Administrator POWER ON Password

When I purchased my Dell Dim/C521 I set up a power on password, along with a
user account to which I'm suppose to be the administrator. I done some work
on the pc then shut down. Later Rebooted, and my "Power On password" did not
work, so I was locked out of my new Pc. lol.

Then I phoned Dell, and the technical staff told me to take the side panel
off my pc and move a clip "i think it was called a bus", it was a rubber clip
covering 2 individual little "pins" coming out of the mother board, near the
battery. Now it's only covering one pin, not both. The Tech staff told me to
put it on only one, and then reset my passwords, after doing a full format
and re-install of Vista Home Basic.

My computer is running great now, but I am wondering if I can take the panel
off and put the "clip" back on both pins (bus) and restart my pc normally or
will it ask me for the Original Password to which I can't remember? Not sure
what to do, but there must have been a reason for it being on both pins
because now when I boot, it stops at the screen that says, F1 or F2 options.
I'd rather not see that screen, and for the OS to just go to my windows
loging user ID/Password screen. By putting the rubber cover over the 2 pins
will this solve the Screen with F1/F2, or will it prompt me for the original
old administrator password from September?? Any help or suggestions would be
appreciated. Thanks

On Wed, 12 Dec 2007 14:16:10 -0800, morticianme
<morticianme@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>When I purchased my Dell Dim/C521 I set up a power on password, along with a
>user account to which I'm suppose to be the administrator. I done some work
>on the pc then shut down. Later Rebooted, and my "Power On password" did not
>work, so I was locked out of my new Pc. lol.
>
>Then I phoned Dell, and the technical staff told me to take the side panel
>off my pc and move a clip "i think it was called a bus", it was a rubber clip
>covering 2 individual little "pins" coming out of the mother board, near the
>battery. Now it's only covering one pin, not both. The Tech staff told me to
>put it on only one, and then reset my passwords, after doing a full format
>and re-install of Vista Home Basic.
>
>My computer is running great now, but I am wondering if I can take the panel
>off and put the "clip" back on both pins (bus) and restart my pc normally or
>will it ask me for the Original Password to which I can't remember? Not sure
>what to do, but there must have been a reason for it being on both pins
>because now when I boot, it stops at the screen that says, F1 or F2 options.
>I'd rather not see that screen, and for the OS to just go to my windows
>loging user ID/Password screen. By putting the rubber cover over the 2 pins
>will this solve the Screen with F1/F2, or will it prompt me for the original
>old administrator password from September?? Any help or suggestions would be
>appreciated. Thanks

Call Dell, they have a feature on-line called 'ask a tech' where they
will open a chat live with a tech.

That "clip" is called a jumper. Dell had you clear the system BIOS which
includes a temporary storage area where your password was stored. You have
apparently left the jumper setting on Clear so you are losing your settings
on each power up. Returning the jumper to the original position will fix
this, will not return your original password, and will eliminate the the
Press F1 / F2 prompt on every start up.
The BIOS password has nothing to do with Vista. I can't imagine why Dell
would have told you to "format and re-install Vista" unless there was also
some other problem.
--

"morticianme" <morticianme@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:93F01B63-1030-4825-B48C-C4DD27B516FC@microsoft.com...

> When I purchased my Dell Dim/C521 I set up a power on password, along with
> a
> user account to which I'm suppose to be the administrator. I done some
> work
> on the pc then shut down. Later Rebooted, and my "Power On password" did
> not
> work, so I was locked out of my new Pc. lol.
>
> Then I phoned Dell, and the technical staff told me to take the side panel
> off my pc and move a clip "i think it was called a bus", it was a rubber
> clip
> covering 2 individual little "pins" coming out of the mother board, near
> the
> battery. Now it's only covering one pin, not both. The Tech staff told me
> to
> put it on only one, and then reset my passwords, after doing a full format
> and re-install of Vista Home Basic.
>
> My computer is running great now, but I am wondering if I can take the
> panel
> off and put the "clip" back on both pins (bus) and restart my pc normally
> or
> will it ask me for the Original Password to which I can't remember? Not
> sure
> what to do, but there must have been a reason for it being on both pins
> because now when I boot, it stops at the screen that says, F1 or F2
> options.
> I'd rather not see that screen, and for the OS to just go to my windows
> loging user ID/Password screen. By putting the rubber cover over the 2
> pins
> will this solve the Screen with F1/F2, or will it prompt me for the
> original
> old administrator password from September?? Any help or suggestions would
> be
> appreciated. Thanks

Thanks GTS, i will try it now, put the jumper back on both pins after that I
hope it removes that screen f1/f2 etc. just a naggy thing i didn't like. Hope
it works, if it does, i'll be back. Thanks in advance.

