How to reset your BIOS UEFI password on a laptop easily

[vaperoo]

Here's how to easily reset your BIOS or UEFI password on Asus laptops (actually it will remove your BIOS UEFI password, wipe it out) :
This only works if you can boot into windows (or other OS) ! It will reset you BIOS or UEFI password if you have forgotten it.

- Boot into windows and change the date to 2002/01/02,

- Reboot while while hitting F2 to get into the BIOS / UEFI, when the enter password window appears hit "Alt + r", a "Enter rescue password" window will appear, with 2002/01/02 date showing (if not the code won't work), enter the following rescue password : ALAA4ABA

- Done ! You're in the BIOS / UEFI

- Change back the date and other settings to their correct values in the BIOS / UEFI, save settings, and you're good.

On the internet, you can even find whole lists of date/password couples to enter in the "Enter recovery password" window, i used the one above which worked perfectly..

I have a lot of Asus products, multiple computers over the years, and have been, and am, very satisfied with all of them. Very good, well made computers, that have never let me down. I never hesitate to recommend ASUS. That being said, I am extremely disappointed with Asus support (fist time I ever contacted them as I never had a problem before). I forgot my UEFI password and they said they couldn't do anything except for me to send my computer back to them (it's under guarantee so it would have been free, but it wasn't practical for me). I spend hours looking for a solution before I found this. It's surch an easy fix I just can't believe Asus support does not know about it.
I can only imagine the number of laptops being unnecessarily serviced because people forgot their BIOS password.
And that makes me mad. If your customers have a problem and you have a solution, help them, don't lie to them !

If it is to maintain an "illusion" of better security, it's idiotic. This technique is well known (took me hours to find it because I'm not into this stuff), and if people think their BIOS or UEFi is inpenetrable because they set a password, they should know it's not the case. If you can boot into an OS, you can reset the date, and therefore rest the BIOS / UEFI, period. It's only a problem if you're not aware of it.

Anyway, thanks to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZfFcHtYIRw where I first saw the solution !

[InfernoStorm]

A few people said that taking out the battery has helped reset the BIOS, however a lot of people said that it didn't work for them.

Some users have tried using USB flash drive to load new BIOS to the laptop
https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?10273-G51JX-need-BIOS-recovery-instructions&highlight=rese...

[Black_Phoenix]

1st: Removing the Laptop Battery / CMOS Battery normally only restores BIOS to factory Defaults, it doesn't affect the BIOS Password;

2nd: Upgrading a Locked BIOS Installs the new Version of the BIOS still with the Password;

3rd: Normally changing the BIOS Chip Locked by a Blank One while Upgrading (Called HOT SWAP) installs an Unlocked BIOS. It's done after the Version/Model Check and before the Erasing/Writing/Verifying Phase of BIOS Upgrade.

That's DANGEROUS AND SHOULD BE DONE ONLY AS LAST OF LAST RESOURCE. Also done when Bad Flashing Happens;

Now the way the OP says I never tried, but if it's that way it's an extreme security fault: Imagine your PC was stolen and you have BIOS Administrator (blocking the access of USB/CDROM/any External Media during BOOT and Drive Password for Data Encryption.

That way you can access the Hard Drive without being the fateful owner (Yes because removing a Password from an Account in any Windows NT build is easier as hell).

[Rares95]

Dude you are a GOD! Also why the hell after i set a password, i try to log in with that password and it says it's invalid?! WTF?!

EDIT: Seems like if i set a password using uppercase (or so i think, i am holding shift with caps lock off), when i input the password i set, it will only be valid if i use lowercase characters. That is odd... i have a G751JT. On a X302LJ and other bioses it doesn't do that...am i missing something?

[JaKSLaP]

vaperoo wrote:
Here's how to easily reset your BIOS or UEFI password on Asus laptops (actually it will remove your BIOS UEFI password, wipe it out) :
This only works if you can boot into windows (or other OS) ! It will reset you BIOS or UEFI password if you have forgotten it.

- Boot into windows and change the date to 2002/01/02,

- Reboot while while hitting F2 to get into the BIOS / UEFI, when the enter password window appears hit "Alt + r", a "Enter rescue password" window will appear, with 2002/01/02 date showing (if not the code won't work), enter the following rescue password : ALAA4ABA

- Done ! You're in the BIOS / UEFI

- Change back the date and other settings to their correct values in the BIOS / UEFI, save settings, and you're good.

On the internet, you can even find whole lists of date/password couples to enter in the "Enter recovery password" window, i used the one above which worked perfectly..

