trying to help C&P for another site
This is for Dell CP and CPI Latitudes, it has not been tried on other models. Another way to crack it is to create a short in the 24c02 chip (the markings on the top of the chip) between pins 3 and 6 when you power on!
Before you try that though, remove the hard-drive and see if you get the same error.
If NOT, then it is a Hard-drive password and not a system password. This fix is for a system BIOS password only. A new Hard-drive should fix it if it boots w/o the hard-drive or is cleared of a system BIOS password.
The chip sometimes is below the processor so you have to solder two very small wires and bring them outside the laptop then reinstall the processor. Short the two wires and power on! Pin 1 is the one with the dot in the corner. Next pin on the same side is 2 then 3,4, and 5,6,7,8 going around the corner with pin 8 being across from pin1. The power on password will be disabled and you will be able to access the system settings via the F2 during bootup as if it was never there.