A friend of mine have brought me a HDD for me to try to get it unlocked/data copy, since his notebook screen died and it can't output video on via VGA/HDMI before the OS boots up - problem is, the last Windows update screwed the OS, so it needs to get backed up and formatted. So far I've tried:

* Plugging it directly into my laptop (a Lenovo G400s), no sucess - He said the password he set was 9 characters long and Lenovo machines can only handle up to 8 characters, and no special characters/caps whatsoever;

* Plugging it AFTER the system booted, while on, on the Lenovo. HDAT2 doesn't seem to be able to locate the drive.

* Booting it normally on a Dell desktop (an Optiplex something with a Sandy Bridge CPU): While he could type his password, it didn't work, but at least we could boot the computer after pressing ESC.

* Clearing the password/unlocking the drive via HDAT2 (either the latest beta/5.3) on the same Optiplex: His password doesn't seem to get recognized either so the command doesn't work. Tried the password on both master and user setting. Didn't mess with other options such as fill, etc.

Is there anything else I can try? He said his notebook was a Samsung (don't know the specific model, but I doubt it makes any difference).

Thanks!

If it is just for the broken screen, and his laptop stops at the password prompt, just type it ( he remembers the correct password, right ? ). No need to see what is being typed just for 9 characters.

Other than that, if you know the password, you can try sending it with Victoria

That would work if his OS was booting. But it's stuck on a BSOD (probably, or a boot loop) and the notebook can't output video thru VGA/HDMI until the OS is loaded.

What bugged me is that: 1. Lenovo seems to use a rather old/limited implementation of ATAPWD and 2. Even on another system that is compatible with the current ATAPWD implementation, his password didn't work.

I'm going to suggest him to boot from a WinToGo flashdrive and try to back stuff from there.



Nice. Didn't know this was actually possible. For me, the ATAPWD standard was based solely on info stored on the HD itself. And no, the data isn't that important - he told me that if it didn't work, he would just like the drive to be formatted so he could use it again. But I haven't had luck with it, so I'll suggest him the WinToGo route. I just hope he manages to guess how to access the boot menu and select the USB drive!

Thanks for the tips.

About Passwords ...
http://www.hddoracle.com/viewtopic.php?f=95&t=614&p=1620

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Spildit, the OP said in his first post :



So it would mean they have access to a display. If the computer was working okay, then it would not be a problem.

The part that I missed was that after a windows update the machine wouldn´t load windows anymore. So yes, unlocking it in the original pc wouldn´t help that much.

But one other question to the OP : have you tried with a key combination to change screen output to the external display ? Even some fairly new notebooks we have here support that, and that works before the OS loads.

@leonr, in which city are you ?