A client's Inspirion was requesting a bios password. I retrieved this from Dell. It then asked for HDD Password. Dell provided two options but neither worked.
Quack Quixote suggests simply moving the disk to another computer. When I do this Windows immediately asks for HDD password before it boots.
Any suggestions for utilities or approaches I might take to rescue my client's (non-backed-up!) data?
Thanks.
Generally, without the HDD password, all data on a password-protected HDD is lost.
There are tools which claim to make such a drive usable but they effectively erase the data on it. I believe this is an inevitable part of the process.
There are claims that the password can be recovered from the HDD for specific models
According to the ATA specification, published by t13.org whose last Revison is available in pdf format here , the passwords are stored in the HPA (Host Protected Area). This part of the disc contains some (or all, depending on manufacturer) disk firmware and is protected from access. The operating system is not able to see this because the BIOS, that average disk access, protects it.
But the exact point where to get the password within the HPA depends on the manufacturer. The following procedure goes to retrieve the necessary information for the already mentioned WD Scorpio and very likely for many models Western Digital. Other writers write passwords in different areas and the scripts used contain the offsets of WD.
See large number of similar questions https://superuser.com/search?q=HDD+password
