Latitude D830

[Bizzy]

My friend inherited this dell latitude D830. However, almost every application requires passwords and even when you try to put it into safe mode it requires permissions. It's centrino duo and has vista.

I do not know how to remove these permissions, and the original owner is unable to have contact with.

Would reformating the laptop work? or preferarably something else that can bypass this problem.

Thanks

 

[KSoD]

If you cant contact the previous owner to get the admin password you should just format it and reinstall Windows. It will be your best solution.

 

[Bizzy]

yes, but would reformatting it actually work? or maybe the permissions and passwords are a default.. if thats possible?

and.. how would i go about doing this?
this is a fairly new laptop by the looks of it, so instead of purchasing the operating system for a ton of money, is there special keys i can press as the computer starts up?

i know with my previous desktop i had to press ctrl f5 for example, but it does not work for this particular laptop.

please help,

thanks

 

[Nick]

On laptops if there is bootable media in the drive it will boot from the cd automatically without you having to change any settings.

 

[Bizzy]

im sorry, i dont understand what your trying to say.

is there anything i can press or do that will let me reformat this latitude D830 without CD's? i do not have the vista cds.

 

[KSoD]

yes, but would reformatting it actually work? or maybe the permissions and passwords are a default.. if thats possible?

and.. how would i go about doing this?
this is a fairly new laptop by the looks of it, so instead of purchasing the operating system for a ton of money, is there special keys i can press as the computer starts up?

i know with my previous desktop i had to press ctrl f5 for example, but it does not work for this particular laptop.

please help,

thanks

Yes a reformat would work. No there is no special set of buttons. Since Vista operates differently than XP. Vista has the Admin account locked down. The account you use has Admin rights but it not the Admin account.

So there is no way to stop the profile from asking for the Admin Password cause that is the UAC (User Account Control) and it is doing what it is designed to do.

There is no way around it. You will need to get Magic Jelly Bean to get the serial for the OS and get a set of Vista DVD's that match your OS and reinstall. There is no other way to get it done the way you want.

Sorry.

 

[Bizzy]

change what i said. i met with the guy today and there is a different problem. as the comptuer starts up, almost immediately following the dell loading screen, a greywish screen pops up that requires an authentication password and gives the dell ID number. if i press any function keys during the dell loading screen, it requires me to enter this password. is there a way to bypass this or go around this without entering a password?

 

[Lexluethar]

I believe what you are experiencing is a BIOS password. There is no way of getting around that (sometimes you can reset the CMOS battery to reset this password but it doesn't seem like you have a lot of computer experience).

Since this is a dell machine they usually have a recovery parition on it... nevermind you have to have a restore CD now... If the computer came with XP Dell uses a proprietary recovery system that has those files on your computer, but the new Vista machines require a restore CD.

Two options, either purchase an XP / Vista OEM disk for 100-200 dollars or try to get a recovery CD from Dell.

 

[patonb]

Sure it's not stolen?

Dell has a tracking now that can be activated off the bios.

 

[Bizzy]

ok, i was able to find a dell windows vista home premium reinstallation CD.

would this work? and if it does work, how do i go about reformatting this laptop?

and one last thing, if windows vista business is already instaleld on it, would home premium even make a difference, or would it just not work?