I have a lot of Asus products, multiple computers over the years, and have been, and am, very satisfied with all of them. Very good, well made computers, that have never let me down. I never hesitate to recommend ASUS. That being said, I am extremely disappointed with Asus support (fist time I ever contacted them as I never had a problem before). I forgot my UEFI password and they said they couldn't do anything except for me to send my computer back to them (it's under guarantee so it would have been free, but it wasn't practical for me). I spend hours looking for a solution before I found this. It's surch an easy fix I just can't believe Asus support does not know about it.
I can only imagine the number of laptops being unnecessarily serviced because people forgot their BIOS password.
And that makes me mad. If your customers have a problem and you have a solution, help them, don't lie to them !

If it is to maintain an "illusion" of better security, it's idiotic. This technique is well known (took me hours to find it because I'm not into this stuff), and if people think their BIOS or UEFi is inpenetrable because they set a password, they should know it's not the case. If you can boot into an OS, you can reset the date, and therefore rest the BIOS / UEFI, period. It's only a problem if you're not aware of it.

Anyway, thanks to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZfFcHtYIRw where I first saw the solution !

LoL it worked thanks, its amazing that this post hasnt been taken down yet

[jtnorbert]

vaperoo wrote:
Here's how to easily reset your BIOS or UEFI password on Asus laptops (actually it will remove your BIOS UEFI password, wipe it out) :
This only works if you can boot into windows (or other OS) ! It will reset you BIOS or UEFI password if you have forgotten it.

- Boot into windows and change the date to 2002/01/02,

- Reboot while while hitting F2 to get into the BIOS / UEFI, when the enter password window appears hit "Alt + r", a "Enter rescue password" window will appear, with 2002/01/02 date showing (if not the code won't work), enter the following rescue password : ALAA4ABA

- Done ! You're in the BIOS / UEFI

- Change back the date and other settings to their correct values in the BIOS / UEFI, save settings, and you're good.

On the internet, you can even find whole lists of date/password couples to enter in the "Enter recovery password" window, i used the one above which worked perfectly..

I have a lot of Asus products, multiple computers over the years, and have been, and am, very satisfied with all of them. Very good, well made computers, that have never let me down. I never hesitate to recommend ASUS. That being said, I am extremely disappointed with Asus support (fist time I ever contacted them as I never had a problem before). I forgot my UEFI password and they said they couldn't do anything except for me to send my computer back to them (it's under guarantee so it would have been free, but it wasn't practical for me). I spend hours looking for a solution before I found this. It's surch an easy fix I just can't believe Asus support does not know about it.
I can only imagine the number of laptops being unnecessarily serviced because people forgot their BIOS password.
And that makes me mad. If your customers have a problem and you have a solution, help them, don't lie to them !

If it is to maintain an "illusion" of better security, it's idiotic. This technique is well known (took me hours to find it because I'm not into this stuff), and if people think their BIOS or UEFi is inpenetrable because they set a password, they should know it's not the case. If you can boot into an OS, you can reset the date, and therefore rest the BIOS / UEFI, period. It's only a problem if you're not aware of it.

Anyway, thanks to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZfFcHtYIRw where I first saw the solution !

i tried this on my GL553V but it did not work. should i try some of thew other date combos. i set my password a while back but never needed it until i noticed there was a bios update available. so i went to go to the bios to update it but none of my usual passwords are working so i'm stuck.

[Nadosy]

Here's another way to recover the BIOS password:
http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-easily-reset-bios-password-on-windows-10-pc/

But you need to know the serial number or service tag of your computer.

If you're computer technician, you can also get past the BIOS password with the jumper settings. Or boot to a Windows disc or USB and open a command prompt , then use the freeware CMOSPWD to find the BIOS backdoor password:
https://www.top-password.com/knowledge/recover-bios-cmos-password.html

When the above methods don't work, you need to contact the manufacturer to reset it. But you would be asked to prove you're the PC's owner.

[jtnorbert]

well i called asus but ,they could not do anything for me so, i just opened it and unplugged the cmos for 5 minutes and plugged it back in. now i don't have the admin password anymore. i am a pc tech by trade so of course i already new about the cmos battery but, i did not want to open my personal laptop . i purchased this new so i could have the warranty and the tech support .asus could do nothing for me besides sending it in to them. so for future reference, do not depend on asus to help you out in this situation.

[BuzzFuzz]

Help me please before i kick laptop out... 🙂

I tried all codes from date 05-14, i mean all years, also with Q instead A and no luck. Always Invalid Password.

Was trying all this with Caps Lock on external keyboard.

What else i can do? 😞

[SAMI90TH]

the best solution is to find pc service shop where they can program EEPROM=bios, in modern laptops you need professional tools to restart password in bios manually ect.., otherwise, You can lose the warranty

other manual solution found after deep dinging.......... orginal link https://davidzou.com/articles/bios-password-bypass
1.
"These instructions are provided without warranty. Use at own risk.
Please be careful when playing with hardware. You can easily break or damage components.

This guide will run through bypassing and changing/removing a BIOS password. This guide can also bypass the supervisor password prompt which occurs when the incorrect password has been entered too may times, resulting in the message "System Security - Security password retry count exceeded". This guide will use Lenovo BIOS and UEFI as examples.

