Found an old computer Dell Optiplex GX100 - has a password for bios?

I found a dell Opitex GX100 computer. It seems to work, but it has a
password for the bios...I am trying to format the harddrive as well
to
put XP on it, but I would like to change the boot sequence. Should I
try and flash the bios to erase the password?
Also, I am not sure of how much RAM is installed because it is a DELL
and it doesn't tell me at start up. I am hoping that getting into
the
bios will help me with that.

Lastly, is there a good FORMAT software for the floppy drive so I can
format and then run XP from the CD rom drive to install?

I have tried taking out the battery for over 30 minutes and the
password is still enabled. Any ideas?

Jerry
Thu Jun 26 15:28:20 PDT 2008

You don't have to flash the BIOS to reset the password, just clear the CMOS
memory. Mortherboard jumper is moved from, say, pins 1/2 to pins 2/3 for ten
minutes then back. You will then have to make any necessary changes to BIOS,
such as date/time/etc when you boot.

"David D" <netrate@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:eb622e72-1ce0-40d2-95f3-852fd00c02de@25g2000hsx.googlegroups.com...
>I found a dell Opitex GX100 computer. It seems to work, but it has a
> password for the bios...I am trying to format the harddrive as well
> to
> put XP on it, but I would like to change the boot sequence. Should I
> try and flash the bios to erase the password?
> Also, I am not sure of how much RAM is installed because it is a DELL
> and it doesn't tell me at start up. I am hoping that getting into
> the
> bios will help me with that.
>
> Lastly, is there a good FORMAT software for the floppy drive so I can
> format and then run XP from the CD rom drive to install?
>
> I have tried taking out the battery for over 30 minutes and the
> password is still enabled. Any ideas?
>

David
Thu Jun 26 15:36:47 PDT 2008

I don't have the manual and don't know where those pins are. Thanks
for that, I am not sure what to do because I am unsure where on the
motherboard those jumpers are...

On Jun 26, 6:28 pm, "Jerry" <ChiefZekeNoS...@MSN.com> wrote:
> You don't have to flash the BIOS to reset the password, just clear the CMOS
> memory. Mortherboard jumper is moved from, say, pins 1/2 to pins 2/3 for ten
> minutes then back. You will then have to make any necessary changes to BIOS,
> such as date/time/etc when you boot.
>
>

Don
Thu Jun 26 16:28:46 PDT 2008

"David D" <netrate@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:b8a8aa5b-0c46-4b01-b98e-4f246882fc49@l42g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...

> I don't have the manual and don't know where those pins are. Thanks
> for that, I am not sure what to do because I am unsure where on the
> motherboard those jumpers are...
>
> On Jun 26, 6:28 pm, "Jerry" <ChiefZekeNoS...@MSN.com> wrote:
> > You don't have to flash the BIOS to reset the password, just clear the
CMOS
> > memory. Mortherboard jumper is moved from, say, pins 1/2 to pins 2/3 for
ten
> > minutes then back. You will then have to make any necessary changes to
BIOS,
> > such as date/time/etc when you boot.

You do not have to bother with jumpers. To clear the BIOS
(to default settings, with no password) just remove the CMOS
battery for a couple of minutes. If this PC is years old you
might as well buy a new CMOS battery. Take the old one to
the store and match it exactly. The battery is a silver disc,
the size of a US niickel, probably held to the motherboard
by a clip of some sort. (Yours currently prompts for a BIOS
password, i.e. the CMOS still has some voltage. The
point is that they all run down in time, and when they do
they can cause boot problems that suggest other
failures, e.g. power supply. $3 spent on a new CMOS
avoids this.)

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

David
Thu Jun 26 17:09:28 PDT 2008

I did take out the battery for over 30 minutes and replaced it. No
dice, the password still comes up.


