Acer hard disk security lock: Hard Disk Security — Acer Community

How to Erase a Locked Hard Drive | Small Business

By Daniel Hatter

One of the security features included with many motherboards is a BIOS lock. With a BIOS lock in place, your computer won’t boot into the operating system without the password, BIOS settings cannot be changed without the password and all connected hard drives are locked. This is a good setting to enable in situations requiring robust security, such as in business settings. To erase a hard drive that has been locked in the BIOS, you either need the BIOS password or another computer you can connect the hard drive to.

  1. Turn on the computer containing the hard drive you want to erase and type in the BIOS password when prompted. If you can’t remember the password, try the backdoor passwords on the Password Crackers website (link in Resources). If you find a backdoor password that works, skip the following step.

  2. Turn off the computer and disconnect it from power. Take off the case cover and remove the hard drive you want to erase from the computer. To remove it, disconnect the power and SATA cables and pull it out of its slot. If it is secured with screws, use a screwdriver to unscrew them. Install the hard drive in another computer and start up that computer.

  3. Log in to your user account. Press «Windows key-R» to open the Run tool. Type «compmgmt.msc» into the text box and click «OK» to open the Computer Management utility. Click «Disk Management» under the «Storage» group in the left pane.

  4. Right-click the partition on the hard drive you want to erase and select «Format» from the context menu. Follow the prompts and make sure the «Perform a quick format» option is deselected. It will take several minutes to erase and reformat the drive. After formatting, the drive can be used normally.

References

  • Microsoft: Create and Format a Hard Disk Partition

Resources

  • Password Crackers: BIOS Password and Locked Hard Disk Recovery
  • Darik’s Boot and Nuke
  • Eraser
  • Piriform: CCleaner

Tips

  • Though formatting does erase a hard drive’s data, hard drive experts still have ways of recovering ghost copies of a hard drive’s data. To combat this, use a specialized third-party program to permanently destroy the hard drive’s data, such as Darik’s Boot and Nuke, Eraser or CCleaner (links in Resources).
  • You can physically destroy a hard drive if you don’t want to risk its data ever being accessed again. There are numerous ways this can be done, but the most efficient way is to simply disable the hard drive platters from being able to spin. Use a flat-head screwdriver to pry off the hard drive cover and smash the platters with a hammer. Alternatively, use a power drill to drill holes through it in a few different spots.

Warnings

  • Be careful not to touch any of your computers’ other internal components when removing or installing a drive.
  • Take the necessary safety precautions — such as eye protection and a safe area — when destroying a hard drive.
  • Information in this article applies to Windows 8 and Windows 7. It may vary slightly or significantly with other Windows versions.

Writer Bio

Daniel Hatter began writing professionally in 2008. His writing focuses on topics in computers, Web design, software development and technology. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in media and game development and information technology at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

4 Unlock And Recover Hard Drive Password With Hard Disk Password Removal Tool

Is there any software to recover the hard drive disk password? Is it possible to reset the hard drive password? According to Dell, Asus, HP, Huawei, Samsung, Lenovo and many other manufacturers’ websites, if you forget your hard drive or hard disk password, then there is no possible way for you to reset your password or recover the data in the hard disk drive. Basically the HDD or SSD hard disk is unusable.

??? 1000+ Router Login Password For D-Link, NetGear, Belkin, TP-Link, Asus And Linksys

However, this is often not true. Most people are not aware that most hard disk drives have the ability to set a hardware password, just like the Bios password for motherboards, thus making the drive completely inaccessible unless a correct password is provided during the BIOS POST test. Usually these features can only be found in laptops, this is when you set a password on your notebook, the hard drive together with the motherboard becomes locked. All software tested and works on Seagate, Hitachi, Toshiba and Western Digital Hard Drive HDD and SSD.

Most experts would say if you forget the original HDD or Bios password, there is no way of restoring it by generic system tools. Unlike the Bios password where there is a master key or with the removal of the bios battery, the password is erased from the flash memory thus the settings is restored to factory settings without the password, however, this does not applies to hard disk.

