BIOS Admin password locked

[RAMSEY16]

Hi All,

A former employer has locked the BIOS with an Administrator password and nobody knows what it is. I now have to wipe the laptop and load a new OS for a new employee. I used Rufus to create a windows 10 bootable image but seems i cannot boot to any other media except the notebook hdd itself as i figured the boot sequence might have been messed with as well. So I tried to reset the CMOS by opening the laptop but saw that it was wrapped up so did not open it, instead i disconnected the plug like cable that was connected to it. Still the password is present. Is there any other way to reset the BIOS ? I also tried updating the bios through a usb by pressing ctrl + b and it updated the BIOS but still it did not help (saw this after doing some google research).

Please any help wil be appreciated, just need to get this laptop in working condition for our new employee.

Thank you in advance.

[REO51ST · Accepted solution]

Welcome to the HP Support Community @RAMSEY16

For that model you will need to contact HP in your region and they should be able to send you a customized SMC.bin file which you can use at boot to reset the password.

Phone >> http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/ww-phone-assist.html

When talking to the HP rep ask them to escalate your service request.

Just to note:

Do not try removing the RTC battery.  It will not remove the password, but it will reset the clock - as SMC files are time coded, a large disparity between the system clock and the time encoded in the SMC  will cause it to fail.

REO