My daughter has in storage an old IBM thinkpad. It wont load because of the error 0176. System has been tampered with. It also says check the date & time. I cant reformat it. The screen is locked & I need a 4 digit password to get in. What would it be?

on most of those think-pads, there is a button, on the upper left i think, that will reformat the entire HD for you... it will erase everything and make it like you just brought it home from the store...

Are you meaning the blue 'access IBM' button. When I access that area it reads exactly the same as start up message. 0176. I have even put in Windows XP disk to reformat and no joy. I just get the padlock and that 4 digit password. Grrr!

well ladywind, for really stubborn computer problems most texas women use a bfh (big fu(king hammer). just remember when using a bfh that if it breaks, it needed replacing anyway

Oh so tempting to dig its grave and bury it....

try 1234

I have tried 1234 0000 1111 9999 No luck!!

If you have a free couple of hours, just keep trying random series of numbers; 0111,0222,0333. 1222,1333,1444 etc.

UGH! That sounds like an eeevel torture. Shall we take bets on how long it takes me before the hammer does come to use?

Take it to a computer store and trade it in?

I want to fix it and sell it by online auction and use whatever I get to put towards a desktop for my daughter. That is the plan...

really quickly off the top of my head it sounds like someone accessed it in a weird way..hence the security measure of asking for a password... Ill chew on it a moment and let you know..


I just went and looked it up and it is a security measure... recomended from one web site was to reset your windows password

If you were going to sell it on ebay you would want to do this anyway... if I remember correctly you would do this by a dip switch (though I do not know the motherboard on an IBM is the same as most computers although it prolly is) to reset the BIOS to the default configuration. If you gave someonea computer with a password that you did not know on ebay

Reset the BIOS set up to its default configuration (this particular part of BIOS is also called 'CMOS set-up' by most techs)

There should be a switch on the board to reset the password and all configuration data... Could possible cause a problem becuase of the boot sequence though


1

Navigate to http://www.xs4all.nl/~matrix/mpwlist.html, which contains many master passwords for all types of BIOS. Master passwords are secret "backdoor" passwords that can get you into your BIOS even where it is locked. Navigate to the section of the page for IBM computers and try the passwords listed to see if they unlock your computer and reset the BIOS password.
2

Telephone IBM technical support or e-mail support through the company's webpage if Step 1 doesn't work. Tech support will likely have the most current master passwords for your model of Thinkpad if the ones listed above do not work.
3

Telephone a computer repair technician and request a BIOS chip removal or jumper reset if the previous steps don't work. Removing and replacing the BIOS chip on the computer can reset the password, but this should not be attempted by laymen, as laptops are notoriously difficult to disassemble and reassemble properly.


Read more: How to Reset an IBM Thinkpad BIOS Password | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_5896209_reset-ibm-thinkpad-bios-password.html#ixzz267KecGRt

Thank you kindly Mirage. Lots of good info there. I appreciate it

Are you sure it wasn't good old Tomcat Apache making an appearance again? :)

Actually I hacked into her computer and distributed all her home made porn.. and it was a glassfish server I'll have you know.

You'll have to reset it through the BIOS.

Is that what the 'Tomcat Apache' virus is? A hacking virus? If it is, then at least I will know from now on, and I'll get someone to investigate mine.

the Apache Tomcat is a type of server. you can use it as a web server to serve Html files. I'm a programmer lot of a lot of programmers use it because it's free and it works very well. it comes recommended by a lot of educational like college textbooks.

I have not heard of the virus before