Ian,

What an interesting coincidence. I gave one of those away last week
and I thought it was a cool little machine. BTW, it had a 486SX2/66
in it, the first time I have ever seen one of those. I've seen
SX2/50's, but never a 66. Well enough reminiscing.

There is a jumper on the mobo to clear the BIOS (IIRC). Pull out the
"drawer" in the rear of the machine (there are 2 thumbscrews
retaining it) and you will find a diagram sticker on the bottom of
this drawer. ID the BIOS clear jumper and either remove or reposition
it (not sure which it is since I did not have to mess with it on the
one I fixed up.) then restore it to the original position and that
should fix that problem. It might not be a bad idea to enter the BIOS
first and view  the current settings in case something does not work
right after the BIOS clear. I hope this helps, Ian.

Regards,
Dale Mentzer


On 1 Apr 2003 at 0:05, Ian wrote:

> Date:    Fri, 28 Mar 2003 17:09:28 +1200
> From:    Ian <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Compaq  425 bios password
>
> A customer's antique Presario 425 'tabletop' machine (combined box and
> monitor) has a bios password installed which he wants removed.
>
> He has the password, so he can start it up ok, he just wants to remove
> the hassle of using a password, and the risk of losing or forgetting
> it.
>
> I can access the bios ok with F10, but the bios won't accept any
> alterations - ie, there's no response to any keystrokes.
>
> So it would appear that the bios is locked, in fact the password is
> shown to be 'Set'. Anyone know the command to unlatch this oldie?
>
> I realise I could open the case and pull the battery, but I don't
> particularly want to do that, seeing as how it's an all-in-one type of
> machine, ie monitor and box combined, and may turn into a can of
> worms.
>
> Ian Porter
> Computer Guys Inc.
> Arrowtown
> New Zealand
> [log in to unmask]
>

                         PCBUILD's List Owners:
                      Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]>
                       Drew Dunn<[log in to unmask]>