On Jun 26, 7:28 pm, "Don Phillipson" <e...@SPAMBLOCK.ncf.ca> wrote:
> "David D" <netr...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>
> news:b8a8aa5b-0c46-4b01-b98e-4f246882fc49@l42g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
>
>
>
> > I don't have the manual and don't know where those pins are. Thanks
> > for that, I am not sure what to do because I am unsure where on the
> > motherboard those jumpers are...
>
> > On Jun 26, 6:28 pm, "Jerry" <ChiefZekeNoS...@MSN.com> wrote:
> > > You don't have to flash the BIOS to reset the password, just clear the
> CMOS
> > > memory. Mortherboard jumper is moved from, say, pins 1/2 to pins 2/3 for
> ten
> > > minutes then back. You will then have to make any necessary changes to
> BIOS,
> > > such as date/time/etc when you boot.
>
> You do not have to bother with jumpers. To clear the BIOS
> (to default settings, with no password) just remove the CMOS
> battery for a couple of minutes. If this PC is years old you
> might as well buy a new CMOS battery. Take the old one to
> the store and match it exactly. The battery is a silver disc,
> the size of a US niickel, probably held to the motherboard
> by a clip of some sort. (Yours currently prompts for a BIOS
> password, i.e. the CMOS still has some voltage. The
> point is that they all run down in time, and when they do
> they can cause boot problems that suggest other
> failures, e.g. power supply. $3 spent on a new CMOS
> avoids this.)
>
> --
> Don Phillipson
> Carlsbad Springs
> (Ottawa, Canada)

Malke
Thu Jun 26 17:16:45 PDT 2008

David D wrote:

> I did take out the battery for over 30 minutes and replaced it. No
> dice, the password still comes up.

Leave it out overnight and CMOS will be set to defaults (no password).

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

Gurney
Thu Jun 26 18:18:35 PDT 2008

On Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:15:32 -0700 (PDT), David D <netrate@yahoo.com>
wrote:

>I found a dell Opitex GX100 computer. It seems to work, but it has a
>password for the bios...I am trying to format the harddrive as well
>to
>put XP on it, but I would like to change the boot sequence. Should I
>try and flash the bios to erase the password?
>Also, I am not sure of how much RAM is installed because it is a DELL
>and it doesn't tell me at start up. I am hoping that getting into
>the
>bios will help me with that.
>
>Lastly, is there a good FORMAT software for the floppy drive so I can
>format and then run XP from the CD rom drive to install?
>
>I have tried taking out the battery for over 30 minutes and the
>password is still enabled. Any ideas?
Why ask HERE? BIOS is accessed LONG before the OS loads so your
question is out of place.

Ask elsewhere

Jerry
Thu Jun 26 21:18:14 PDT 2008

The pins are labelled on the motherboard: CMOS - the jumper will be one
1/2 - you change it to the other two - 2/3 - or the opposite; whichever will
work.

"David D" <netrate@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:b8a8aa5b-0c46-4b01-b98e-4f246882fc49@l42g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
>I don't have the manual and don't know where those pins are. Thanks
> for that, I am not sure what to do because I am unsure where on the
> motherboard those jumpers are...
>
> On Jun 26, 6:28 pm, "Jerry" <ChiefZekeNoS...@MSN.com> wrote:
>> You don't have to flash the BIOS to reset the password, just clear the
>> CMOS
>> memory. Mortherboard jumper is moved from, say, pins 1/2 to pins 2/3 for
>> ten
>> minutes then back. You will then have to make any necessary changes to
>> BIOS,
>> such as date/time/etc when you boot.
>>
>>

Bob
Fri Jun 27 05:29:52 PDT 2008

Try this link
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Optilex+GX100+manual
and then this one
http://support.ap.dell.com/docs/systems/opgx100/en/index.htm


David D wrote:

