leachim Posted March 26 Posted March 26 Bought a 2nd hand laptop and wanted to Clone another machine onto it Source machine is GPT - Target is MBR Using Easeus to create an image which was then cloned onto another Drive to go in target laptop Tried to change the Bios on target machine, but just discovered the bios is password protected ! Any suggestions chaps ?
leachim Posted March 26 Author Posted March 26 How will that differ from Easeus Disk Backup ? If the source disk is GPT, it will end up being GPT on the target disk which won't be recognised by the target laptop because the bios cannot be changed ? Help me out or am I mistaken ?
leachim Posted March 27 Author Posted March 27 9 hours ago, MatthewL said: If you clone the disk it will do a like for like. Could I change the source computer to MBR somehow and then clone ?
itskdog Posted March 27 Posted March 27 Windows 11 is UEFI only, and therefore GPT only as Windows ties the two together. BIOS/CSM mode is not supported any more. If you're still using Windows 10, I hope you have ESUs activated and a plan to migrate your fleet by October 2028. Check the new laptop's firmware that it isn't booting in legacy mode, any device that was designed for Windows 8 or newer should be able to boot from a GPT disk when in UEFI mode. Just now, leachim said: Could I change the source computer to MBR somehow and then clone ? Windows only has MBR2GPT, there's no command to reverse that process.
Fazza Posted March 27 Posted March 27 10 hours ago, leachim said: Any suggestions chaps ? Reset Your BIOS Password
leachim Posted March 27 Author Posted March 27 2 minutes ago, itskdog said: Windows 11 is UEFI only, and therefore GPT only as Windows ties the two together. BIOS/CSM mode is not supported any more. If you're still using Windows 10, I hope you have ESUs activated and a plan to migrate your fleet by October 2028. Check the new laptop's firmware that it isn't booting in legacy mode, any device that was designed for Windows 8 or newer should be able to boot from a GPT disk when in UEFI mode. Windows only has MBR2GPT, there's no command to reverse that process. Thanks Both machines have W10 Pro Can't get into Bios on target machine to change to UEFI because of bios password and seller didn't know the pw What happens if I take the BIOS battery out for a few hours - would it reset it ? Target is Toshiba Satellite Pro L850 1UJ s/n 2D114040R I need to try and keep the OS and visual setup going as it is for an infirm old lady who is used to the way things are on her computer and doesn't want to learn anymore.... she can't get upstairs anymore to her tower computer (source) and now wants to rely on a laptop downstairs.
Olliedawg Posted March 27 Posted March 27 Just now, leachim said: Thanks Both machines have W10 Pro Can't get into Bios on target machine to change to UEFI because of bios password and seller didn't know the pw What happens if I take the BIOS battery out for a few hours - would it reset it ? Target is Toshiba Satellite Pro L850 1UJ s/n 2D114040R I need to try and keep the OS and visual setup going as it is for an infirm old lady who is used to the way things are on her computer and doesn't want to learn anymore.... she can't get upstairs anymore to her tower computer (source) and now wants to rely on a laptop downstairs. There will most likely be a PW reset jumper, removing the CMOS doesn't always clear the password
leachim Posted March 27 Author Posted March 27 5 minutes ago, Fazza said: Reset Your BIOS Password Thanks When I enter the wrong pw 3 times, it shuts down..... !
Fazza Posted March 27 Posted March 27 4 minutes ago, leachim said: Thanks When I enter the wrong pw 3 times, it shuts down..... ! What Make/Model are the laptops?
Fazza Posted March 27 Posted March 27 5 minutes ago, Olliedawg said: There will most likely be a PW reset jumper, removing the CMOS doesn't always clear the password On a desktop, then most likely, on a laptop like the OP has, most likely not.
leachim Posted March 27 Author Posted March 27 8 minutes ago, Fazza said: What Make/Model are the laptops? The target laptop is Toshiba Satellite Pro L850 1UJ s/n 2D114040R Source is Lenovo desktop E50 90BX s/n R300AJ6Z
Fazza Posted March 27 Posted March 27 2 minutes ago, leachim said: The target laptop is Toshiba Satellite Pro L850 1UJ s/n 2D114040R Source is Lenovo desktop E50 90BX s/n R300AJ6Z Toshiba should be easy to do a BIOS password reset on, the Lenovo however (because of its IBM ancestry) is pretty much impossible as the BIOS password is nigh on impossible to crack.. There is a way of bypassing the password but you'll need to take off the back cover and short out a couple of pins on one of the chips and then power on the laptop and then remove the short - but for the life of me I can't remember which chip and pins they are! I've done this before a few years back and it doesn't remove the password, it just allows you to get in to the BIOS and make the changes, sadly it also doesn't allow you to reset the password either - if I can find my notes on this method then (if you're brave enough) I will let you know.. 1
leachim Posted March 27 Author Posted March 27 1 minute ago, Fazza said: Toshiba should be easy to do a BIOS password reset on, the Lenovo however (because of its IBM ancestry) is pretty much impossible as the BIOS password is nigh on impossible to crack.. There is a way of bypassing the password but you'll need to take off the back cover and short out a couple of pins on one of the chips and then power on the laptop and then remove the short - but for the life of me I can't remember which chip and pins they are! I've done this before a few years back and it doesn't remove the password, it just allows you to get in to the BIOS and make the changes, sadly it also doesn't allow you to reset the password either - if I can find my notes on this method then (if you're brave enough) I will let you know.. It is only the toshiba target laptop I need to find the pw Currently taking out the battery to see if that changes things !
Fazza Posted March 27 Posted March 27 (edited) 1 hour ago, Olliedawg said: There will most likely be a PW reset jumper I can't see a jumper on photos of the motherboard but I can see JRST pads... It's possible that shorting these pads out with a small slot screwdriver may reset the BIOS password - need to do some more research on Google to confirm but worth a try.. Apparently, all you have to do is short out one of the JRST pads, power on the laptop (be very careful you don't slip else you could cause irreparable damage to the motherboard, wait 10-15 seconds and then power off.. Edited March 27 by Fazza 1
leachim Posted March 27 Author Posted March 27 12 hours ago, TheHyperTechie said: I think Hirens has a BIOS reset tool, worth a try! I had a cd with hirens 7.4 Chose Bios Cracker, but it hangs on loading ATAPICD.SYS
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