Unlock Advanced BIOS on HP Pavilion Laptop 15-cw0xxx

[Silas_Starr]

Hello,

        I recently upgraded my ram to 16GB and noticed they weren't running at the correct speed. I thought "Ok, simple fix" and went into the bios to enable the XMP profile on the ram. I've been learning about computers for years now and I know what I'm doing in a BIOS. The problem occurred when I went into the bios and was shocked by the fact that I only had about 10 different settings to change, most of them about simple stuff like the system clock or boot order, with no ram profile settings in sight. So after hours of hassling with the hp virtual assistant, I got it to spit out a number I could call for tech support. After a long conversation explaining the problem over the phone, the support agent got lost in the fact that I managed to install 16GB in a computer that should only support 8GB. I later found out that they got the product number wrong and they were looking at the wrong model. Anyway, they said they would get back to me once they talked to the back-end team, but they never did. So I decided to try updating the bios, thinking that it might either clear away the advanced settings lock or allow the shortcuts I had seen that should unlock it to work. All that did was reset my settings, locking out even more functionality. Here are my laptop details:

• Model: HP Pavilion Laptop 15-cw0xxx
• Product number: 3VQ08UA#ABA
• OS: Windows 10 Home 64-bit Version

        What I need is to unlock the advanced BIOS settings to change the ram profile to use XMP and enable the amd-v setting. I know HP has locked the BIOSes so that the average user doesn't brick their computer. I'm not the average user. I NEED access to those advanced settings. I know there must be some closely guarded secret to unlock it because how else would HP do maintenance on their computers. I'm willing to try installing a different BIOS version that has no lock if one could be given to me. I've tried every keyboard shortcut I can find, including pressing F9 on turn on, then CTRL+F10 and F11, pressing A on bios entry, pressing FN+TAB three times, and doing a little dance while holding my nose. My laptop is out of HP warranty. I am incredibly upset at the complete lack of HP support for advanced users. If I had known HP put a BIOS lock on I never would have taken the computer. I know it's to protect average users, but there should be some easy, cross model shortcut that is the same for EVERY hp computer that removes the lock. 

Thank you for your time,

Silas Starr