How To Remove A Bios Password From an Insyde H2O EFI BIOS
David Norelid | June 2, 2011UPDATE: If you can boot into Windows, then try this updated Windows-only method
I had a customer drop off a laptop with a BIOS password locking the customer out of the BIOS settings. The laptop was an eMachines E527-2537 running Windows 7 x64. Normally, you can reset a BIOS password by removing the CMOS battery, but laptops typically don’t have CMOS batteries to remove, leaving you with having to either send the laptop in for service from the manufacturer, or trying to hack the BIOS password another way.
In the past, with AMI/Award/Phoenix BIOSes, there have been tools available to decrypt, reset, or otherwise mangle the BIOS settings into removing the password. Unfortunately, none of those tools work on EFI firmwares, which are the next generation of BIOS. Naturally, this laptop just has to have an Insyde H2O EFI firmware, making the old tools obsolete.
To add to the problem, this laptop was unable to boot from a CD because the boot option were hidden in, you guessed it, the password protected BIOS. So. Here’s what I did to get the laptop to boot from a USB stick and reset the bios password.
NOTE: This guide is written for tech savvy people who know what they are doing. If you are uncomfortable with the command line, flashing BIOSes or getting your hands dirty, don’t attempt this process yourself. I cannot and will not hold your hand while you do this. I wrote this guide because I didn’t see anything like it online and I wanted to leave it here as a quick guide for other techs. I can’t offer support for this procedure. If you need computer repair in Houston, then please call me and I would be glad to do this for you.
This guide will take you through a few steps. We will install a boot loader to get around our inability to select a boot device thanks to the BIOS password. If you can already boot from USB for whatever reason, then skip to step 4 and then to 6. We will then prepare a bootable USB stick and our BIOS flashing batch file. Finally, we’ll boot from the USB stick and flash our BIOS.
1) Install PLoP Boot Loader to boot from a USB stick
Since I was still able to boot into Windows 7, I used EasyBCD to install PLoP in the Windows Boot Manager. PLoP is a boot loader which will allow us to boot from other media like CD/DVD, network and USB sticks. If you are on XP or earlier, you can install PLoP via a different method. Google it.
Install EasyBCD and install PLoP as the BIOS Extender, as shown in this image.
2) Prepare a bootable USB stick
There are many guides on how to create a USB stick that is bootable into DOS. Here is one that you might like.
3) Place the BIOS files on the USB stick
Go to your computer manufacturer’s website and download the latest version of the BIOS for your computer. It will likely come in two versions, one to flash from Windows and another to flash from DOS. We want the one to flash from DOS. There will be a few files in the archive, one called flashit.exe (the BIOS flashing program), another with a name like pawf5106.fd (your file might be named differently, this is the filename for the laptop I was working on), and a batch file with some parameters set for flashing.
Create a folder on your USB stick and place these files in it. The name doesn’t really matter.
4) Edit the batch file to reset the bios password
This is the important bit. If you look at the batch file included with the DOS flashing kit, it might look like this
flashit PAWF5106.fd /fe /b /dc
add the flags /C and /FP to the end of the line, so it looks like this
flashit PAWF5106.fd /fe /b /dc /C /FP
the C flag will clear the CMOS memory and the FP flag will flash your bios without a password. Without that flag, any bios update will retain the old password. The bios file (PAWF5106.fd) will likely be different for you.
5) Use PLoP to boot from your USB stick
Plug your USB stick in and turn the computer on. On the Windows Boot Manager screen, select the BIOS Extender and then select USB from the boot options.
6) Flash the new password-less BIOS
From the DOS prompt, navigate to the folder that contains flashit, the BIOS file, and the batch file. Make sure the computer is plugged into AC power and fully charged. Run your edited batch file and wait for the flashing process to finish. Once it is done, it will reboot automatically.
7) Get into the BIOS to verify that the password has been removed
Hit F2 as the computer boots to get into setup. Look at that! No password prompt! Congratulations! Now you can tun on the F12 Temporary Boot Menu and change the boot order all you want.
I hope this helps you out and saves you some time. Lord knows I wasted plenty of mine. If any parts of this guide are overly vague, leave a comment and I’ll see if I can’t clean it up. I’ve also been up all night working on this laptop, so I might be a little funny.
