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From:
don penlington <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Personal Computer Hardware discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 15 Dec 2011 11:45:09 +1000
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Harriet writes:

<<I have a Dell  studio, win 7 home, and somehow my pw won't work... I  have
it written down, but no matter how many times I put it in there.. it still
won't work.  This is the right pw cause I have the date I reset it which
was the other day.  >>

In addition to Paul's excellent long-shot comments (try a space at the 
beginning also), I'm wondering why you needed to change the password in the 
first place. Was there a problem before you tried to change it? (This might 
indicate a corruption in the system files).

Is this a Windows 7 password, or a bios password? (ie at what stage of the 
boot process does it ask for the password---very early before Windows 
starts to load, or after Windows has loaded?).

The reason I ask is that if it's a laptop ( you didn't say), when ordering 
a Dell laptop, you can request a bios password to be inserted at the bios 
(the theory being that this helps prevent theft). They may do it for 
desktops too, I don't know.

If it's a bios password set at the factory, this can only be changed by the 
Dell factory, upon proof of ownership. I've no doubt they are also likely 
to charge an arm and a leg for this service. I've no idea what would happen 
if a bios password were to fail thru corruption, but I guess the whole 
computer would have to be returned to the Dell factory. Or maybe their Dell 
service reps might have a way of fixing such failure. It would be 
interesting to know, even though it would be a very rare fault.

Don Penlington

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