Remove Supervisor Password From T23 ThinkPad

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

"Art Wong" <atw58@rogers.com> writes:
> What can I do to return it to a regular machine ie. remove the
> protection on the hard drive and reset the supervisor security so it
> can be booted from a CD to reinstall an OS.

There's a place in Canada that can unlock the hard drive using some
sekrit process that apparently involves taking the drive apart and
hacking the internal hardware. It costs a lot and you have to prove
that you're the legitimate owner. Unless there's data on the drive
that you need to recover, it's easier to just buy a new drive.

The supervisor password is on an eeprom on the motherboard that you
can replace if you have some electronics skills. There are people on
ebay selling the eeprom for outlandish prices, but it's really about a
$1 part.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

IBM will replace the system board, for a huge fee. They DO NOT recover
supervisor passwords.
The drive is toast
You can try Nortek, they supposedly can clear the system board for something
like $200
There is also a guy inAustralia who has you build some gizmo to do it, do a
Google search.
Or, return the laptop to it's rightful owner, he knows the password!
"Art Wong" <atw58@rogers.com> wrote in message
news:2pc2p8Fj90faU1@uni-berlin.de...
> Wondered if you can help with a T23 question.
>
> My friend was with Clarica Insurance Company and had to buy an expensive
> custom configured T23. He is no longer with Clarica and now the drive is
> dying. The OS is not stable enough to remove his data.
>
> There is special security applied to the hard drive. When I removed it and
> connected to another computer, it cannot be read outside the T23. The
drive
> is recognized by the other PC's bios but no drive in Windows (tried it on
2
> different PCs).
>
> Also there is a special supervisor password preventing me from modifing
any
> of the BIOS settings like change the boot order. It won't let me change
the
> boot sequence to boot from a CD to reinstall Windows 2K to a different
> laptop drive.
>
> What can I do to return it to a regular machine ie. remove the protection
on
> the hard drive and reset the supervisor security so it can be booted from
a
> CD to reinstall an OS.
>
> Thanks,
> Art
>
>
>

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

The drive has a drive password set. There is almost no way around this.
You won't be able to do anything to help you with that drive.

A bigger concern is that if you install another drive into that PC, the
same password MIGHT be set on it. You need to get the PC password
cleared (after which, it might no longer be able to access the drive, so
don't to this until you are "done" with the drive).

I'd go back to the insurance company and demand that they give you the
passwords or clear them (if, as you say, he paid for the notebook).
Otherwise, IBM can clear the notebook password if you have proof of
ownership (they may charge for this), but as far as the drive is
concerned, you are out of luck.


Art Wong wrote:

> Wondered if you can help with a T23 question.
>
> My friend was with Clarica Insurance Company and had to buy an expensive
> custom configured T23. He is no longer with Clarica and now the drive is
> dying. The OS is not stable enough to remove his data.
>
> There is special security applied to the hard drive. When I removed it and
> connected to another computer, it cannot be read outside the T23. The drive
> is recognized by the other PC's bios but no drive in Windows (tried it on 2
> different PCs).
>
> Also there is a special supervisor password preventing me from modifing any
> of the BIOS settings like change the boot order. It won't let me change the
> boot sequence to boot from a CD to reinstall Windows 2K to a different
> laptop drive.
>
> What can I do to return it to a regular machine ie. remove the protection on
> the hard drive and reset the supervisor security so it can be booted from a
> CD to reinstall an OS.
>
> Thanks,
> Art
>
>
>

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

I appreciate all your advice. I will go back to Clarica and have them
"release" the laptop.

Thanks,
Art

"Paul Rubin" <http://phr.cx@NOSPAM.invalid&gt; wrote in message
news:7xwtzizypx.fsf@ruckus.brouhaha.com...
> "Art Wong" <atw58@rogers.com> writes:
>> What can I do to return it to a regular machine ie. remove the
>> protection on the hard drive and reset the supervisor security so it
>> can be booted from a CD to reinstall an OS.
>
> There's a place in Canada that can unlock the hard drive using some
> sekrit process that apparently involves taking the drive apart and
> hacking the internal hardware. It costs a lot and you have to prove
> that you're the legitimate owner. Unless there's data on the drive
> that you need to recover, it's easier to just buy a new drive.
>
> The supervisor password is on an eeprom on the motherboard that you
> can replace if you have some electronics skills. There are people on
> ebay selling the eeprom for outlandish prices, but it's really about a
> $1 part.