I'm working on a laptop for my company and the hitachi drive on it is locked. I know there are two ways this can happen, 1. when the user purposely sets it and 2. when the computer does it accidently on it's own. Number 2 is my problem. I know when it randomly occurs, there's not any actual password on it. From my understanding no password will satisfy and unlock the drive, so the only way to do it is manually.

Well here's my problem. I can't boot from cd/usb/anything because when I do I'm prompted for the password first. So manually seems out of the question. It's also not recognized in docking bays or as a secondary drive in computers. I've tried the hotswap idea on youtube (Boot up and try to plug your HDD in right after it would normally ask for the pw) and that doesn't work either. I've also tried removing the drive, starting up atapwd and plugging in the drive. I know hotswapping a drive isn't the best idea but if I can't get into it i'm screwed anyways, lol.

I know about a-ff recovery station, but that doesn't work with Hitachi drives.
I know about PC3000 but it's not cost effective for one drive.

Please for the love of god, does anyone know how to get around this? I know there's a way, but everything I've come across, as soon as the user fixed it they never replied back with how. It's frustrating.

Thanks i'm really greatful for any help I get!!!

AFF Repair Station supports all WD 2.5" & 3.5" drives. http://hdd-tools.com/products/rrs/But it will cost you $49.95 but your data will be safe.

If you dont mind wiping your data then HDD Unlock is cheaper http://www.hddunlock.com/will cost you $24.95 or $29.95

See if your drive is supported

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http://www.hdd-tools.com/products/rrs/drives/

I already checked their supported drives page (Sorry I thought I mentioned that in my first post) and Hitachi is not supported.

Fujitsu, Toshiba, Western Digital, Maxtor, Seagate, Samsung are the only ones supported unfortunately.

Yet another PW UNLOCK THREAD (sorry no help !) . P.s. Seems that there's lock at BIOS too as you can't boot from alternative device, maybe a better diagnose can help determining where the problem is !

Doesn't support Hitachi

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Also agree with BlackST, you'll need a better diagnosis to be sure what has been done.

you can try MHDD software, this is free

From the OP's description (although there are some missing details and at least one missing potential cause for this behaviour), IMHO the solution does not seem so simple as using MHDD. What password do you suggest the OP to enter, using MHDD? Remember that for one of the answers, I don't see a statement about whether the OP wants the data on the drive, or not. And the OP also describes problems booting CD/USB etc. which is needed to boot MHDD.

@ApexComputers,

I don't know of a publically-available DIY approach for your drive (especially if you want access to the data on it, rather than just to re-use a blank drive). Also since you seem to be saying that you're unsure whether a password was set "normally" or not, then the problem may be even more complicated than just a typical lost password - hence the previous comments about needing a more detailed diagnosis (i.e. by taking the drive to a DR company).

PM Sent

Read the post carefully before type something, please.

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I apologize, I shouldve been more clear in my posts. The password was not set normally. In other words, the user did not do it. When she turned her laptop on after it had died there was a password set. From what I've read this is a common occurrence with older Toshiba motherboards and BIOS.

There IS NOT a bios password set. When I mention the bios, I'm only saying that its the cause of the locked drive.

I cannot boot from CD or USB because the HDD prevents it. I'm guessing this is a failsafe because it knows if a user can boot from CD they can usually remove the lock.

The fw is corrupt. Not sure if there is a free/DIY solution for this.

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Hard Disk Drive (HDD), Solid State Drive (SSD, SATA, NVMe, etc), USB Flash Drive and RAID Data Recovery Specialist in Massachusetts

@ApexComputers,

Thanks for clarifying. Of course I don't know what was in the PM that you received from DrFaustus, but if you are still asking for further comments then read on....

Just FYI, when labtech talks about corrupt (drive) f/w, that does not mean that you can fix it by applying some kind of "f/w update" from the internet. Have a read of this FAQ for answers to some typical questions in this area:

diy-what-the-big-deal-t12671.html

One point which does still need to be clarified IMHO is this - what is your objective? Is it:

(a) get access to the data on the disk; or
(b) be able to re-use the disk, without caring about the data on it?

If it's point (a) then I think you're still looking at needing professional help. If it's point (b) then it'll probably be cheaper for you to get a replacement drive, than to pay for recovery from the current one, assuming drive f/w corruption is indeed the cause of your problem. All IMHO

@labtech,


Agreed, this certainly sounds likely. That was the potential cause missing from the original list, that I was thinking of... In my experience, most computer users (and many non-specialist engineers!) don't know that this type of problem can happen.

Yup. Tough break.

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Hard Disk Drive (HDD), Solid State Drive (SSD, SATA, NVMe, etc), USB Flash Drive and RAID Data Recovery Specialist in Massachusetts