HP Drive Lock password forgotten or unknown - HP Elitebook

[ooh_danno]

Hello ooh-danno here checking in...

I'm not sure if this DriveLock is somewhat the same or not really with Bios lock where you will not be able to power on as well as access the system at all. There is Power On password and at the same time, there is an Administrator password in my old macbook that can be setup on BIOS which resides on the motherboard (right? ...pls. correct me if I'm wrong) and not in the hard drive. So, going back to the discussion above which was suggesting that the only possible solution for forgetting the BIOS password will be replacing the hard drive, I am getting confused?  I was in the market for buying an older used HP EliteBook and I ended up not buying the cheaper unit because it was password locked according to the seller and I don't know if I will be able to unlock so I bought one that is unlocked and had to pay a little bit more which I'm hoping will be worth it. But, going back to my question, am I wrong on my assumption that basically the computer became useless (except for parting) because it cannot be brought to its original state unless the motherboard is changed? Will appreciate your expert comments and feedback. Thank you!     

[IT_WinSec · Accepted solution]

Hello @ooh_danno 

BIOS lock and DriveLock are different.

• BIOS lock is related to access to the BIOS or power-on of the machine.
• DriveLock locks the content of the storage drive (HDD/SSD, etc)
• If you lock the power-on process of the machine with BIOS password, you will still be able to access the content of the drive by using a different computer. However, if you lock the drive (HDD/SSD) with DriveLock, everytime the PC tries to load an operating system from it, you will be asked for a password. The data will not be accessible from any PC without this password.
• Let me clarify that if you do not know the password of DriveLock, you will need a new drive (HDD or SSD) because the new HDD/SSD will not have a DriveLock password setup.
• Also, If you do not know the password of the BIOS, you will need a new motherboard to have it removed (simply because a new motherboard does not come with an active password from the factory, by design)
• I will leave the decision to you if a computer becomes useless or not if one does not know the DriveLock or BIOS password 🙂

In my opinion, you did a good decision for buying a machine which was not password protected. Now you can setup your own passwords to enhance the security of your machine and personal data.

Hope this helps or answers your question. Let me know if additional information is needed.

[ooh_danno]

Thank you so much IT_WinSec for explaining and clearing it up for me the differences between DriveLock and Power On password. I got it!