Bypassing a password

[rmaryt]

A number of years ago, I re-set the Setup menu password on my home PC & now can't remember what it is - does anyone know of a way to bypass it or overwrite it?

[Joanne-G]

I will take a guess that it is the BIOS password you have forgotten, if so it is relatively easy to reset but it does involve opening the case. On most mother boards there is a jumper that needs to be closed (refer to the motherboard's manual) or look very closley at all the jumpers on the board itself to see if there is one marked "BIOS reset" or similar, simply close or open (depending on motherboard) then put it back the way you found it, connect everything back up again and boot. (remember to earth yourself before touching anything inside your PC by touching the case first!) Hope this helps!

[j2buttonsw]

Or pull the 2p sized mainboard CMOS battery out then replace it. This will reset the BIOS to default (which is usually perfectly OK) but you will have to redo the time and date.

[dec765]

Remember that discharging personal static charges by touching the case only works if the power lead is plugged in to a wall socket (not powered up) as the case itself needs to be earthed.