HDD Unlock Wizard is a user-friendly application which allows you to easily remove HDD passwords. IDE and SATA hard disk drives are supported. Both User and Master password can be removed. Please note that while unlocking, HDD Unlock Wizard will erase and re-certify the drive, meaning to say all data in the disk is lost and not recoverable. HDD Unlock Wizard incorporates proprietary unlocking algorithms which allow removing an unknown HDD password and making the hard drive usable again.

It may not be possible to recover the hard drive password or to unlock it; however, it is possible to remove the password together with the data, thus making your hard disk accessible and usable again.

↓ 02 – Victoria HDD |

Crack HDD Password

This is a version of Victoria for Windows. Being a powerful HDD information and diagnostic utility, it has the same functionality as its counterpart for DOS. But it also have some benefits, like: low CPU load, more convenient user interface, multitasking and multithreading.

↓ 03 – Ultimate Boot CD |

Reset Hard Disk Password

Do search with Bing for atapwd or “ata password” ; it’s part of the new ATA spec. You can enter a “master password” that will remove the “user password” that has be setup on the drive. This master password is manufacturer specific. So search your hard drive manufacturers website for Bing around for a list of master passwords.

Remember you CAN lock out your drive. This is bad. You can always remove the password without the master password but when you do it using that method the drive will be wiped. So the only way to solve this is to find a master password or try and work out what user password was set on the hard drive. To try out the Master password for unlocking your HD you need to have an Ultimate boot CD and can use the “mhdd” utility included in that CD , it is easy and works well.

  1. Download Ultimate Boot CD
  2. Burn it into a Disc and boot it up. (Use ISO burner. If using windows 7, right click the file and choose “Burn Disc Image”)
  3. On main menu, choose “HDD” > “Diagnostic” > “MHDD v4.6”
  4. You will see a list of harddisk, select a harddisk you want to unlock
  5. Type “unlock” and reply “1” for master password
  6. Enter the master password. (If it is wrong, ERR will turns red on the top of the screen, and You have 4 more tries before it powercycle the disk)
  7. If it is correct, type “DISPWD” and reply “1”. (There will be a warning if your disk is still locked)
  8. Retype the master password again and your disk is unlocked! (ERR will turn red if the password wrong)
  9. Type exit and press “ctrl + alt+ del” to reboot your computer

↓ 04 – CMOS PWD |

Remove BIOS Password

You know that moment when you go to check settings in your BIOS only to realize someone has put on a password, so you find yourself locked out. I know the feeling, that’s why I have put together a tutorial to help you to remove the password in UNDER 10 minutes!

  1. First you need to download CMOSPWD, extract folder and copy it to the C Drive (Or whatever letter is your hard drive)
  2. Next open a run window (Start Logo + R)
  3. Type “cmd” and press enter
  4. Now type “cd c:\cmospwd-5.0\windows\” (C is drive letter and windows is operating system) and press enter
  5. Next type “ioperm -i” and press enter
  6. After that type “cmospwd_win /k” and press enter
  7. That will bring you to the screen that has the numbers “1” “2” and “0”
  8. Type “2” and press enter…
  9. BAM!!!!!!!!!!! PASSWORD REMOVED

Updated On January 3, 2023 / Category: Encryption, Password & Recovery / Author: Ngan Tengyuen

Acer Aspire 6920 — Gemstone reboot / Laptops and PCs

A few years ago, the Acer brand was known only to «computer specialists», but now the company’s name is well-known among ordinary users. Acer has captured a large chunk of the notebook market and continues to increase sales. Why? The secret is simple — maximum functionality and performance for the lowest possible cost. Acer Aspire 6920 laptops of the new generation are equipped with the latest technology: Intel Core2Duo processors from T7500 to T9500, video cards nVidia GeForce from 8500 to 9650, hard drives from 250 GB, RAM from 2 GB, optical disc drive or regular DVD or Blu-ray, built-in digital tuner, bass reflex subwoofer, etc. The main feature is a 16-inch matrix with a 16:9 aspect ratio (not 16:10 as in most laptops), as well as a resolution of either 1366×768 or 1920×1080. We got the Aspire 6920 model for testing, which, thanks to an unusual aspect ratio at 16 inches diagonally, fits in a laptop bag with a standard 15.4 matrix. The price tag starts at ~ $1400 for the basic modification.