"GTS" wrote:

> That "clip" is called a jumper. Dell had you clear the system BIOS which
> includes a temporary storage area where your password was stored. You have
> apparently left the jumper setting on Clear so you are losing your settings
> on each power up. Returning the jumper to the original position will fix
> this, will not return your original password, and will eliminate the the
> Press F1 / F2 prompt on every start up.
> The BIOS password has nothing to do with Vista. I can't imagine why Dell
> would have told you to "format and re-install Vista" unless there was also
> some other problem.
> --
>
> "morticianme" <morticianme@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:93F01B63-1030-4825-B48C-C4DD27B516FC@microsoft.com...

>
>

just a simple point to note, do not reset the bios with the power pluged
into the machine. Even if it is turned off. The ATX PSU supplies power
to the mother board even when switched off, this is how soft off works.
The bios settings will have to be re-configured for your machine as they
are now in the motherboard factory state. Whenever you do a bios clear
or change everything back up your bios settings if you can (I know this
is not always possible). The hardware to do this is simple, a pen and
paper. This will save alot of time when trying to troubleshoot later.
If you have any probs ith the new settings then that it where I would
look. I am sure the friendly folk of this forum would only be to happy
to help you with any future problems you may have.

Happy computing, roy


--
roy69

- Core 2 Quad Q6600
- Abit IP35 Pro
- 4 x 1GB OcUK PC2-6400 C5 800 MHZ Duel Channel
- Leadtek GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB GDDR3
- CiBox TFT 22" Widescreen LCD Panel. 1680 x 1050
- Creative X-Fi 7.1 PCI-E
- Antec 900 Ultimate Gaming Case
- Creative Inspire 7.1 T7900 Speakers
- Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Complient PSU

All is working great, thanks for the speedy info, i unplugged the pc, and
attached the jumper to both, then booted, and away we go. Another happy
customer, thanks again. HAPPY HOLIDAYS to you and yours. Hope I dont have to
come back over the holidays but its nice to have people like you to help so
quickly. PC is running smooth and as i wanted it to. Chuck aka Mortician.

"GTS" wrote:

> That "clip" is called a jumper. Dell had you clear the system BIOS which
> includes a temporary storage area where your password was stored. You have
> apparently left the jumper setting on Clear so you are losing your settings
> on each power up. Returning the jumper to the original position will fix
> this, will not return your original password, and will eliminate the the
> Press F1 / F2 prompt on every start up.
> The BIOS password has nothing to do with Vista. I can't imagine why Dell
> would have told you to "format and re-install Vista" unless there was also
> some other problem.
> --
>
> "morticianme" <morticianme@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:93F01B63-1030-4825-B48C-C4DD27B516FC@microsoft.com...

>
>

All is working great, thanks for the speedy info, i unplugged the pc, and
attached the jumper to both, then booted, and away we go. Another happy
customer, thanks again. HAPPY HOLIDAYS to you and yours. Hope I dont have to
come back over the holidays but its nice to have people like you to help so
quickly. PC is running smooth and as i wanted it to. Chuck aka Mortician.



"roy69" wrote:

>
> just a simple point to note, do not reset the bios with the power pluged
> into the machine. Even if it is turned off. The ATX PSU supplies power
> to the mother board even when switched off, this is how soft off works.
> The bios settings will have to be re-configured for your machine as they
> are now in the motherboard factory state. Whenever you do a bios clear
> or change everything back up your bios settings if you can (I know this
> is not always possible). The hardware to do this is simple, a pen and
> paper. This will save alot of time when trying to troubleshoot later.
> If you have any probs ith the new settings then that it where I would
> look. I am sure the friendly folk of this forum would only be to happy
> to help you with any future problems you may have.
>
> Happy computing, roy
>
>
> --
> roy69
>
> - Core 2 Quad Q6600
> - Abit IP35 Pro
> - 4 x 1GB OcUK PC2-6400 C5 800 MHZ Duel Channel
> - Leadtek GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB GDDR3
> - CiBox TFT 22" Widescreen LCD Panel. 1680 x 1050
> - Creative X-Fi 7.1 PCI-E
> - Antec 900 Ultimate Gaming Case
> - Creative Inspire 7.1 T7900 Speakers
> - Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Complient PSU
>

You're welcome.
--
"morticianme" <morticianme@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8D5F12FD-7C70-4161-A68A-60CCB9301CF5@microsoft.com...

> All is working great, thanks for the speedy info, i unplugged the pc, and
> attached the jumper to both, then booted, and away we go. Another happy
> customer, thanks again. HAPPY HOLIDAYS to you and yours. Hope I dont have
> to
> come back over the holidays but its nice to have people like you to help
> so
> quickly. PC is running smooth and as i wanted it to. Chuck aka Mortician.
>
> "GTS" wrote:
>

>

Always glad to help, have a good holiday

--
roy6

- Core 2 Quad Q660
- Abit IP35 Pr
- 4 x 1GB OcUK PC2-6400 C5 800 MHZ Duel Channe
- Leadtek GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB GDDR
- CiBox TFT 22" Widescreen LCD Panel. 1680 x 105
- Creative X-Fi 7.1 PCI-
- Antec 900 Ultimate Gaming Cas
- Creative Inspire 7.1 T7900 Speaker
- Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Complient PSU