G-Stress Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Hey guys, I recently got a IBM ThinkPad t40 from my neighbor was moving and got rid of alot of things. The installed OS was corrupt and in order to repair/reinstall I need to be able to boot from media. The bios does ask for a password and if I just hit enter it will allow me in, but I can only make minor changes. I can't change the boot order, nor can I boot from any media. Is there a way I can either get around this, or even take out the HD, format it, copy the XP files to the HD and then re-insert and will it boot as if it was booting the disc to install the OS? Google didn't turn up much really other then it's almost impossible and best bet is to contact manufacturer. I went to disassemble looking for a cmos battery to hopefully clear the internal ram, but after a bit more googling, apparently laptops don't have a cmos battery. If this is pretty much a paper weight, that's no big deal, no loss to me, but it'd be nice to run just xp or even BT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linkstojustice Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 I read somewhere that "merlin" is a common backdoor password used by technicians at IBM. I dont know if this will help, but from what i've read it seems like a pretty tough computer to get into. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infiltrator Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Yes there is a way to get around that, but it involves getting your hands dirty. You will need to get to the motherboard and remove the CMOS battery from its socket. Make sure the battery pack and the AC adapter is disconnected, or you could run the risk of damaging the components on the motherboard while powered on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linkstojustice Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Yes there is a way to get around that, but it involves getting your hands dirty. You will need to get to the motherboard and remove the CMOS battery from its socket. Make sure the battery pack and the AC adapter is disconnected, or you could run the risk of damaging the components on the motherboard while powered on. All Thinkpads store the supervisor password in the ATMEL 24RF08 EEPROM, so removing the CMOS battery will just clear your CMOS settings leaving the password still on the BIOS so i wouldn't go this route.. http://www.tech-faq.com/reset-ibm-thinkpad-bios-password.html I was able to find this website that gives you a few options, I have never had to do this myself so i have no experience...Just happy share things that i find while lurking.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infiltrator Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 I did a bit of research into resetting the BIOS password for Thinkpad laptops and believe it or not, all articles that I found suggest, either contacting IBM to reset it for you, or going the old school hacking way. http://sodoityourself.com/hacking-ibm-thinkpad-bios-password/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr-Protocol Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 As previously mentioned, removing the CMOS battery typically works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-Stress Posted July 21, 2012 Author Share Posted July 21, 2012 Sweet. Thanks for all the info guys. I'ma play with it tomorrow and see what I can do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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