Manufacturer’s declared specifications
OS Windows Vista Ultimate Edition
Processor Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 (2. 2 GHz)
L2 cache, MB 4
System board Acer Aspire 6920
Chipset Northbridge: Intel Crestline PM965
Southbridge: Intel 82801BHM ICH8-DO
Video NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT 512MB GDDR-2 TurboCache
Sound Realtek ALC889, HD Audio, S/PDIF
Matrix type 16″ TFT display 1366×768 dots
Samsung LTN160AT
RAM 3 GB:
2 GB — Micron Tech. 16HTF25664HY-677E1
1 GB — Nanya NT1GT64U8HB0BN-3C
Hard disk 250 GB Hitachi HTS542525K9SA00
Optical drive Optiarc BD ROM BC-5500A ATA
Interfaces 1x external monitor (VGA)
1x HDMI
1x RJ-45
1x RJ-11
1x memory card slot
1x external microphone
1x headphones (stereo)
1x line input
4x USB 2. 0
1x 54mm Express Card slot
Wireless interfaces Intel 4965AGN Wireless, 802.11a/b/g/Draft-N
Bluetooth v2.0+EDR
Power adapter Atheros AR2181/AR8113 10/100/1000 Mbps
Battery Li-Ion battery 4800 mAh
Size mm 385x275x43.6
Weight kg 3.5
Cost $1400 to $2400

Delivery set

One of the first serial copies got to testing, so the package of boxed versions may differ slightly. So, the kit includes a charger, remote control, Bluetooth Skype Phone, battery and instructions. There is no recovery disk in any of the configuration options. According to a company representative, the system recovery disk is an absolutely useless option, because there is a technical partition on the disk that will allow you to restore the system in case of a crash. And even though the technical section steals as many as 9GB, but with a minimum hard drive size of 250 GB, this should not create any particular inconvenience. At the first start, the system asks you to create recovery discs yourself (2 DVDs). In addition, in the event of a hard drive failure, it is possible to restore rights to the OS.

Appearance and usability

The new style of Acer laptops is called Gemstone New and is a logical continuation of Gemstone (gemstone). The laptop looks really good — a glossy sapphire-coated cover, a glowing company logo, the original CineDash multimedia panel backlight and bright LEDs in hinges that create beautiful highlights. Just some kind of factory «modding».

The display cover is made of plastic with a glossy surface, which is instantly covered with various prints. The coating on the lid when viewed at certain angles gives glare and, moreover, hides small scuffs from view. The surface resists scratches surprisingly well, it’s safe to say that jamstones are the least scratch-prone of all currently existing «glossy» laptops.

The build quality is good, uneven joints and large gaps between the body parts could not be found, but the plastic of absolutely all body parts is thin, which is why when trying to squeeze and twist it creaks a little, and sometimes cracks noticeably.

On the front edge there is a device for working with memory cards and an infrared port window.

At the back there is a ventilation grill and a phase inverter of a low-frequency speaker.

On the right side there is an optical disc drive cover, three closely spaced USB ports, a connector for connecting an external DVB tuner antenna and a hole for installing a security lock placed in the center of the door articulation mechanism.

The left end is the busiest, there are three 3. 5 mm mini-jack audio connectors (line-in, microphone, headphones / S / PDIF), an HDMI port, one USB, RJ-45, VGA, RJ-11 and an external power supply connector , which, like the security lock, is placed in the center of the luminous loop.

On the bottom, in addition to the battery, there are two compartments available to the user — a common one for a hard drive, memory modules, a processor and a video card, and a small compartment for installing expansion cards.

The keyboard is full-sized, the keys are 18.5 mm in size and have a travel of just over 2 mm. The keyboard is made with a hint of style — slightly modified spacebar and Alt keys, and the surface of the keys is absolutely smooth. It looks great, but only until you start working with the keyboard. The keys, as well as the glossy cover, are quickly covered with visible fingerprints. Pressing is soft, almost silent, with a clear actuation moment. But even here it was not without a fly in the ointment — when you press one key, almost half of the keyboard starts to «walk». A nice feature of the keyboards in Acer laptops is the presence of separate keys for the symbols of the main world currencies, the US dollar and the euro.

At the right edge there are buttons for activating wireless interfaces and launching programs for working with mail and an Internet browser.

