ok, did you try hitting f12 during the dell boot post? this would let you access the one time boot menu and possibly any other drive. if that doesnt work you may try it with a dos boot hdd. to do that you need a different laptop or desktop with laptop hdd adapter and install a plain msdos or drdos or whatever dos you find around.
once installed copy all the files from the dst cd on it and put the dos hdd in the dell laptop. boot it into dos and run svctag.exe to edit the service tag.

yep, I've tried hitting F12, F2, F8, esc, and DELETE, no key gets me into the bios.

Right, now where would I get a laptop hdd adapter? (ebay maybe) and where could I download a dos program?

So once I get all the above, I will try this and let you all know the outcome, thanks for your help.

ah wait. you are not able to access the bios from f2? are you sure you are talking about the same password as the other guy? in case you get the gray/white dell screen I am sorry but nothing mentioned in this thread will help you.

yes, I cannot access the bios, or change the boot up, Im asked for a password straight away. :-(

I am sorry to say so but I can't help you with that sort of password. you may have a look here and see for the last few post, the one from paragon33. there is no other way than buy some password from the internet or call dell for help to remove the system password.

Thanks for your help anyway

you're welcome. let me know if you if I can help you with something!

I regret to say mscrx is correct. I could get into the BIOS of my D620 but many of the settings were locked, including the boot sequence, by an admin password. I needed to clear that password.

The method I used was:
1) disk image of hard disk using Acronis Trueimage.
2) removed hard drive and connected to spare laptop.
3) format hard drive using the floppy disk image available at http://www.download.centre4service.com/software1.html
4) replace disk in password protected laptop
5) boot and follow instructions to remove tag
6) BIOS password is removed and can now change settings and replace tag using BIOS.
7) restore image to hard disk.

Bob's yer uncle. Now have cool fully functional laptop at bargain price from ebay.

can anyone confirm mrsticleback's method works?

oh ya sorry for bringing back a dead thread but i need help

this method is one way to get rid of the bios configuration password to enable all bios settings and options but thats all. it wont help with the gray screen!
hope this answers your question.

Nobody has ever published information on being successful with the D620, that I have ever been able to determine. The posters to this forum have never been straight about their claims.
Hope your mileage will differ.

The D620 is impossible to fix... Hundreds have tried it on this forum. I do not know of anybody who has been successful. This is a different unit via the motherboard, from any other Inspiron laptops. Paperclips don't work. No other shorting method works. And password generators do not work. It requires a special recovery disk from Dell that only works one time... coded to the individual machine.

The method I used and described above only works if you can get into the BIOS. If you can't even get that far I think you are sh@gged. Sorry.

As for disassemble, Just take out all the rubber stoppers. There are screws under there. Remove the battery and the power supply, and unscrew away. There are also schematics available at Dell. The trick is replacing all the screw covers when you are done.

makes no sense since there is nothing you can do except watching the circuits....

I was able to use the download listed earlier on a USB stick that I made bootable, it worked like a champ and now is probably a dangerous weapon for some people, the only thing is, I was able to get to the F12 screen at boot up, would highly recommend this option if F12 is available to you.
Larry
Dell 620

Hi, I concur with MrStickleback and have just had similar success wih removing the "Admin Password" from my Dell D620. 1) I was able to access the BIOS, but not change many settings. 2) I was able to boot off a Windows 98 CD to get a command prompt.

Once I got the command prompt I inserted the DST CD and ran SVCTAG.EXE and set the service tag to nothing. This removed the Admin password.

Please note: admin password != system password

For those who cannot access the BIOS at all, and are locked out by the grey screen this is very different and it is the system password that needs resetting, I recommend either (a) Ringing Dell support OR (b) Paying for the eBay service which provides a password based on service tag. My wife's D420 was locked out with a grey screen when I bought it and I paid ~$100 on ebay to get it unlocked. The D420 is very similar in terms of architecture to the D620. $100 is expensive, but think of how much time you probably already have wasted looking for a free solution and what that's cost you in sanity

As someone stated previously, the D620 (and D420) are not in the same category as previous models such as D410 and D610 which I have personally reset system passwords by shorting pins on a motherboard chip using the method/instructions from a Youtube video. The Dell X300 is also like the D620 - I paid a guy in Russia to provide me a password for that one.