're interested in, so select it and change the setting to ALWAYS.
Now navigate back to the main menu and select SAVE & EXIT SETUP.  Your machine will then reboot and you'll be prompted for the password.
Each and every time you boot you'll be asked for password you chose.
Please note that this method of restricting access to your computer is not completely foolproof, there are ways around it. But it will stop or at least delay the majority of casual attempts to get access.

If you forget your BIOS password, consult your motherboard manual or if you don't have one, consult the website of the BIOS manufacturer.
[1] It's not always the DEL key some BIOS's use F2 or F10 or anothother key combination, check your motherboard manual.

Understanding Your Computer's BIOS

This report is to help you understand how your computer's BIOS works, what it does and understand the importance it plays in the use of your computer.

Definition: Basic Input/Output System (BIOS)
The BIOS chip uses EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) to be able so store the information contained in the BIOS software. This type of memory permits us to be able to later upgrade our BIOS to a newer version. The BIOS works in conjunction with the CMOS chip where the information from the BIOS settings is saved.

How it works:
When you turn the power ON on the computer, before your CPU can start loading your operating system, it needs to know what peripherals are available and what options your computer has. To be able to obtain all this information, the BIOS need to take over and begin it's tasks. Once all the BIOS's tasks are completed without any errors, the computer then goes on to boot up the operating system to be able to run normally. This is when you here the notorious beep, meaning your computer is working well according to your BIOS.
BIOS tasks:
Check the CMOS Setup for custom settings: The CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) is the chip where all the BIOS settings are stored. The CMOS chip can hold between 64 bytes to 256bytes of data. They need to be loaded up into the BIOS so it may begin to perform it's tasks, according to the way you have configured it.
Load the interrupt handlers and device drivers
The interrupt handlers are pieces of software that translate the actions of the hardware to make them understandable for the operating system. The device drivers are software that identify the type of hardware in question. The BIOS gets its name from this section, were it perform the basic input/output transactions between the hardware and the operating system. All the information that the BIOS gets is stored in a library of interrupt handlers. While your computer is running, whenever for example you press a key, the CPU must break to lookup that key in the library to know more about it.
Initialize registers and power management
After the information in the CMOS is loaded, and the video card is found, the BIOS sends a signal to start the BIOS located on the graphics card. When the graphics card's BIOS begins loading, the memory and graphics processor are initialized. Once the graphics have been taken care of, the BIOS checks to see if the computer underwent a cold boot or a reboot. The BIOS determines the type of boot by looking at the value at memory address 0000:0472. If the value is 1234h, then the computer was rebooted. Any other value corresponds to a cold boot.
Perform the power-on self-test (POST)
POST (Power On Self Test) is used to test all the hardware peripherals that are attached to your computer to see if they are working properly. It perform's a read/write test to all addresses in the memory, it look's for a mouse and keyboard on either the PS/2 or USB ports. It then proceeds to look trough, if available, all the PCI port to determined what is connected to the motherboard. This testing is skipped if the computer was rebooted, determined in the previous step.
Display system settings
When you turn on your computer and screen, the first thing that you see it information display by your BIOS about your computer. You can normally see the amount of memory that is available, the different CD-ROM and hard drives available on your system, BIOS revision, date and more depending on your BIOS make. During the first few seconds that your computer is turned on, there is a very large amount of work being done to get your system ready to use. However, if your video card does not work, your BIOS will send a certain beeping command to either your internal speaker or you external speakers to notify you of this problem.
Determine which devices are bootable
Once the floppy, CD-ROM and hard drives are located, the BIOS checks to see which of these drives are bootable. It also refers to the CMOS setting to see the order of booting devices.
Initiate the bootstrap sequence
If there hasen't been any problems so far, the BIOS will attempt to load up the operating system. To be able to do so, it will go through in order the items listed from the CMOS and try to load the boot sector from each device, proceeding to the next if there is a failure in loading.
Configuring the BIOS:
Refer to you motherboard's manual to configure your BIOS settings! The different options vary from one BIOS maker to the other and therefore cannot be described here in depth.
To be able to configure your BIOS, you must first enter its setup window. To do so you must press a specific key, usually displayed at the bottom of your screen. If you don't know what key to press, refer to your motherboard's manual on configuring the BIOS. Once you have entered the BIOS configuration window, you we see the different sections listed at the top of the screen. So of the options that appear in all BIOS configuration windows are the following items.
System Time/Date - Set the time and date of the system
Boot Sequence - The order that BIOS search for a boot sector (operating system) on each device
Plug and Play - Used to auto-detect connected devices. It should be set to "Yes" if your operating system and you computer support it
Mouse/Keyboard - Enable Num Lock on startup, enable the keyboard, auto-detect mouse, require mouse/keyboard on startup, ...
Drive Configuration - Configure hard drives, CD-ROM and floppy drives
Memory - Direct the BIOS to shadow or copy itself to a specific memory address (increases the speed)
Security - Ability to set a password at the boot screen before accessing the computer
Exit - Save your changes, discard changes or restore default settings
Any changes made to any setting is saved in the CMOS memory chip to be used for future boot ups. The information in the CMOS is save even when the computer is turned off or even unplugged. There is a small 3 volt battery that maintains the information stored in the chip.
Many more option are included in the BIOS configuration window, but they all depend on the BIOS manufacturer. Usually there is a explanation on the right and side of the screen when you have the indicator over a item. For more information, refer to your motherboard manual.
BIOS Update:
Use extreme caution when updating the BIOS, an error could result in your computer no longer booting!
The BIOS may need to be updated to be able to support the newer technologies. This is especially true for older BIOS. These older ones do not always support the newer larger hard drives, new graphic cards, newer and faster memory, ... In order to make your computer support these newer technologies, you need to update your BIOS to a newer version, able to support these technologies. There are three ways to upgrade your BIOS to a newer version. The first way is called "Flashing the BIOS" which included overwriting the information in the EEPROM. Do can do this by accessing the flash window in your BIOS options. You normally need to press either the "Delete" key or the "F2" key. The second way is to use a "Flash BIOS Update" package that is usually distributed by the motherboard company. Follow the manufacturers instruction to make sure that the flashing goes properly and prevent serious damage to your computer. The third way is to change your BIOS chip. This is the hard and probably the most expensive way to upgrade it. I would only suggest using this as a last result, and have it done by a computer technician. You may need to consider this option for older computers, where the BIOS is unable to be flashed due to the type of memory it uses.