> I don't have the manual and don't know where those pins are. Thanks
> for that, I am not sure what to do because I am unsure where on the
> motherboard those jumpers are...
>
> On Jun 26, 6:28 pm, "Jerry" <ChiefZekeNoS...@MSN.com> wrote:
>
>>You don't have to flash the BIOS to reset the password, just clear the CMOS
>>memory. Mortherboard jumper is moved from, say, pins 1/2 to pins 2/3 for ten
>>minutes then back. You will then have to make any necessary changes to BIOS,
>>such as date/time/etc when you boot.
>>
>>

David
Fri Jun 27 06:57:12 PDT 2008

Well, it seems that I have some other problems. I took out the hard
drive and loaded Win 2000 on it using another computer. It worked
great and then when I reinstalled the HD, I now get the blue screen
saying the HD is inaccessible. It must be the drivers on the DELL
motherboard or something that is doing it. I was hoping to find a
piece of software that would work from the A drive or something -
going to Bootit.com and get the Win2000 boot disks, maybe that will
help, but not sure. I guess I am going to try leaving the battery out
overnight - try to set the boot to the CD drive the Win 2000, and if
that fails, it is going into the garbage.

Bob
Fri Jun 27 08:56:40 PDT 2008

Something unexpected has been happening to replies to this group, but I'll
try again, without links.

There is a jumper on the GX100 mainboard to reset the password. Details are
at support.dell.com. (The jumper is near the front left corner of the board,
near one of the ends of the riser card slot.) I'd provide a link, but my
last attempt gave a posting that disappeared. There are all sorts of
instructions available there, including how to open the case.

You shouldn't need any sort of boot floppy with this system. Its BIOS can be
set to boot from an IDE CD drive, allowing you to install XP in the normal
way.

Return address scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.

"David D" <netrate@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:a700b951-a80b-4741-ba66-7711e977c7e2@m73g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
> Well, it seems that I have some other problems. I took out the hard
> drive and loaded Win 2000 on it using another computer. It worked
> great and then when I reinstalled the HD, I now get the blue screen
> saying the HD is inaccessible. It must be the drivers on the DELL
> motherboard or something that is doing it. I was hoping to find a
> piece of software that would work from the A drive or something -
> going to Bootit.com and get the Win2000 boot disks, maybe that will
> help, but not sure. I guess I am going to try leaving the battery out
> overnight - try to set the boot to the CD drive the Win 2000, and if
> that fails, it is going into the garbage.
>

davidfilmdirector
Fri Jun 27 09:58:44 PDT 2008

Bob,

Sending you a personal email about this.
The jumper for the PASSWORD worked great. But the new issue is that
it won't boot from the CD rom, even though I tell it to boot from
there in the boot sequence. I get this error :

F1 to retry boot F2 to enter setup.

Nothing else. So I have tried a few other HD I have lying around,
same year as the computer and they all do the same. Is this a BIOS
problem?


On Jun 27, 11:56 am, "Bob Knowlden" <nk...@comcast.net> wrote:
> Something unexpected has been happening to replies to this group, but I'll
> try again, without links.
>
> There is a jumper on the GX100 mainboard to reset the password. Details are
> at support.dell.com. (The jumper is near the front left corner of the board,
> near one of the ends of the riser card slot.) I'd provide a link, but my
> last attempt gave a posting that disappeared. There are all sorts of
> instructions available there, including how to open the case.
>
> You shouldn't need any sort of boot floppy with this system. Its BIOS can be
> set to boot from an IDE CD drive, allowing you to install XP in the normal
> way.
>
> Return address scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.
>
> "David D" <netr...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>
> news:a700b951-a80b-4741-ba66-7711e977c7e2@m73g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
>
> > Well, it seems that I have some other problems. I took out the hard
> > drive and loaded Win 2000 on it using another computer. It worked
> > great and then when I reinstalled the HD, I now get the blue screen
> > saying the HD is inaccessible. It must be the drivers on the DELL
> > motherboard or something that is doing it. I was hoping to find a
> > piece of software that would work from the A drive or something -
> > going to Bootit.com and get the Win2000 boot disks, maybe that will
> > help, but not sure. I guess I am going to try leaving the battery out
> > overnight - try to set the boot to the CD drive the Win 2000, and if
> > that fails, it is going into the garbage.

