New /old laptop

[gronk]

I have been given a laptop, HP Elite Book , thinking 5 yrs old ?
But it is protected by a password to open it.....and no it's not stolen. It has office stuff on it that I don't want if I get it open, but the question is.......is it worth worrying about ?
Can I open it easily and if I can, do I just delete everything on it and start again, or throw it in the bin because one it is getting old and two it's in the too hard basket ?

[#jonesy]

You could do a factory reset and wipe the whole thing. I think that bypasses the password.

[A-frame81]

New install including formatting the hard drive will solve your issues like #jonesy said. You can download Windows using the product code (it's on the sticker on the back of the laptop normally). If it's Win 7 or later you can probab;y upgrade to Win 10 for free too if you wan tto.

Or do what I did and re-image it to use Linux. There are a heap out there that work well as a Windows replacement. I use Ubuntu FWIW.

[gronk]

New install including formatting the hard drive will solve your issues like #jonesy said. You can download Windows using the product code (it's on the sticker on the back of the laptop normally). If it's Win 7 or later you can probab;y upgrade to Win 10 for free too if you wan tto.

Or do what I did and re-image it to use Linux. There are a heap out there that work well as a Windows replacement. I use Ubuntu FWIW.

All I know is it's win 7.......but how do you do anything to it if you need a password to get past the initial startup screen ?

[Bird]

You mean it has a BIOS password...

See what model HP it is and see what they are going for on Ebay.. probably not worth the effort

you could try https://www.wikihow.com/Reset-a-BIOS-Password

[gronk]

You mean it has a BIOS password...

See what model HP it is and see what they are going for on Ebay.. probably not worth the effort

you could try https://www.wikihow.com/Reset-a-BIOS-Password

Ha ha, don't even know what BIOS means......but it seems to be a site specific password, but the businees told my daughter (who  I aquired the laptop off ) that they won't supply the password, but feel free to delete the system and start again. The bin looks a good option at the moment !!

[Bigfish]

Ha ha, don't even know what BIOS means......but it seems to be a site specific password, but the businees told my daughter (who  I aquired the laptop off ) that they won't supply the password, but feel free to delete the system and start again. The bin looks a good option at the moment !!

Hang on to it and I,ll bet someone will be able to use it. Would be quite adequate for e-mails and web browsing.

[gronk]

Hang on to it and I,ll bet someone will be able to use it. Would be quite adequate for e-mails and web browsing.

That's all I use a computer for......is there anything else ?  Lol

But no use to me if I can't access it.

[Cruiser 105Tvan]

You could try replacing the Hard drive.
But from the sound of things, you'd need help with that as well as what software to load onto it.

[Andy_Q]

Easiest way is to use a windows CD. Boot it up with the CD in and tell it to wipe the drive and install windows.


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[Cruiser 105Tvan]

Hang on to it and I,ll bet someone will be able to use it. Would be quite adequate for e-mails and web browsing.

I use mine as a TV when I'm away.  I've a 3TB HDD with a movie or 2 on it as well as a heap of TV episodes etc., it's not that hard.

Easiest way is to use a windows CD. Boot it up with the CD in and tell it to wipe the drive and install windows.
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That'd be another way as well.

[DrewXT]

Does it boot up to a screen that says Windows 7?

If so, it's easy to wipe and install a new operating system.

I work for HP, and it's a b1tch to wipe a power on password from the BIOS to be honest.

Depending on the model, an elite book will run Windows 10 better than Windows 7, and Ubuntu or Linux Mint even better

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[gronk]

Does it boot up to a screen that says Windows 7?

If so, it's easy to wipe and install a new operating system.

I work for HP, and it's a b1tch to wipe a power on password from the BIOS to be honest.

Depending on the model, an elite book will run Windows 10 better than Windows 7, and Ubuntu or Linux Mint even better

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

I'll get back to you this arvo mate after I fire it up. After googling the model, it appears to be a good business laptop.....even if getting a bit old.

[D4D]

Take a photo of the password screen and post it, we can then confirm what it is.

If it is 5 years old it should be easyish to swap the HDD for a flash drive. That will give it another 5 years of life.

[DrewXT]

Take a photo of the password screen and post it, we can then confirm what it is.

If it is 5 years old it should be easyish to swap the HDD for a flash drive. That will give it another 5 years of life.

^^ this...

I put an SSD on my old elite book after its lease ran out and boss gave it to me, and it's exceptionally fast now...

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[corndog]

There are password programs around that might work. Do a search and try a few. Won't hurt and doesn't cost anything.

[A-frame81]

Gronk, are you letting it boot until it asks you for a password? Or are you interrupting the boot?

If you're waiting, you will need to get a new copy of the Windows install media (can download from windows.com) on either a CD or a USB. Interrupt the boot (normally by pressing F12 or F9 on most computers) so you can select where to boot from. You have to be pretty quick to see which button to press, but the positive is once you see it, just press it repeatedly as soon as you power on the PC and you'll trip it and open the boot menu.

When you've done this you just walk through the install process and you can format the drive as a part of this. You'll lose all data that was on the computer, but you've already said you don't care about that. You might have to re-install some of the device drivers once you've installed the fresh Windows OS, but that's pretty easy to do.

[gronk]

Comes up with a blue screen, windows 7 enterprise, and a msg...press CTRL + ALT +DELETE to log on......do that and a name comes up\jrp and a password below it. Has a tab, switch user and another 2 options...other user and insert smart card.

[D4D]

OK, you need to boot it off a DVD/USB with a replacement OS and rebuild. Does it have a MSFT CoA sticker on the underneath? If so what's the version?

[gronk]

OK, you need to boot it off a DVD/USB with a replacement OS and rebuild. Does it have a MSFT CoE sticker on the underneath? If so what's the version?

  It's got a microsoft sticker with HP and some numbers and a product key with numbers, but I don't know what version it is ??

[plusnq]

It says windows 7 Pro ?

[gronk]

It says windows 7 Pro ?

Is that the version ?

[Bird]

Is that the version ?

Yes.. insert a windows CD and do a complete new installation...
https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-clean-install-windows-7-2624917

[gronk]

Yes.. insert a windows CD and do a complete new installation...
https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-clean-install-windows-7-2624917

Now although this part seems easy, where do I aquire a windows CD

[paceman]

Now although this part seems easy, where do I aquire a windows CD

Put in your product key and download an ISO image you can burn to a DVD or USB stick for free:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/software-download/windows7

Then you can boot off the DVD or USB to reinstall...

USB is a bit faster, but both will do the job...