The touch panel is distinguished only by its shape, its dimensions are quite large — 75×50 mm. The surface of the panel is corrugated and slightly tickles the fingertips during operation. Both keys of the manipulator are made as a single piece, in the center of which there is a miniature fingerprint scanner. The key travel is incredibly short, and the operation is accompanied by a loud click. Just below the keys of the manipulator are indicators of the network and battery status, which are also available when the lid is closed.

Representatives of the company during the presentation paid special attention to the touch control panel for multimedia content — CineDash. The backlight is two-level — while waiting, the brightness is low, after touching one of the keys it increases for 5 seconds. The main task of the panel is to control the multimedia center Acer Arcade Deluxe. This utility allows you to view images and videos, as well as listen to music of almost any format. Of all the available audio and video libraries, Arcade refused to play only mkv files. The CineDash keys are intuitive and sufficient to control Arcade without resorting to other input devices. The slow response to pressing, inherent in many laptops with touch keys, was not noticed during operation.

The power button is located in the upper left corner, surrounded by indicators for accessing the hard disk and lock keys. In the upper right corner there is an «e» key, familiar to many owners of Acer laptops. This key calls up the Empowering Technology system add-on, which contains a sound effects setting utility, a power manager with many settings, file access and backup settings, and a system information display utility.

Above the top edge of the display, in the center, there is a webcam window and a built-in microphone hole (which is the most successful place for it).

Display

In a laptop, depending on the modification, one of two types of matrices can be installed. Both sensors are manufactured by Samsung, both with a glossy surface, both have the most suitable aspect ratio for viewing widescreen video — 16:9, while most laptops have 16:10. But one matrix is ​​FullHD 1920×1080 pixels (installed in modifications costing from 2000 USD), the second one is HD 1366×768 pixels, Samsung LTN160AT model, which, in fact, was installed in the tested sample. You can get acquainted with more detailed characteristics of the matrix on the manufacturer’s website.

The brightness of the backlight varies over a wide range, and there are only 10 values, but a comfortable backlight level can be selected in almost any conditions. An exception may be unless you work outside on a cloudless day and directly fall on the display of sunlight. In such conditions, the screen noticeably dims, and due to the glossy surface it becomes almost unreadable. The backlighting of the display is uniform, it is almost impossible to notice overexposed zones when evaluating «by eye» even when a one-color dark screen saver is displayed.

Horizontal viewing angles are large, vertical — sufficient for comfortable work without the need to adjust the display angle. But do not forget that the hero of the review is positioned as a multimedia laptop focused on viewing high-definition video content. And for these tasks, vertical viewing angles, unfortunately, are not always sufficient.

Sound subsystem

The sound subsystem is based on the latest chipset sound — Realtek ALC889. Dolby Home Theater technology is supported: CineSurround — surround sound output with five built-in speakers and a Tuba CineBass subwoofer with a power of more than 10 W, there is also support for surround sound with three pairs of external speakers.

The sound of the built-in speaker system is quite good — the sound is clear, the volume margin is quite large, when the maximum volume level is set, noise and wheezing are noticeable only at the subwoofer, the level of which can be reduced separately from other channels. With the bottoms, the issue is more or less resolved with the help of the built-in subwoofer, but the high frequencies are still noticeably cut off.

Wireless interfaces

The Aspire 6920 has standard modules for a modern laptop — Intel 4965AGN Wireless and Bluetooth v2.0 with EDR support. There are no additional proprietary utilities for setting up connections. Wireless interfaces are activated by separate keys located at the right edge of the main keyboard. Enabling wireless interfaces is required after each OS boot, because. they are disabled by default.

Remote control, Bluetooth IP Phone, tuner

The remote control is quite large — 200x48x21 mm, but despite this, it fits comfortably in the hand, and it is impossible to lose such a whopper in the apartment. Remote keys allow you to control Windows Media Center, Arcade Deluxe and DVD menus. The bullet is so large that in order to use all the keys, you either have to intercept it or press some of the keys with your second hand. The top panel of the remote has a glossy surface that gets dirty instantly. A pair of AAA type cells is used as a power source.

