thinkpad password etc. (ASAP

FOREWORD:
For the past few months I've been having a run of bad luck, having bought about 5 defective laptops ranging from thinkpads to Dell & Compaq over the course of these months, among whom were Square Trade sellers. It's been hell - buying & returning, buying & returning (aside from incessant difficulties interacting with sellers, some of whom hadn't communicated clearly.

The latest of aforesaid five, is:
...a used thinkpad & thinking of returning it because:

(1) When I turned it on it required either a fingerprint or password entry (I wasn't given the password until just now having requested it of seller,
...but it turned out to be such a cryptic password.
...and in any case, I don't feel like entering passwrod each time I turn on. I've had other thinkpads which I didn't have to enter passwords, rather just could bypass by pressing any key.

Question:
Is there a way to undo the password-entry requirement? If not, I think I'll return it.

(2) The AC adapter is very loose in socket, unlike my other IBM adapter which has identical voltage specs. When I tried my other adapter inside this latest laptop, it wasn't loose like this latest adapter is. That's proof he sent me a defective IBM adapter, and didn't disclose that it's defective. That's aside from his constant poor communication, and also having mis-advertised at least one other vital spec.

BTW, another one of those bad-luck thinkpads (from Square Trade seller) was a T42, and the guy insisted that the fan noise wasn't any louder than usual. But I know for a fact it sounded like an engine compared to other thinkpads I'd already tried, yet this Sq.Trade seller was insistent. So who knows what to believe.

It would make an intrusive engine-like noise, for example, upon printing something, or entering some data-heavy website.

 

No, there is no simple way to bypass the password (I assume you mean the Windows password). I would recommend contacting he seller and getting the password - there's no reason why he would not give it to you, seeing as you did buy the machine. Alternatively, you can reinstall Windows on it, which would clear everything off the laptop and allow you to set up the computer as if it were new.

 

If he gave you the password, which it sounds like he did when you asked for it, just go into control panel and turn off the password and it won't ask for it anymore.

 

What model ThinkPad is it, and which password - power on, supervisor, or hard drive? If it's the power on password, when you're prompted for it, just type in the cryptic password the seller sent you, press the space bar and press enter. That should remove it.

 

Hi, it's the R52.
Upon pressing the power-on button, all I get is a textbox asking for:
either fingerprint
or to enter password.

Now, to clarify, lets say the password he gave was: abc1234x5m7s56
So I type:
abc1234x5m7s56 SPACEBAR?
Whereupon - problem solved thereafter?

 

no descriptions above are not very comprehensive

shut down your thinkpad. then power it on, type in your passwords then constantly press f1 immediately. your aim is to get into the bios.

once inside the bios, go into the password category, find out which options are passworded e.g. HDD or power-on password. off = disabled. choose the enabled one, type in the password for that category in the old password field, then leave new password section empty. dont press space for them, just press enter. then after you are done it should tell you in a screen that password is disabled. this is what you want.

then there is no more passwords. if they set a supervisor password and didnt tell you (this stops you from changing bios things), ask the guy for it

 

Wow, you're a guru - thanks for the info! It's good to know for future reference, but meanwhile, I wound up returning the laptop because I was fed up by the zillion softwares + spanish music +games that had been DL'ed & slowing it down, including toolbars up above that took up nearly the top 1/3 of screen-space, and pink or orange or green hilited messages constantly animating in upper-right Bing textbox. Never in my life did I experience such a seller - for example messaging me "think what dises no validity to accept return of the producer" And that's just a small sampling.

 

Please don’t take this the wrong way Judy, but some of the problems you describe are not reasons to return a used notebook.

If you’re not that experienced with buying used computers, the best thing to do is ask the seller a lot of questions about the notebook(s) they are selling (even experienced users should do this).

A few simple questions would save you and the seller problems before and after the actual sale of the product.
a. Does the notebook come with recovery disc?
b. If the notebook has any passwords, could you remove them before shipping?
c. Will it be possible to restore the notebook to factory condition?
d. Are there any defects with the notebook that is not in the description?
e. Is the notebook still under warranty?


I personally would not sell a notebook with anything other than the operating system on it, but that doesn’t mean it’s the norm. I purchased a used IBM notebook, only to find out later it had a SVP (Supervisor Password). The previous owner didn’t know the password or that it even had a SVP (It was a company issued laptop), let alone knew what the heck a SVP was. The notebook was fully usable till I decided to change the CRC battery. Man, I still remember the frustrations that caused me! I had to learn more about that subject matter than I care to know. Thankfully, there’s a lot of information out that is very beneficial and that will actually have you looking for deals based on the information you’ve acquired!

Anyway…Good luck on future purchases!