Thinkpads Forum

Hi Thinkpad-friends,

let me say that upfront: this is NOT a I-want-to-crack-my-harddisk-password-question.

Situation: my old laptop completely faded away, yet, it's HD is still OK and contains my personal data. I've bought a new thinkpad + bay for a second harddisk. Everything fits fine.

My problem: my old harddisk is secured with an 8-character password. I know this password, no problem. However, the Thinkpad BIOS only accepts 7 characters. How can I enter my full HD password?

Is there an IBM software or another tool with which I can change the HD password without the 7-character restriction, given that I know the actual password?

Cheers,
Martin

What was your old laptop model? My recollection is 7 characters back to the ThinkPad i and ThinkPad 240 series. ... JD Hurst

Current thinkpads accept 7 character supervisor passwords, and longer hdd passwords. I don't understand what the problem is. . . ?

A suggestion: another way to frame your problem is to think this way. You need initial access to the hd password function on the drive BUT not necessarily on your Thinkpad. So, may I suggest that one way to solve this problem is to find someone who will loan you a non-thinkpad laptop that allows HD passwords that are 8 characters or more. You can then drop the drive in that machine, remove the password/change the password to one with a length 7characters or less and return the drive to your Thinkpad.


OR

There is the other way: pay someone some money to do it.

http://www.nortek.on.ca/hard_disk_password.html