It is difficult now to find a person who uses broadband Internet access and does not know what ip-telephony and Skype in particular are. The Internet, the Skype program, a headset — and you can talk for free with almost the whole world and call mobile and landline phones for a very reasonable fee. But there is one small inconvenience — the headset is tied to the laptop with a connecting cable. The solution is obvious — a wireless headset, so as an option for a laptop, you can purchase Acer Bluetooth VoIP Phone.

A small (85x33x4 mm), beautiful and handy phone with a built-in battery can be transported in the Express Card compartment, from which it is recharged with energy. The installation leg is made for a reason, because due to the small thickness, the device lying on the table is quite difficult to grasp. The trifle is quite useful, and stylish, which is also important.

The laptop is truly multimedia, because even a tuner is built in, unfortunately, it is not a hybrid, but only digital. Residents of large cities can already feel all the delights of digital broadcasting, but the list of channels is still quite short, and analog television will reign for a long time in remote corners of the country.

Noise and thermal conditions

A hot processor and a hot graphics card are bound to noticeably heat up the case, but surprisingly, the laptop is quite «cold». Last but not least, this is the merit of a large radiator and a huge semicircular ventilation grille. Even under prolonged high loads, the bottom area near the processor is barely warm. The active component of the cooling system works non-stop and only slows down at low loads on the processor. At high loads, the noise is noticeable, but its tone is such that it does not create inconvenience. In addition, the ventilation grill is located at the rear of the case, which reduces acoustic discomfort for the user. The hard drive noticeably rumbles during active work (for example, when copying a large amount of small files or installing software), which is quite rare in laptops at the moment. In fact, the HDD is the main source of noise.

An optical disc drive is not easy, but Blu-ray, which no modern home theater system can do without now. It should be noted that in the range of Aspire 69 modifications20 there are models with a conventional DVD-RW drive. The drive installed in the tested laptop is a joint brainchild of Sony and Nec — the Optiarc BD ROM BC-5500A model. You can get acquainted with the characteristics of the device on the manufacturer’s website. The drive easily reads discs of any manufacturer and in any condition, but at the same time it actively makes noise, or rather, only hisses loudly, because there is no roar, hum or crackle even when setting a test curve of a disc from an unknown manufacturer.

Performance

Representatives of Acer say that the new series and, in particular, the hero of the review has no direct competitors, only indirect ones, and these include luxury laptops Dell XPS series and Toshiba Qosmio series. Therefore, as an opponent, a multimedia processor from Toshiba, the Qosmio G40 model, was chosen. The Sorokovka, which we tested, is very similar in characteristics, and the set of equipment and options is not much different.

