Matt Hurd
asked on
HP Sparekey on HP 4540s
Hi Everyone - I have an HP ProBook 4540s in my shop that a client hasn't used in over a year. They have forgotten both the Windows 7 password, and the Sparekey password. They do, however, have the correct answers to the SpareKey security questions, and that's gets us to the Windows login screen. Any ideas to turn off SpareKey? I do not see a way to disable it if you only have the answers to the security questions. I've tried pulling the CMOS battery for 10 minutes in hopes that it would clear it, but it did not.
ASKER
Thanks, but unfortunately resetting the BIOS does not remove the Sparekey password prompt. It does not appear you can remove Sparekey if you only have the answers to the security questions. Still stuck unfortunately.
you can try contacting Hp with this problem
ASKER
Thanks Nobus - I did. Based on what I read online, it sounded like they'd be able to help since it's a business-owned machine. Their response in HP business tech support was that they no longer provide Sparekey removal as a service due to privacy and security concerns. It's a fair point, but we do have the answers to the security questions which got us in for awhile, but now it says it's "locked" when trying to bypass that using those security question answers.
i would say, if you give proof of ownership + answer to the security questions - you have a right to be helped by them
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It may be too late, but did you see this process?
https://www.top-password.com/blog/how-to-remove-hp-bios-password-with-hp-sparekey/#:~:text=Press%20F7%20key%2C%20the%20HP,can%20reset%20the%20BIOS%20password.
https://www.top-password.com/blog/how-to-remove-hp-bios-password-with-hp-sparekey/#:~:text=Press%20F7%20key%2C%20the%20HP,can%20reset%20the%20BIOS%20password.
https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebooks-Archive-Read-Only/HP-SpareKey-problem/td-p/669085
According to that link, all you need to do is to hit F10 when booting and reset BIOS to default. Assuming that is correct, I'd expect that you'll find a specific setting to disable Sparekey somewhere in the BIOS.