The rough steps you will need to take are:

Disassemble your device
Locate the EEPROM chip on the mainboard
Find a datasheet for your EEPROM chip and/or locate the SLC and SDA pins
Short the SCL and SDA pins while the BIOS checks the password
Change/remove the password
Step 1: Disassemble
Start by removing the back cover of your laptop. Chances are that you won't find the EEPROM behind the exposed parts behind the back cover. You will probably need to remove the entire back/base of the laptop or even get to the other side of the mainboard. Most Lenovo laptops have the EEPROM on the other side of the mainboard (the keyboard side).

Step 2: Locate the EEPROM
You are looking for an 8-pin Serial EEPROM chip, though it can come in a 5 pin SOT-23 package. To confirm what chip you have, simply read the characters off the chip and Google it. One with results for a serial EEPROM would indicate the correct chip. Due to the small packages of these chips, the characters marked on the chip may not be the model number of the chip and may be an abbreviation. Also, if you find results for serial flash chips with a capacity of a few hundred K (Kilobits) or a few M (Megabits), chances are that you have found the chip the Embedded Controller or BIOS/UEFI is stored in. Keep looking!

Surface Mount EEPROM Packages

Step 3: Find a datasheet and/or locate the SLC and SDA pins
On most 8-pin packages, the SDA and SCL pins are on pins 5 and 6 respectively. Pin 1 can be identified by the dot/circle etched next to it (some packages may have a semicircle etched on the edge between pins 1 and 😎 and the pins are numbered anticlockwise.

8-pin Serial EEPROM Pins

Step 4: Ensure the BIOS reads NULL from the EEPROM when checking the password
The BIOS communicates with the serial EEPROM through a bus called I2C. The serial clock and data pins are open-drain and are grounded in a specific order for communication to occur. We want to ensure that the only data that gets read out is NULL. This should fool the BIOS into thinking there is no password set.

We can conveniently tie both the SCL and SDA pins together in order to achieve what we want. Note that tying SCL or SDA to Ground or Vcc will cause the BIOS to hang, as transitions between low and high are part of the I2C protocol.

We can simply short the SCL and SDA pins together with a conductor such as a flat head screwdriver or a paperclip.

L08 Serial I2C EEPROM

The procedure seems to be slightly different for BIOS and UEFI systems. BIOS based systems seem to read the password from the EEPROM after the user pushes the ENTER key after entering the password, while UEFI based systems seem to read all the configuration required from EEPROM into memory right after the power is turned on. BIOS based systems will be the easiest to bypass, while UEFI based systems may require a few goes before you succeed.

You can determine whether your system is BIOS or UEFI based by checking specifications or the user manual to see if it supports UEFI boot. You can also enter the BIOS/UEFI setup in read-only mode by using an empty password. If the "Boot" menu mentions "UEFI", then you have a UEFI based system, otherwise you have Legacy BIOS.

Chances are you have removed the keyboard to get to the EEPROM chip. As some of the steps require the use of a keyboard, you may wish to plug a USB keyboard in to use. Otherwise you'll need to awkwardly poke and prod underneath the keyboard.

BIOS based procedure
Turn on the device
Press F1 repeatedly to enter BIOS setup and get the password prompt
Short SDA and SCL pins and keep it shorted.
Press ENTER on the keyboard and then un-short the two pins. You should get an OK prompt. If you get a notice BIOS setup is locked. Only the System Supervisor can make changes, then you have not shorted the two pins successfully. Restart the computer and try again.
Navigate to the Security menu > Password menu
Highlight the Supervisor Password option
Short the SDA and SCL pins again and keep it shorted
Press ENTER on the keyboard and then un-short the two pins. You should get a prompt for a New Password and Confirm New Password. If you get a prompt for the Current Password, close the menu and try again.
Enter any password you want to set, or leave it blank for no password.
After confirming the password, press F10 to save changes.
If you are trying to remove the the "Security password retry count exceeded" message, you must load default settings by pressing F9 and save with F10. This does not affect passwords.
UEFI based procedure
Turn on the device
As soon as the backlight of the screen turns on, short SDA and SCL pins and keep it shorted.
Press F1 repeatedly to enter BIOS setup. You should be taken directly into the BIOS setup. Un-short the two pins. If you are shown a password prompt, switch the device off and try again.
Navigate to the Security menu > Password menu and set a Supervisor Password
After confirming the password, press F10 to save changes.
If you are trying to remove the the "Security password retry count exceeded" message, you must load default settings by pressing F9 and save with F10. This does not affect passwords."

orginal link https://davidzou.com/articles/bios-password-bypass

2.
and other video "How to unbrick or reset the BIOS password on nearly any modern laptop with a Raspberry Pi"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgbWtxv_hqM