I would try to format it with Linux before I thru it away I don't have much
experiance with it but you can find all of the help you need with google.

Brady
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gary R. Tennesen" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, December 25, 2004 3:32 PM
Subject: [PCBUILD] Password protected drive


> Hello fellow-listers!
>
> Before I throw this laptop drive away (I've already rubbed a strong magnet
> on it in frustration), I wonder if any of you know how to clear a Dell
> password from the hard drive.  Of course, current owner buys from friend
> who
> bought from friend and no one knows (or admits) to whom original owner
> was;
> nonetheless, Dell will not help.  I "hotwired" successfully the laptop's
> BIOS password; however, the hard drive's password is a real stumper.
>
> It's a 20gb Hitachi -- used every utility I could come up with, I've set
> it
> as slave on another system, BIOS recognizes; however, cannot read, write,
> format, etc.
>
> I've dropped to DOS and run FDISK as well as FDISK /mbr.  FDISK reports no
> drive even though I can see it in BIOS.
>
> I've been to just about every site from the black hats to the white and it
> seems the consensus is:   send it in to company that specializes in data
> recovery for the tune of 100 to 150 dollars -- I don't care about the
> data,
> just want a formattable, 20gb drive.
>
> Thaniks in advance,
> [log in to unmask]
>
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