Useful tools:
Guide to understand BIOS beep codes for multiple BIOS manufacturers:
These beep codes have been made available trough the work of multiple people for TechRepublic. You can check here to see if a newer version is available

How can I reset CMOS or BIOS settings?

by :mayur khokhar

Question

How can I reset CMOS or BIOS settings?

Answer

If your computer is having issues booting, has errors during boot, after adding hardware is running into issues, or you're having other abnormal system behaviors that cannot be resolved though any other method it may be necessary to reset the CMOS settings or load the default or fail-safe defaults as explained below.

Load or Reset defaults

1. Enter CMOS setup.
2. In CMOS setup look for an option to reset the CMOS values to the default setting or an option to load the fail-safe defaults. With many CMOS setup screens there will be a function key to do this; for example, the F5, F6, F9, F11, or F12 key like shown in the picture to the right. Other setups may actually list an option that you can arrow over to using the arrow keys and press Enter.
3. When found and selected you'll likely be asked if you're sure you wish to load the defaults press Y for yes or arrow to the yes option.
4. Once the default values have been set make sure to Save and Exit and not just exit.

Reset Configuration Data

In addition to restoring the system defaults if you've recently added new hardware or resetting the default values did not help resolve your boot issues you may also want to reset the configuration data. Note: Not all CMOS setup screens will have this feature.
Under advanced

If you're working on a computer with a Phoenix BIOS that has Main - Advanced - Security - .... across the top of the screen you can get to this setting by using the right arrow to move over to Advanced and under Advanced arrow down to Reset Configuration Data and changing the value from Disabled or No to Enabled or Yes.

Once the above has been done press the F10 key and save and exit CMOS setup.

In PnP/PCI Configurations

If you're working with a Phoenix BIOS that has several different options and one of them is PnP/PCI Configuration move the cursor down to this option and press Enter. Within the PnP/PCI Configurations change the Reset Configuration Data from Disabled to Enabled.

Once the above has been done press the F10 key and save and exit CMOS setup.

Hard reset the CMOS

Caution: When inside your computer make sure you're aware of ESD and all it's potential dangers.

If the above steps do not reset the CMOS settings we suggest removing the CMOS battery for 5 minutes causing the computer to forget all settings. Removing the CMOS battery like the one shown in the picture to the right will cause the system to lose all CMOS settings including the password. To do this locate and remove the CMOS battery on the motherboard for at least five-minutes. After this has been done put the battery back into the computer and turn it back on.

If your computer does not have a CMOS battery or you're unable to find it you'll need to do a hard reset on the CMOS using a jumper or dip switch on the motherboard. Information on finding these can be found through your computer or motherboard documentation.

Additional information

• See the BIOS and CMOS definitions for further information and related links.