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Date:	Fri, 20 Dec 2002 11:33:43 PST8
From:	Steve Carter <scarter@vcnet.com >
Reply-To:	scoug-help@scoug.com
To:	scoug-help@scoug.com
Subject:	SCOUG-Help: How do I recognize or reset ...

Content Type: text/plain

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Svobi:

This is a hot topic on the Thinkpad list. A search of their
archives will reveal a lively discussion of the subject,
which is no longer permitted. Assuming your notebook
to be a Thinkpad, the following has been regularly discussed
on the list:

System passwords are stored in a special serial EEPROM chip.
Replacing the chip will clear the system password on the MB,
but you have to de-solder and solder small surface mound chips
on the MB. Your HDD password is separate and is likely
to be set in addition.

If an HDD password was set, it is in the HDD internals and
moving the HDD to another machine will not work. It is possible
to send the HDD to one of the places that unlock them for
police and law enforcement, but cost is more than a new drive.

One exception: If you can discover the system password,
it is usually the same as the HDD password. This is different
from the BIOS password, which is, by comparison, trivial to reset.

It may be possible to read out the data in the serial EEPROM
to discover the system password.

Disclaimer:
I've never done this. Passwords are a real problem for the
memory-challenged (like me). Physical security is my choice.

Tip: I keep a small spreadsheet file in an older, common
format on a floppy with all my known logins and passwords.
The floppy is kept in my home-office desk. That way, the
information was/is NEVER present on my HD. When necessary,
I edit the file directly from the floppy and reboot soon after.

--Steve

(If it's not an IBM Thinkpad, then all this is probably in error.)

+++++++++++++++++
On 12/20/02, Svobi wrote, in part:
>
>... the USER-ID's and PWD's from an HDD of an old system ?
> ...
>I am preparing my old notebook for my coming hols abroad.
>Unfortunately I was unable to get it connected with the
>current OS.
>
>I tried with an elder HDD and I brought it working ;-)
>
>There is another problem now:
>I am unable to recognize or remember any User ID's and PWD's ;-((
>
>How can this being re-discovered or resetted ???

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