bios lock question

[corvairbob]

what does the bios lock actually do? is that so you need to enter the PW everytime you boot the pc or is that so you can't get into the bios to make changed the you may have to make? can a bios locked pc be used normally?

i'm looking at a few hp laptops on ebay from pc stores and then i find they are bios locked. i guess i can take the chips of the board but i seen on this site someone asked about the same issue and they go some code to unlock ther pc.

[WAWood · Accepted solution]

The only BIOS lock I know of is protecting against BIOS changes by assigning a BIOS password.  This is encoded into the firmware of the motherboard, not the BIOS chip.  So changing the BIOS chip does not remove the lock.

HP no longer distributes the tool needed to do BIOS password changes, so that information is out of date.

A BIOS locked PC can be used normally, you just can't enter the BIOS to make any changes to the settings.

And, the BIOS chips on OEM PCs are soldered to the board, not socketed, so you can't easily replace them.

[corvairbob]

thanks. i think i will stay away from them then, i do not need to get one and then find i need to get into the bios and change something and can't. again thanks

[Huffer]

There is also a power on password which can be set and that requires as you noted entering the password to get the laptop to POST. Stay away from any passworded used laptop. High chance you will get something the seller did not own, at worst and at best you have crippled or zero functionality.