Thinkpads Forum

Hi, I manage an estate of nearly 10,000 machines in 400+ locations UK wide. A number of years ago my predecessor distributed 20 brand new T60’s to some key locations to demonstrate a function of our business to potential customers. For security reasons, the NIC and WiFi were disabled in the BIOS and a BIOS Password set. Unfortunately nobody in the department that was around at the time knows what the password is and even worse, my predecessor seemingly left under difficult circumstances and we cannot legally contact him. (No, I don’t understand either. Our HR department won’t tell me what happened).

The machines work fine. Boot into Windows XP and function perfectly. Just no network. We previously bought Lenovo kit, but about 2 years ago moved to DELL. The guy in Lenovo that was my technical contact now won’t answer emails as we are no longer a Lenovo customer. I suspect Lenovo would say a new system board, but there is no way I am going to fund this for 20 machines from my budget.

Can anyone point me in the right direction to fix this issue please.

Welcome to the forum!

Unless you can find out what the Supervisor/BIOS password is, you'll have to swap the motherboard(s).

Forum rules prohibit the discussion of password-cracking techniques and other means of circumventing security features.

Good luck.

sterling01 wrote:... new system board, but there is no way I am going to fund this for 20 machines from my budget.

Perhaps you are unaware that one can buy these board by the pound ... or circa $15 each:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/OEM-IBM-Thinkpa ... 3ce6f388c0

Read the PM (Private Message) that I sent you.

Also, for a cheaper/simpler solution, external network connection via ExpressCard/Cardbus may be a good option.