I have an older dell laptop that worked fine, albeit slow. I was going to factory reset it. I have a USB of win 10 that works perfectly. I deleted the partitions and reformatted.
THen I tried to reinstall but it wanted the admin password. NO CLUE> Never had one, never remember setting anything. So there is NO OS on it and it will go NO further from boot/ set up screens and just locked message.

IS there ANY way to get into this? If I put a new Hard drive in, could I set it up or would it still be locked? ( motherboard?) I have never killed on in 20 yr and hate to give up on this one.
Thanks , Kitte

"kitten with a mean streak"

That sounds like a BIOS password. Google the model number of the laptop and "BIOS password" to see if there is an easy way around it.

Behind every good computer... is a jumble of wires 'n stuff.

Maybe Dell can help you.

Yup figured out it's a bios pw.working on it.hopefully, I'll figure something out.ill update.

"kitten with a mean streak"

So, yeah, I finally found an article that said dell would charge me upwards of 99. No thanks. It's an old pc. I fix and sell for cheap. I finally managed to change hd password and another pw , both in security setup. It is supposedly now installing windows from my usb. I guess I will know in Am if it did. I have been racking my brain on this one for 2 mo. I have fixed and sold 2 while piddling with this one.

"kitten with a mean streak"

Spam removed by moderator.

So it did let me at least run my usb win 10 recovery but would not finish. Said there was a problem recovering and will not finish. At least I got in to do that, so I will continue. I am sure noone in the world would actually set up a bios password,lol. I know, security as laptops can be stolen. BUt by changing HD and other pw it let me get this far.

"kitten with a mean streak"

Ok, yup, I do not think i can fix this one.
It let me change system PW, HDD pw. The Admin password is locked. I cannot imagine anyone ever actually using one! So it says my HD needs to be NTFS not GPT, so it will not install. But I cannot change anything as setup is locked from Admin PW . UUgh.

"kitten with a mean streak"

I literall tore the whole laptop down. I changed cmos batter, but could NOT find bios jumper. So i put it back together.
My win system is on an USB in Fat32 as it should be. Pc is in lagacy with secure boot off. Massage is cannot install to GPT>

That is option one- HOW??

Second is I went into startup, changed boot disk from USB USB management something,lol. It made a difference- went further but just gave message EFI system part. is NTFS. format to fat 32 and restart. IS it telling me my USB is NTFS? It is Fat32.

I really want to conquer this, i havent lost one yet.

"kitten with a mean streak"

Putting this one to rest- i HAVE LITERALLY NO CLUE why it installed win10 from my USB all of a sudden! I cannot change any boot settings, etc without admin password. So I changed nothing. Cannot change format, anything. I deleted the partitions, created new, formatted- using all same everything. INSTALLED windows! Been trying to do just that for 2 months! So,,,, who knows, who cares. I will get it set up and test it thoroughly and sell it if it passes my tests,lol.

"kitten with a mean streak"

Ok, I got a new ssd hdd and battery for this pc as I had finally gotten it to install and actually work but was painfully slow. I have replaced several HDD's over the years. THis one is not detected at all. Will do the getting ready.... language, etc but then says no hdd, no drive present. Yes it is in correctly. I am now reading everything online I can find to get it fixed. - Remember- this PC has locked admin password so I cannot change anything in bios, etc. Any suggestions? I just need to make sure you all keep on your toes while sitting at home,lol. THoughts> ideas? Blow it up

"kitten with a mean streak"