Bill
Fri Jun 27 13:58:30 PDT 2008

Gurney wrote:
>
> Ask elsewhere
>
A somewhat more useful answer would be
"Ask Dell"

Bill

davidfilmdirector
Fri Jun 27 15:12:40 PDT 2008

Bob,

After about 7 hours of working on it, finally got it. I had to make
up the 4 floppy disk for Win2000 boot from bootdisk.com. Finally got
it installed and running. Now, going to put XP on it and see if that
takes. Thanks for all the help.
David

Leythos
Fri Jun 27 15:23:45 PDT 2008

In article <c18fadc8-9b40-4467-88dd-26f979a2f179@
34g2000hsh.googlegroups.com>, davidfilmdirector@gmail.com says...
> After about 7 hours of working on it, finally got it. I had to make
> up the 4 floppy disk for Win2000 boot from bootdisk.com. Finally got
> it installed and running. Now, going to put XP on it and see if that
> takes. Thanks for all the help.

I just tossed about 8 GX100 units, they are P2 if I remember correctly,
and most of them had 128MB RAM, XP will run, but you're going to want
256MB RAM.

--
- Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.
- Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented worker" is like calling a
drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist"
spam999free@rrohio.com (remove 999 for proper email address)

davidfilmdirector
Fri Jun 27 17:11:47 PDT 2008

Yep, I upped the RAM to 256 for this.


> I just tossed about 8 GX100 units, they are P2 if I remember correctly,
> and most of them had 128MB RAM, XP will run, but you're going to want
> 256MB RAM.
>
> --
> - Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.
> - Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented worker" is like calling a
> drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist"
> spam999f...@rrohio.com (remove 999 for proper email address)

Leythos
Fri Jun 27 19:01:33 PDT 2008

In article <91c551c0-0d03-4b38-b388-2d5760174de8
@d45g2000hsc.googlegroups.com>, davidfilmdirector@gmail.com says...
> Yep, I upped the RAM to 256 for this.

If they still have the Service Tag you can still go to Dell's website
and just enter that ID number and it will provide you with all of the
drivers.

--
- Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.
- Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented worker" is like calling a
drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist"
spam999free@rrohio.com (remove 999 for proper email address)

M
Sun Jun 29 23:44:12 PDT 2008


"Bill Sharpe" <wfsnopam@adelphia.net> wrote in message
news:uaMOJiJ2IHA.528@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> Gurney wrote:
>>
>> Ask elsewhere
>>
> A somewhat more useful answer would be
> "Ask Dell"
>

Gurney doesn't do useful answers.

What are you replying to because there is no post from Gurney here?

Bob
Mon Jun 30 07:51:06 PDT 2008



M.I.5=BE wrote:

> "Bill Sharpe" <wfsnopam@adelphia.net> wrote in message=20
> news:uaMOJiJ2IHA.528@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>=20
>>Gurney wrote:
>>
>>>Ask elsewhere
>>>
>>
>>A somewhat more useful answer would be
>>"Ask Dell"
>>
>=20
>=20
> Gurney doesn't do useful answers.
>=20
> What are you replying to because there is no post from Gurney here?
>=20

Perhaps you don't see it? it is on the MSnews server.
>=20

Bill
Mon Jun 30 08:40:21 PDT 2008

M.I.5¾ wrote:
> "Bill Sharpe" <wfsnopam@adelphia.net> wrote in message
> news:uaMOJiJ2IHA.528@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>> Gurney wrote:
>>> Ask elsewhere
>>>
>> A somewhat more useful answer would be
>> "Ask Dell"
>>
>
> Gurney doesn't do useful answers.
>
> What are you replying to because there is no post from Gurney here?
>
>
You must have kill-filed messages with "ask elsewhere" in them. This
clown with a one-track mind keeps changing his name...

