Need BIOS Administrator Password

[Notworks]

Hi there,

I have an issue with my notebook and want to boot to a USB stick for recovery - it is asking me for a password for the BIOS Administrator. I do not remember setting one. That is my primary issue as I can then wipe and reload (I have backups).

As background last night we had a massive electrical storm, I did unplug the notebook during the storm and used it fine this morning for a while. At some point mid morning it just froze in Windows and I had to force it off. Now it says BootDevice Not Found. It could have messed up during a recent Windows 10 update as I have had a few PCs with similar issues recently that I had to repair the BCD file but in this case I cannot boot without access to the BIOS. I have proof of ownership from new if required to unlock the BIOS.

Appreciate any help you can offer.

[REO51ST · Accepted solution]

@Notworks

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.

Contact Support >> http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/ww-contact-us.html

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

Just to note:

Do not try removing the RTC/BIOS 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