Hi David,,,
I have some problem with my bios password,, I have try to remove the cmos battery, but ii didn’t work…
my laptop is toshiba e205-s1904,,my bios is insyde h2o,,
I have tried your suggestion in this blog,,but when i download the latest version of bios,,there is no “flashit ” file…
I also found my hard disk is failed to boot,,,
can you help me please…
regards
If the DOS folder of the BIOS update doesn’t have a flashit.exe file, then I’m not sure what you would use to flash the new BIOS. I can’t seem to find your model laptop on emachines’ website either, so I can’t check for myself. If you can’t boot from the hard drive, then you’re going to have a tough time reflashing the BIOS, too. If your bios settings already let you boot from a CD, then you should be able to follow my guide without having to install PLoP. As I mentioned in the beginning of the post, though, this is for advanced users only.
Thank you so much for the information you have provided through your blog.Your blog is really very informative.
Thank you so much. I had an Acer Aspire that had a bios password and an HDD password. I was lucky enough to guess the HD password but ended up having to flash the bios per your instructions to remove the password. It worked great! Thanks a lot!
I have an acer aspire ethos 5943g whith an Insyde H2O EFI BIOS. Would it work on my machine too?
You can also download the the windows version of the flasher, open the platform.ini file with notepad . In the ForceFlash section, set Password = 1 . It will force the flasher to reflash the password and thus removing it. Then open the flasher exe file and Flash! I tried it and it worked on my Acer Travelmate.
Wow. That is great news, Hilal. I hadn’t even thought to check that file, I guess I thought it was more like the Dell/HP bios flashers that are all in one executable. I checked the platform.ini file for the BIOS I used on this laptop, and sure enough, it has the password parameter you’re talking about.
I’ll have to do another quick write-up since it pretty much invalidates all the multi-booting nonsense I had to go through to do it in DOS.
Thanks for your comment!
No problem
Where can i download the windows version of the flasher for my e machine e725, insyde h20 bios? Thanks guys cause i cant seem to find that platform.ini file
Hi Kayden,
Go here http://support.emachines.com/em/driver/nb/e725.html or anywhere to download the bios. It will be an exe file. So with an unzipping program (like winrar), extract the content. Then you will see the platform.ini.
The Insyde H2O EFI BIOS is also found in new HP and Acer laptops. To unlock the Insyde H20 EFI BIOS just supply the 8 digit password key to http://unlockbiosrecovery.com/Unlock_Insyde_Bios.php and for $20 dollars they calculate the Insyde H20 EFI BIOS master password and email it to you. They guarantee it to work or they refund your money. They respond back to your order within a couple hours. I use them a lot as I repair laptops for work.
Didnt work for me… I was able to prepare hirens from a livelinux cd w/ my bios files on it and boot into dos, it would flash but the password was still there, I have an acer aspire 5810TZ any help would be apriciated thank you
Did you try the trick from Hilal above? It seems like that would work if the DOS method didn’t.
Hello, I have a Sony VPC-P111KX with the Bios PassWord.
Sony site does not have a Bios update???
All I know is it is the Insyde H2O
I managed to figure it out, using a custom hirens boot cd which i added the bios files too, what i had to do was take the hard drive out and flash w/ the /C /FP flags only to /ALL (there may have been some other flags but I dont exactly remember which i used – I adjusted the flags by checking what were available and using common sense)
so after flashing I was able to get into the bios, this did not take care of the hard drive password though, seems there is no way around that. I believe on some models you have to take the hard drive out when you are preforming the flash for the password clearing to take place then you need to replace the hard drive since there seems to be no way to unlock it that I could find.
If you know of a method to unlock the drive please share
thanks
That’s great news that you could figure it out. I’m afraid there’s not much to do about the hard drive password. That’s an entirely different protection scheme and far beyond the scope of this article at least. I don’t know of any ways to get around a drive password, as those are baked into the firmware.
Thanks myfriend, i try this on my laptop acer aspire 4736z. Thanks so much
I have a Lenovo G560 that i cant remember the Bios Password, can anyone help me?
Hello Alfredo,
Just downlod the bios update (exe file). Extract it using winrar or any extracting tool. Open platform.ini. go to [ForceFlash] section. Change Password=0 to Password=1. Save, close file and run InsydeFlash.exe.