Bill

M
Wed Jul 09 00:06:11 PDT 2008


"Bill Sharpe" <wfsnopam@adelphia.net> wrote in message
news:e2NTSes2IHA.3968@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> M.I.5¾ wrote:
>> "Bill Sharpe" <wfsnopam@adelphia.net> wrote in message
>> news:uaMOJiJ2IHA.528@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>>> Gurney wrote:
>>>> Ask elsewhere
>>>>
>>> A somewhat more useful answer would be
>>> "Ask Dell"
>>>
>>
>> Gurney doesn't do useful answers.
>>
>> What are you replying to because there is no post from Gurney here?
>>
>>
> You must have kill-filed messages with "ask elsewhere" in them. This clown
> with a one-track mind keeps changing his name...
>

Nope. Definitely not kill filed him. Since posting the above it seems that
his messages have been deleted because sometimes I can see the headers, but
the messages have been deleted. Why this is is a mystery because I can't
somehow see Gurney or Edric (or whatever he is this week) deleting his own
posts.

JohnO
Wed Jul 09 04:32:50 PDT 2008


"M.I.5¾" <no.one@no.where.NO_SPAM.co.uk> wrote in message
news:48745f41$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net...
>
> "Bill Sharpe" <wfsnopam@adelphia.net> wrote in message
> news:e2NTSes2IHA.3968@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>> M.I.5¾ wrote:
>>> "Bill Sharpe" <wfsnopam@adelphia.net> wrote in message
>>> news:uaMOJiJ2IHA.528@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>>>> Gurney wrote:
>>>>> Ask elsewhere
>>>>>
>>>> A somewhat more useful answer would be
>>>> "Ask Dell"
>>>>
>>>
>>> Gurney doesn't do useful answers.
>>>
>>> What are you replying to because there is no post from Gurney here?
>>>
>>>
>> You must have kill-filed messages with "ask elsewhere" in them. This
>> clown with a one-track mind keeps changing his name...
>>
>
> Nope. Definitely not kill filed him. Since posting the above it seems
> that his messages have been deleted because sometimes I can see the
> headers, but the messages have been deleted. Why this is is a mystery
> because I can't somehow see Gurney or Edric (or whatever he is this week)
> deleting his own posts.

Your newsreader has a really good BS filter?? :-)

M
Thu Jul 10 00:22:13 PDT 2008


"JohnO" <johno@!NOOSPAM!heathkit.com> wrote in message
news:%23ZdaDfb4IHA.4492@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>
> "M.I.5¾" <no.one@no.where.NO_SPAM.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:48745f41$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net...
>>
>> "Bill Sharpe" <wfsnopam@adelphia.net> wrote in message
>> news:e2NTSes2IHA.3968@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>>> M.I.5¾ wrote:
>>>> "Bill Sharpe" <wfsnopam@adelphia.net> wrote in message
>>>> news:uaMOJiJ2IHA.528@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>>>>> Gurney wrote:
>>>>>> Ask elsewhere
>>>>>>
>>>>> A somewhat more useful answer would be
>>>>> "Ask Dell"
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Gurney doesn't do useful answers.
>>>>
>>>> What are you replying to because there is no post from Gurney here?
>>>>
>>>>
>>> You must have kill-filed messages with "ask elsewhere" in them. This
>>> clown with a one-track mind keeps changing his name...
>>>
>>
>> Nope. Definitely not kill filed him. Since posting the above it seems
>> that his messages have been deleted because sometimes I can see the
>> headers, but the messages have been deleted. Why this is is a mystery
>> because I can't somehow see Gurney or Edric (or whatever he is this week)
>> deleting his own posts.
>
> Your newsreader has a really good BS filter?? :-)
>

Looking up and down even a handful of threads, I can confirm that it most
certainly doesn't :-/