Buying a Thinkpad without getting the supervisor password

[kingman99]

After what l have been reading it seems that it is a waste of money to buy a used thinkpad without knowing the supervisor password.
My 600x came from a reseller (out of business) who obtained it from a lease.
If it came off a lease why would it have a supervisor password?

Does all thinkpads come with a supervisor password? If this is so l really cannot buy another thinkpad without getting the supervisor password.

Is it possible that the supervisor password could just be blank?

Alan

[rkawakami]

Let's get something clear here..

The laptop will ONLY come with a supervisor password IF somebody has set it.

All Thinkpads have the CAPABILITY to enable a supervisor password.

If the seller says that there isn't a supervisor password, then you will have to accept his/her word that it is true. If it turns out that it DOES, then you have grounds to return the system and get your money back. Or continue reading...

If the seller says he/she doesn't KNOW if there is a password, then you need to ask some questions to determine if it DOES. Question to ask would be, "Can you access the BIOS/EZ Setup screen by holding down the appropriate key (usually F1, can be the Thinkpad key) without seeing any lock icon?".

By definition, if the password is "blank", that simply means it hasn't been set.