Thanks Hilal, I tried that but when i press F2 to go into bios it asks me for a password still.
David,
I lost my intel ME password
How can I rest the intel ME password on my fujitsu E 780??
I am watching this thread cause I tried the mention method, updated the bios and changes the value for erasing the password and I still get the prompt for password. Is this a hard drive password that I have to get past before I can access the Bios? I get no code on failed attempts to remember the password just System Halted.
Trying to re-install OS.
Thanks
[UPDATE]
It was not a HD password still the bios password. Along with changing the settings for password in the platform.ini file, I also changed the setting for ALL-0 to 1. That worked!
It still could not have been done without the help provided here. Thank you.
I downloaded the bios update for my emachines 732 and there are no editable files in the archive at all. Theres a windows flash exe and a dos file but none are pointing to anything editable, they both point straight to the bin files so I cant seem to see where I can flash without password. Any help appreciated…
PS.. I dont have access to windows on the laptop due to the bootmgr being up that famous creek without a paddle. Is there a way to just fix the bootmgr to get access to the system and do it all from in windows. I dont have CD/DVD or USB booting options available to me and cant access bios to or F12 to change boot order. I have just for your info removed the bios battery for 20 mins /reassembled the laptop and the password is still there… strange but true ……………..
HI,
I’ve an Acer D260, still presenting with a Bios password after the trying flashing the bios.
I downloaded Bios from Acer, extracting the Insydeflash files with 7-Zip from the windows flash file (NAV70315W.exe). Edited the platform.ini changed ALL=1 and password=1, ran InsydeFlash. The Bios updated but it still has a Bios password.
Any help is appreciated.
[...] Re: eMachine Help Needed
In case that dosent work, and in any case you may need to access the bios in future have a look here. How To Remove A Bios Password From an Insyde H2O EFI BIOS | Citronix Tech Services – Houston Compute… [...]
[...] by connecting it to another laptop. The remaining procedure is nicely explained in this link below.http://www.citronix.net/blog/how…This answer .Please specify the necessary improvements. Edit Link Text Show answer summary [...]
Thanks, man. I’m going to give it a try on my abandoned acer.
Great work David!
FYI, there is now an unlock tool to for Insyde H2O BIOS. Dogbert provides his tool (and source code) free of charge under GNU Licensing.
http://dogber1.blogspot.com/2009/05/table-of-reverse-engineered-bios.html
Cheers!
sir ,
i bought lenovo G560 ,LCD flickering continuously when battery charger plug in and plug out from socket .i got white patch on LCD, so i repalced under warrenty.this flickering problem occurred due to replacement of new LCD display .they told me that the flickering problem can be don when the bios password is open so that they can change the setting then only the problem will be solved .from lenovo service center they suggested me to unlock BIOS password,my friend ,when i purchased my lalpi my friend kept BIOS password without informing me.now he forgot my bios password.i told lenovo service
people to unlock under payable service.but still my problem is not yet solved.im suffering a lot because my project work is lacking behind.
engineer had flashed the bios even though my problem not yet rectified.he suggested me to purchase new mother board worth 15000/-
sir im not in a position to pay lots of money for new one .
im a student doing my BTECH, so please help me to get solution solved…
i have problem with laptop hp pro book 4320s password administrator is locked and hidden usb boot and CD and i need crack password i have reprogram bios i read bios file and save i get this size is 4mb i download original bios from site hp is 2.5mb i need original bios or how remove password
If Hilal’s comment really works, you should add it to your post! Saves ALOT of time then!
Thanks guys for your help! I bought a Acer Aspire 1830 Timeline laptop refurbished and I could not get rid of the password by taking out the CMOS and I didn’t want to risk trying to nuke the BIOS. Putting the Force Flash All to 1 did the trick! I can know boot into BIOS mode. You guys are amazing! I’ve been to like 20 sites and this is the only one that worked
FINALLY someone who knows what he’s talking about. 3 Minutes after reading this I had FULL ACCESS to the BIOS on a locked up Emac E627. Its amazing how many idiots just say unsolder your cmos battery to fix the problem. Thanks for the CORRECT INFO