Physical security is an important part of securing your computer from
attackers. When it comes to securing the computer from physical access,
BIOS passwords are sometimes used to control access to the machine, or to
lock-in certain configuration information.
Many 'cyber protection' products (such as FoolProof, CyberPatrol and
others) recommend that the BIOS settings will be password protected, since
those programs have to be loaded when the operating system loads, but
before anything else is started. These programs can be easily overridden
if BIOS access is enabled, since by setting the BIOS to boot from a
diskette enables users with physical access to the machine to bypass the
application.
However, these BIOS passwords are not always as effective as people think.
Some BIOS chips have simple "manufacture" built-in password, others have
"escape" routes that enable to bypass the password protection altogether.
Details
Note:The procedures described below do not necessarily work for all
known systems. BIOS chips are produced by many different companies
(sometimes BIOS chips have the name of company A, when they are actually
produced by company B). BIOS chips models change constantly, and therefore
the described procedures may or may not work on your specific hardware
model.
The following is a list of known factory-set passwords for different BIOS
manufactures: AWARD BIOS:
AW
AWARD
AWARD_PS
AWARD_PW
AWARD_HW
AWARD SW
AWARD_SW
Award SW
AWARD PW
_award
awkward
alfaromeo
J64
j256
j262
j322
01322222
589589
589721
HLT
SER
SKY_FOX
Syxz
aLLy
CONCAT
TTPTHA
aPAf
HLT
KDD
ZBAAACA
ZAAADA
ZJAAADC
djonet
AMI BIOS:
AMI
ami
bios
setup
cmos
AMIDECODE
A.M.I.
AMI SW
AMI_SW
BIOS
PASSWORD
HEWITT RAND
Oder
A.M.I.
AMI!SW
AMI?SW
HEWITT RAND
alfarome
efmukl
Phoenix:
phoenix
Compaq:
compaq
Tinys:
Tiny
Other known defaults:
LKWPETER
lkwpeter
BIOSTAR
biostar
BIOSSTAR
biosstar
ALFAROME
Syxz
Wodj
PASS
PASSOFF
CONDO
J64
BIOS
SETUP
CMOS
admin
system
Entering BIOS setup
If you can't work out what to press during boot in order to access the
BIOS setup, try this handy list:
AMI, Award: Del during boot.
Toshiba: Esc during boot.
Toshiba; Phoenix; Late model PS/1 Value Point and 330s: F1 during boot.
NEC: F2 during boot.
Compaq: F10 when square in top RH corner of screen.
IBM PS/2s w/ Reference Partition: Ins during boot.
Dell: Reset twice following by Alt Enter.
Some PS/2s: Alt ?
Some PS/2s when pointer at top right of screen: Ctrl Ins.
AST Advantage, Award, Tandon: Ctrl Alt Esc.
Phoenix: Ctrl Alt S or Ctrl S.
Zenith, Phoenix: Ctrl Alt Ins.
Tandon 386: Ctrl Shift Esc.
Olivetti PC Pro: Shift Ctrl Alt + Num Pad Del.
Others: Ctrl-Esc, Ctrl Alt +
If you can boot the computer and just want to reset the BIOS password so
you can set it yourself, type the following (note: this is a risky
procedure, and can be harmful to your BIOS if it isn't compatible. Use the
mentioned procedure only if you know what you are doing).
Run the DOS program 'debug'
Type:
o 70 17
o 71 17
q
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