Help I feel I am going crazy - can someone please explain

Hi ,Please bear with me whilst I TRY to explain my bizarre situation..

1. I posted this post asking for help as I was "told my BIOS password had been locked" https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=192343&highlight=tamba1

2. I have searched and searched for advice all over , in forums and google etc etc help tried various software fixes /tools and the general answers were the fixes wont work for a Service tag ending in 595B.. ie this wont work for ME..

3. I was desperate to get into my BIOS to change the boot sequence so I could run diagnostics from CD .. to verify if my HD was truly about to fail ..as Dell had suspected it might be

4. This morning I STILL could not get into the bios all I was getting is the Grey DELL screen saying "Primary HDD was protected by password authenticated … system and that I could not access disk without the password" BUT just now I HAVE been able to enter the BIOS for the 1st time !!!!!!

I am in shock .. I THINK my problem has Vanished but HOW?

I am VERY confused as to what is going on here..please can you help me understand ..


This is what I have just done

Booted up pressed F2
Entered Bios
Changed Boot Sequence to the following

CD/DVD
Internal HD
USB Storage Device

Looked at other settings and went to System Security

There it says Primary, Admin & HD password are ALL Disabled and gives my Service Tag : 3XGQC1J-595B

I also went into Setup

Booted up , pressed F12 entered Setup and passed the tests it ran .showing 100 % completion ..BUT then box popped up saying " No Diagnostic Utility Found, to run diagnostics insert dell Drivers & Utilities Cd, then select OK to restart syst and boot off Dell CD.

As I said in the earlier post I received NO CDs with my laptop .. so how to I get this to work?

So on the one hand I THINK my problem has Vanished, on the other I have NO idea what has been gogin on the past few days ...PLEASE can someone explain..

Many Thanks
tamba1

 

i don't know what the problem is, but you can take out the cmos battery, then put it back again, to disable a BIOS password.

 

it nothing sinister, some laptops keys have dual function. you might of had function keys to do another function similar to scroll lock turned on, or the F2 key wasn't functioning for awhile. on some laptops you have to be quick hitting the bios key or you miss it.

you don't have to go into your bios to access the boot order pressing F8 or another brings up the boot order menu so you can choose cd.

 

Hi Markymoo

Thanks for this info BUT why woudl the Dell Password screen come up I have not been able to get past this for several days and suddenly yesterday no more password screen ?

Many Thanks
tamba1

 

sounds like a glitch or the cmos battery shorted but then again the password isn't stored in eprom anymore.

so you got to do this if you get locked out in future.

 

Hi Markymoo

Thanks for that info - YUP I had found that info online but was TRYING not to have to resort to that.. Although the more I read the more it seems that is the ONLY way some D600 users have fixed their problem on a machine with servic tag ending 595B..

I think a glitch may well be the best way to explain what happened.. but I could certainly have done without the stress and hassle that's for sure ...

Thanks again for your advice
tamba1