Mr Plain Key,

I finally cracked the Primary BIOS Password on an Inspiron 1150. It required obtaining a USB 2.0 Bootable Floppy Drive to run the diskette I previously spoke about. But first, shorting the 24LC16B
requires shorting a different set of connections than the well documented 3rd from the left end, bottom and top for the 24C02 Chip; 4th from the left on the bottom and 3rd from the left on top
Is needed for the 24LC16B. The first three conections on the bottom side are not even conected on this chip, only the 4th which is the VSS(ground) connection. Using these 2 cleared the chip to Manufacturing Mode and then running the diskette reset the ServiceTag with normal operation thereafter and NO Passwords

The early Inspirons dated before the Inspiron 3700 did not use a Service Tag based Password System. Dell's number designations made no sense, as the 7000/7500 preceded the 3700. The Service Tag on the case is strictly a System Identifier. I have no insights to offer for those

email removed for a fix.

I cracked a C600 Primary Password yesterday; on this model the mother board is almost completely enclosed in an aluminum frame and the chip is difficult to access. I disassembled the frame, found the 24C02 chip, then cut a 3/4" hole in the frame directly over the chip and then reassembled the board and frame to a bootable condition unit using an External Monitor and Keyboard, and AC Adapter. I then shorted the chip to clear it to Manufacturing Mode and used this Diskette I have in a floppy drive plugged into the board to reset the Service Tag. Any Passwords went when the chip cleared to MM and the resetting of the Service Tag restored normal operation

Can anyone please post the LatitudePW.exe program. Google cannot find it.
Thanks

Edited: Found the Latitude_MasterPW.exe on post #53, but it doesn't work on tag xxxxxxx-595B.

I was able to reset EEPROM using paragon33's bootdisk (thanks heaps). If you don't have a usb floppy drive handy here is the boot cd that I made
http://rapidshare.de/files/5361813/bootcd.iso.html

Good luck

Hello everyone
I wondered if someone can assist me in any way. I have a Latitute c640 service tag 8TQ3121. I can not seem to be able to change the date , time or anything in the bios. I have tried the latitude PW.exe and it doesn't seem to be working or I may be doing it wrong. Admin password says enabled but i can't even try it. Config password is the one that asks me for one.
Is there a way i can get pass this so that i can change the date , time. etc.
I have read about the paperclip doc but is there a way i can get this somewhere?..
thanks

email removed I will send your 6-7 attachments which total around 8mb, so make sure you have sufficient room in your Inbox. The DST.zip should be Unzipped/Extract All to a DOS Bootable Diskette made in the A:\ drive format window with W-XP or W98 . That diskette allows you to delete and then reset your SAME Service Tag. Those actions erase the EEProm Chip and the password is erased also. The .pdf file covers the shorting procedure to clear the Primary Password and is enclosed for possible future use; it has the picture of the 24C02 EEProm chip.

What is the worst thing that could happen to the laptop if this program doesn't work to reset the service tag/pass? I don't want to have a heavy paperweight on my hands taking risks

The laptop should continue to function at status quo. What model do you have, what is your general locale, do you have a floppy drive and do you get a grey screen asking for a password, or are you able to enter bios setup, but can not change anything? I can only tell you it has worked for me every time. Contact me at:
email removed

Good to be cautious. Initially I had the same view about flashing BIOS or any non-volatile memory. Luckily all my flashing attempts have been successful (BIOS, CD/DVD Drives, Wireless Router). It's pretty much try it at your own risk but if it's any assurance others have done it before successfully and I have not yet seen a catastrophic unrecoverable error from flashing.

The iso boot image is made from windows 98 boot floppy image and paragon33's DST.zip. It should function the same way as the floppy.

I am glad that the ISO worked for you, Phuang; the reason I do not recommend it is this; on some Dell models, the CD drive is slaved to the harddrive and will not even be recognized by BIOS unless the harddrive is present. It is possible to reset the BIOS Default boot order to Diskette first, by disconnecting the CMOS/Reserve battery and leaving it disconnected overnight(?), BUT that also moves the Harddrive to 2nd place and the CD Drive to 3rd. On some models, removing the Harddrive will force the boot from the CD drive, but not on the ones that have it as slave to the harddrive; on those it puts the CDROM out of business. Specifically, the Dell models for whichI know this problem exists are the Inspiron 8000, 8100, 8200 and the Latitudes C800, C810, and C840. On those you need to use a modular bay CDROM and remove the Harddrive to force a boot from the CD Drive to use the ISO CDR method.

I actually e-mailed you last week I believe but I don't have a floppy drive available to me and I was going to buy one but now that the bootable cd has been posted I might try that. I am in the Las Vegas area and own a Dell Latitude D610. I can go into the BIOS but I can't change the admin password. Thanks for all the help so far

Scoo, as far as I can determine, the CD Drive in yours is not slaved to the harddrive, and therefore should boot to it when you pull out the harddrive, as it will be the only bootable device left. That is assuming that the boot order has been reset to default by unplugging your CMOS/Reserve Battery overnight or maybe just a couple of hours. Yes, you can alter your settings for boot order that far by unplugging that battery. The easy way to tell is after you reconnect the battery, and go into BIOS, the Date/Time will be wrong or at least different.

Paragon, thanks so much!

I received your files this morning and read the doc. From the time I touched a screw driver until the time I had a working lap top was 10 minutes. It took me 3 tries to reset the password and I had to keep putting the memory back in to test the reset, otherwise it would have been about 5 mins.

I happened to have a latitude (C610) that didn't require any disassembly (I only needed the screw driver to open the memory panel) so it was extremely easy.

It took another 5 mins to make a floppy and assign an asset tag. Laptop is as good as new!

Thanks again!

This discussion is concerning BIOS Dell passwords, not WINDOZE Passwords. I am sure this info would be of assistance in the right thread, and should be posted there.

I have dell latitude C840 with primary system bios password that can`t be solved with Latitude_MasterPW.exe. I found 24c02w on the MB, and create short between pins 3 and 6 (3 and 7 if you count left to right), but when I power on, system turn off after 2-3 sec ( I tried it for 100 times trying to short them in all conditions - while booting). Next time i boot without shorting, pass is still there. Is there anything else I can try?

Try pressing the power Button On and off several times rapidly and at random while shorted, then remove the "shorter" and let it boot up normally. If you get the Manufacturing Mode screen, you are successful. If you still get the password screen, be patient and repeat the procedure. I cleared 2 8100's and an Inspiron 1150, and a single power on did not cut it

Thanks Paragon. I finaly done it.

Good-O, Gordon, another satisfied dell laptop owner