Straight from Dell:
"Tmagic,
There are a few options in this case. First option, contact the seller of the system and ask for the password. These are usually user set passwords that help protect restricted information and access to restricted networks and they may not have realized that they shipped the system with sensitive information. They also may have just forgotten to remove the password.
Second option; if the seller can’t provide the password, ask them to contact Dell and verify the information. Then provide the code that appears on the screen and then pass the information on to the customer to unlock the hard drive. Given that they sold the system this shouldn’t be too much trouble if they can’t provide the password.
Third option; the hard drive would have to be formatted and the OS reinstalled. I have, however, heard of cases where this HDD password will not allow the sectors on the drive to be formatted. In this case the only option left is to replace the hard drive (which I would take up with the seller.)
Mike
If you people can't do any of these options, what else is one to think, other than the Dell was stolen or aquired in a less than honest manner