Question Bios Locked IDE Drive.

Tymejias · Feb 20, 2025

In the early 2000s, i had a Dell Inspiron laptop running windows ME. Out of curiosity and tech enthusiasm, i put a password on the Harddrive at BIOS. This is not the system bios password but rather Hard Drive password set at bios. Over time this laptop got slower due to demands and some the screen got broken. I removed the Hard drive without disabling the BIOS password from BIOS and now the laptop is completely destroyed. This Hard drive is an IDE based hard drive. When i connect this drive to another laptop using an external IDE adaptor, it brings a connected sound but does not show in Disk Management or My computer. Disk Part also does not show it. Is there anyway i can access this hard drive again. I don't mind formatting it. I can still retrieve the data if it is formatted. I just need it to come up first. Any ideas or help please ?

C1 · Feb 21, 2025

There's this that says it cant be done:

https://superuser.com/questions/175...ocked-hard-disks-without-the-original-compute

But, then there's this that says it can be done :

How to wipe a hard drive that is password protected?
The steps and options are pretty simple and easy to go with.

- Launch EaseUS BitWiper. Select the "Wipe Disk" option.
-Select the locked disk/external disk and click the "Next."
- Choose the Right Wiping method. Then click "Next."
-Confirm the warning message before going ahead.
- Wait for the wiping process to be completed.

https://toolbox.easeus.com/hdd-wipe/erase-locked-hard-drive.html

====================
Dont have personal experience per se with your specific situation, but I do know that bitlocker-ed HDDes and SSDes can be cleared/formated.

Good luck

tcsenter · Feb 21, 2025

He wants to preserve the data, is willing to accept a simple format that erases the file allocation table, boot record, etc. because he thinks he will be able to retrieve it using data recovery tools.

C1 · Feb 21, 2025

There was a program among the Norton utilities suite - was on a floppy - that was able to look at, change/write to and copy the raw data on an HDD.

It had various format options for viewing the HDD info. Dont know what the particular utility was called, but there should be something around that is similar.

Trying to recover data in such manner (with such tool) though is considered only for small files. But one could make a change to an MFT if one knew what they were doing.

At least in some cases, BIOS entered passwords to protect HDDes are written to firmware (eg, modern systems with UEFI BIOSes) and are stated to not be recoverable except possibly thru changing out the drives PCB.

An interesting forum to study:

https://www.quora.com/If-a-hard-drive-has-a-login-password-will-formatting-erase-hard-drive

Good luck

fzabkar · Feb 21, 2025

There are freeware tools that can do what you want. ATA passwords on IDE drives were very insecure. I would never rely on an ATA password to protect my data.

Start by telling us the model number of the drive.

fzabkar · Feb 21, 2025

C1 said:
At least in some cases, BIOS entered passwords to protect HDDes are written to firmware (eg, modern systems with UEFI BIOSes) and are stated to not be recoverable except possibly thru changing out the drives PCB.

A HDD PCB does not store the ATA password. The password is stored in a firmware module in a reserved area of the platters.

fzabkar · Feb 21, 2025

C1 said:
But, then there's this that says it can be done :

How to wipe a hard drive that is password protected?
The steps and options are pretty simple and easy to go with.

- Launch EaseUS BitWiper. Select the "Wipe Disk" option.

This is pointless if the password is set at firmware level or BIOS level.

fzabkar · Feb 21, 2025

Tymejias said:
I don't mind formatting it. I can still retrieve the data if it is formatted.

Formatting a drive is NEVER recommended if the intention is to recover the data. In fact, it can be disastrous for storage devices that support TRIM. This includes some SMR HDDs.

TRIM will render your data unrecoverable via DIY methods.

That said, IDE devices predate TRIM.

Question Bios Locked IDE Drive.

Tymejias

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