I recently bought a laptop which worked fine, installed windows etc. However there has always been a password on the BIOS so I havent been able to get in.

The previous owner doesnt remember the password so I decided to take the internal battery out for a while. After I put it back in and booted up it always asks for a password now!

Im stuck with an unusable laptop, is there any way I can clear the BIOS? Help much appreciated.

(phoenix bios 4 release 6)

Leave that battery out for a LONG while - say, at LEAST one hour.

Laptops have at least as much capacitance in their circuitry as do desktops, and I've had to leave batteries out for several hours to make them work!

Or, you can leave it out overnight, and wakeup to a perfectly usable laptop.

Best wishes from Atlanta, GA. USA.

http://www.strelecki.com

Do that and also move the bios and battery jumpers. Or use some utility to get system ones the manfacturers have.

Maybe this is a long shot, but if the above don't work - can't he just flash the bios w/ the newest version, folks - and then get updated the bios at the same time ...

I managed to get it working by fiddling with some switches and leaving the battery out. Thanks for the help.