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Archived This topic has been archived. Information and links in this thread may no longer be available or relevant. If you have a question create a new topic by clicking here and select the appropriate board.
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> I am asking if the password is requested before any sign of windows appears (any loading of operating system).

> Not the logon screen.

 

There are multiple passwords:

 

1. the initial "power-on" password.  This protects you, if your laptop is stolen.  The thief will not know the password, and will not be able to boot your computer.  Of course, the thief can remove the disk-drive, but they cannot use the "hardware".

 

2. a "disk-drive-encryption" password.  This protects you, if a thief steals your computer.  Your files are encrypted.

 

3. the password set by the 'SYSKEY.EXE' locking tool.  The prompt for this password occurs before the prompt for the Windows "login" password.

 

4. The Windows "login" password.

 

> "Probably not" on what basis of observation?

 

By deliberately granting remote access to a "spare" computer by those "calling from windows support" scammers, and watching them run the SYSKEY command to set that 'SAM lock' password.  This is called "creating a honey-pot".

 

> as you can read

 

Yes, I can.  Why did you feel the need to state the obvious?

 

> I provided a way to save the data without spending money.

 

And you provided the reason -- "you may loose all your files" -- to NOT follow your way.

 

> In your answer the other day you seemed to think that spending 10 $ for an external hub msata was a lot.

 

No.  You are misrepresenting what I wrote.  Please reread what I wrote.

 

> Now you are suggesting a new drive and a new external housing ???

 

Yes. 

 

Recommending a new disk-drive.

Suggesting a new usage for the old disk-drive.

 

A new hard-drive will have several advantages:

* faster

* larger capacity

* new warranty

 

Also, installing onto a new/different disk-drive does not "touch" any of the existing files.

 

This methodology allows the user to "start over", should any problems happen during the installation/updating on the new disk-drive.

 

It's the same reason that automobiles have a "spare tire" -- built-in "redundancy" and "simple recovery" from the problem.

 

I suggested that one way to "reuse" the old disk-drive, once the author has copied all the personal files from it, rather than leaving on to sit on a shelf as a "backup", was to put it into an external enclosure, and "repurpose" it to get more "value" by actually using it.

 

By the way,  how do any of your comments, directed at me, help the author of the question get any closer to a solution to the problem?  Please focus on helping the author.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HP Recommended
It doesn't say BIOS but it's asking for a password before the loading of windows
HP Recommended
Yes, it asks before the loading of windows
HP Recommended

Try inserting the wrong password three times. What happens?

 

Let me know,

David

HP Recommended

> it's asking for a password before the loading of windows.

 

It would take a very-sophisticated scammer to set the "power-on" password.

It does NOT take such a scammer to run the 'SYSKEY' command, to "lock" the SAM.

 

Note that one of the first things that Windows does as it boots is to read the SAM.

So, it can be difficult to tell if Windows has "started".

 

Please use your smart-phone to take a snapshot of the screen, and paste it here.

 

If you have a "bootable" CD/DVD disk, insert it. Reboot the computer, and force the computer to boot from that media.

 

If it does start to boot, then there is *NO* "power-on" password, which implies that the password-prompt is caused by what the SYSKEY command has done to modify your installed copy of Windows.

 

 

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