Capacity Acer Aspire 6920 Toshiba Qosmio G40
PCMark05 5286 5018
CPU 5391 6011
Memory 4268 4735
Graphics 4617 4149
HDD 4341 4631
System Test
HDD XP Startup 8. 46 MB/s 7.11 MB/s
Physics and 3D 187.87 fps 212.07 MB/s
2D Transparebt Windows 4016.86 windows/s 1953.57 FPS
3D Pixel Shader 102.14 FPS 101.15 FPS
Web Page Rendering 1.89 pages/s 2.51 pages/s
File Decryption 59.45 MB/s 66.23 MB/s
Graphics Memory — 64 lines 857.95 FPS 821.96 FPS
HDD — General Usage 5.33 MB/s 5.53 MB/s
Audio Compression 2035.1 KB/s 2202 KB/s
Video Encoding 386.08 KB/s 412.33 KB/s
Text edit 117. 01 pages/s 134.36 pages/s
Image Decompression 28.83 Mpixel/s 32.49 Mpixel/s
File Compression 4.96 MB/s 5.69 MB/s
File Encryption 28.87 MB/s 26.07 MB/s
HDD – Virus Scan 33.41 MB/s 11.98 MB/s
Memory Latency — Random 16 MB 8.66 Accesses/s 9.48 Accesses/s
CPU Test
File Compression 9.60 MB/s 10.93 MB/s
File Decompression 143.24 MB/s 160.12 MB/s
File Encryption 59.46 MB/s 65.82 MB/s
File Decryption 58. 89 MB/s 66.33 MB/s
Image Decompression 30.93 MB/s 35.03 Mpixel/s
Audio Compression 2768.39 KB/s 3157.99 KB/s
Multithreaded Test 1
File Compression 9.19 MB/s 10.29 MB/s
File Encryption 56.41 MB/s 61.27 MB/s
Multithreaded Test 2
File Encryption 66.73 MB/s 75.87 MB/s
File Decryption 28.29 MB/s 30.64 MB/s
Audio Decompression 1093.61 KB/s 1212.54 KB/s
Image Decompression 14.35 MPixel/s 16. 34 MPixel/s
3DMark 2006 Acer Aspire 6920 Toshiba Qosmio G40
3DMark Score 3245 3D Marks 2999 3DMarks
GT1 — Return To Proxycon 11.06 FPS 9.55 FPS
GT2 — Firefly Forest 11.53 FPS 10.32 FPS
CPU Score 1489 CPUMarks 2069 CPUMarks
CPU Test 1 0.47 FPS 0.66 FPS
CPU Test 2 0.76 FPS 1.04 FPS
Fill Rate (Single-Texturing) 1250.96 MTexels/s 1296.91 MTexels/s
Fill Rate (Multi-Texturing) 4618.91 MTexels/s 3593. 32 MTexels/s
Pixel Shader 100.67 FPS 76.47 FPS
Vertex Shader — Simple 166.86 MVertices/s 104.54 MVertices/s
Vertex Shader — Complex 46.47 MVertices/s 49.50 MVertices/s
AquaMark3 Acer Aspire 6920 Toshiba Qosmio G40
AntialiasingMode: 0
AntialiasingQuality: 0
AnisotropicFiltering: 4
DetailLevel: 4
AvgFPS: 88.61 89. 82
MinFPS: 16.97 16.77
MaxFPS: 168.64 186.39
AvgFPSRender: 192.15 186.47
AvgFPSSimulation: 164.45 173.34
AvgTrianglesPerSecond: 26 673 152 27 039 872
MinTrianglesPerSecond: 2652 762 2 584 879
MaxTrianglesPerSecond: 99 096 445 96 795 377
AquamarkScoreRender: 19 215 18648
AquamarkScoreSimulation: 8222 8668
88 605 89 823

Hard disk testing was carried out in the built-in «benchmark» of the EVEREST package.

Power supply and battery life

The laptop has a lithium battery with a capacity of 4800 mAh, but, unfortunately, it was not possible to test the battery life, because. A sample with a non-working battery was included in the test. What can you do, the costs of pre-production samples. Considering the immodest appetites of the T7500 processor and the GeForce 8600GT video card, in the test of the “classic” BePro Battery Eater package, the laptop could supposedly last for about an hour.

Output

As a result, we get a multimedia station “stuffed” according to the full program, which will cope with absolutely any task. In general, a positive impression is overshadowed by a “walking” keyboard, a creaking case, easily soiled surfaces of the display lid, CineDash keyboard and touchpad, as well as a loud hard drive. The advantages include high performance, quiet operation of the cooling system, an «omnivorous» Blu-ray drive, a good built-in speaker system, the convenience of a multimedia touch panel, a high-quality display and a set of pre-installed software. The main argument in favor of the Acer Aspire 6920 — low cost. A remote control and a wireless VoIP Phone are available as options, but they are worth buying right away, because the overall price tag will not change much from this, and the functionality will expand significantly.

We thank the company «Acer Ukraine» for the provided equipment.

— Discuss in conference

Acer Aspire XC-705 SFF Core i3 (4160) 3.4 GHz, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB HDD, DVD-Writer, 64-bit Windows 10

City

BerlinAach B TrierAach, HegauAachenAalenAarbergenAasbuettelAbbenrodeAbenbergAbensbergAbentheuerAbrahamAbsbergAbstattAbtsbessingenAbtsgmuendAbtsteinachAbtswindAbtweilerAchbergAchernAchimAchslachAchstettenAchtAchtelsbachAchterwehrAchtrupAckendorfAddebuellAdelbergAdelebsenAdelheidsdorfAdelmannsfeldenAdelschlagAdelsdorfAdelsheimAdelshofen, Kr FuerstenfeldbruckAdelshofen, MittelfrAdelsriedAdelzhausenAdenauAdenbachAdenbuettelAdendorfAderstedtAdlersteigeAdligstadtAdlkofenAdmannshagen-BargeshagenAdorf/Vogtl.