A31 Password Protected BIOS and System installation

[flushingflash]

I recently purchased a thinkpad a31 on ebay. It has no hdd, no power adapter and the bios is locked. I don't have a problem with the bios being locked I don't need to change any of the system settings. My question is twofold: first, if i install a hdd will I be able to install an os and second is there some way to open the bios without a password?

[RealBlackStuff]

Welcome to the Forum.
Which BIOS lock symbol do you see (from this page), the padlock with a man, hard disk, or a screen?
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-59377

Installation from CD is possible IF the boot-order in BIOS is: (floppy) - CD - Hard Disk.
If hard disk boots first, you need to put the HD in a USB-enclosure or USB adapter, connected to another PC/laptop.
You'll need to format the new HD in 2 partitions, a large DOS-bootable partition (max. 120GB) in FAT-32 at the beginning of the HD, and a 3GB FAT-32 partition at the end.

You then need to copy the contents of the Windows install CD over onto the small 3GB partition..
Put the HD in the A31 and boot up. You should get the C:\ prompt.
Go to that small partition, and find the SETUP.EXE to start installation. Let Windows now format the big partition in NTFS.
Have fun.

[flushingflash]

Thanks realblackstuff your reply is really helpful and I will try it and let you know the result.

[RealBlackStuff]

You can also try to boot and hit F12 immediately.
Unless this BIOS lock also prevents it, you may be able to select the CD/DVD in there to boot from.

[flushingflash]

RealBlackStuff,

No I tried that because I wanted to check to see if I could boot from a usb pendrive. I have linux mint on that. Couldn't do it because of the lock. Thank you again for your help.

[RealBlackStuff]

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