Dumpster Diving: Found old Dell Laptop - Need help with Dell code to erase/reset admin password

November 22, 2016, 6:49 pm

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Hello,

I am a property manager who manages some self-storage facilities. We recently had a few spaces go to auction and as a result the auction winners threw stuff they didn't want into the dumpster. I was emptying the trash from the office and noticed that someone had thrown a few laptops into the dumpster. As a tech nerd, I climbed into the dumpster and pulled the laptops from the garbage.

One of the laptops was a Dell laptop. I cleaned it up a bit and used one of my Dell laptop chargers to try and charge the battery overnight. Then, I hit the power button and hoped..... nada. Opened the back panel and immediately saw that it had no hard drive.... but the memory was still installed as well as the WIFI adapter. The screen was cracked but I had hope that it might still be usable once I could actually get the laptop to boot.

So, I pulled out one of my old SATA laptop hard drives, re-formatted it and installed it in the laptop.

Hit the power button and saw that I could not install Win10 from the USB port since the laptop had an admin password installed and of course, I had no idea what it was. So, I called Dell and gave them all the laptop info and my personal info and they gave me a code to enter which was supposed to disable or erase the unknown admin password and allow me to change the boot options to include the usb port.

The code does not work. The dell rep mentioned something about hitting the Shift and Control keys while I hit the enter key but that still doesn't make the code work.

I have all the laptop info and the code given to me by Dell and can post that info if it will help solve this issue.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

John

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Laptop hinge defect

November 22, 2016, 7:03 pm

≫ Next: 15mm hard drive Latitude E6530

≪ Previous: Dumpster Diving: Found old Dell Laptop - Need help with Dell code to erase/reset admin password

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My laptop Inspiron 5000 made cracking sounds when open and closed normally, and then the hinge popped out when I opened it. I have never dropped it. Many other people have had this issue, so it is product defect that Dell should have taken care of. I'm now going through BBB to see if they can get it fixed because this is not my fault. 

15mm hard drive Latitude E6530

November 22, 2016, 7:55 pm

≫ Next: Wi-Fi driver for Win 7 on Inspiron 15 5555 - bios A11

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Can anyone tell me if a 15mm drive will fit in a Latitude E6530?

Wi-Fi driver for Win 7 on Inspiron 15 5555 - bios A11

November 22, 2016, 8:43 pm

≫ Next: SYSTEM THREAD EXCEPTION NOT HANDLED

≪ Previous: 15mm hard drive Latitude E6530

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I just bought a new 15 5555 and truly hate win 10. I have successfully loaded Win 7 on it except for the wi-fi driver. It appears the win 7 drivers are for A00 BIOS and don't seem to work with A11. Any one know how this might be fixed - or is there any reason for me to not try the A00 bios?

Thanks - jz

SYSTEM THREAD EXCEPTION NOT HANDLED

November 22, 2016, 8:56 pm

≫ Next: laptop not turning on

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I BOUGHT A BRAND NEW DELL INSPIRON 3558 JUST 3 WEEKS AGO AND WHEN I START THE SYSTEM IT AUTOMATICALLY SHOWS A BLUE SCREEN WITH SYSTEM THREAD EXCEPTION NOT HANDLED ERROR AND SAYS SYSTEM NEEDS TO RESTART.WHAT MAY BE THE PROBLEM. PLZ RESPOND.

laptop not turning on

November 22, 2016, 10:03 pm

≫ Next: Dell inspiron 5555 amd a10 ram upgrades

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Can someone please help. My brand new Dell laptop will not power up no matter what I try. I plugged it in and nothing happens . The green led on the power supply glows constantly and when I plug the jack into the laptop a white led on the front left glows for about a second and then goes off. When I press the power on button nothing happens - no lights, no noise, nothing. I've left it on charge for several hours but still nothing.

I have tried the static discharge test (remove battery, press power button etc) and still no luck.

I really don't know what else to do.

Can anyone help?

Dell inspiron 5555 amd a10 ram upgrades

November 21, 2016, 9:55 pm

≫ Next: Dell latitude 3460 vs 3450

≪ Previous: laptop not turning on

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I would like to know if it is possible to upgrade the ram of my laptop to 2133mhz ddr3l ram with substantial performance increase and will it also run in dual channel.

Next question, is dual channelled ram even supported by this machine?

Dell latitude 3460 vs 3450

November 22, 2016, 10:06 am

≫ Next: Dell Inspiron 660 not connecting to internet after installing server 2008

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Hello Dell

Please guide me what is difference between dell latitude 3450 vs 3460 ?

Thanks

Kumar  

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Dell Inspiron 660 not connecting to internet after installing server 2008

November 22, 2016, 11:23 am

≫ Next: Factory Restore

≪ Previous: Dell latitude 3460 vs 3450

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Need assistance. Purchased a server however the actual server was not compatible with the OS server 2008 only 08r2. We have several programs that still require 32bit OS thus the reason for server 2008. After finding out that the server would not support the OS we  were advised to attempt a few ideas. I have installed server2008 on my 660 ispirion. It has an I3 processor so it can handle the environment. The only issue I received is a network issue. Not able to connect to the internet and the drivers are not recognized in order for the LAN to make the connection. Are there any updates or drivers that will fix this issue? Please help!

Intalled Server 2008 in Dell Inspiron 660 with I3 processor when it would normally have WIN7 or WIN10 on it

Everything installed perfectly with excetion to " Not able to connect" and gives a "Code 10" when attempting to update driver and connect to internet.

Factory Restore

November 23, 2016, 1:13 am

≫ Next: Touchpad stopped working - DELL XPS 13 (9360)

≪ Previous: Dell Inspiron 660 not connecting to internet after installing server 2008

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I have an old (2007) Inspiron 6400 - Windows Vista SP2 -with a small - 60gb - hard drive and I am running out of space. I have had to use 'Delete  All but the Latest Restore Point' regularly.  Now I wish to use factory restore.  However, the Dell logo does not show up upon the computer at start-up so I cannot use the procedure as covered in the manual. The screen goes directly from black to the windows logo.

Also I cannot get updates from windows.

Can someone help please.

Touchpad stopped working - DELL XPS 13 (9360)

November 23, 2016, 2:02 am

≫ Next: Inspiron 3521 won't start up

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Hi Guys,

I have bouhgt new DELL XPS 13 9360 few weeks ago. Worked perfectly, until some Windows and/or Dell Update. My TouchPad stopped working.

In device manager I can see that I2C HID device can't start (ERROR CODE 10).

The external mouse is working fine.

Sometimes helps to stop the I2C HID device, remove external mouse, than run Hardware Problem Solving and 1 from 10 times it ends with fixing the driver for I2C HID and it works for a while. Than it crashes again.

I believe it's some kind of driver issue.

 

Can you help me please?

Inspiron 3521 won't start up

November 23, 2016, 3:08 am

≫ Next: DC Jack or Motherboard

≪ Previous: Touchpad stopped working - DELL XPS 13 (9360)

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My laptop will only start up maybe 1 in 5 times at the moment.

When it doesn't work, it gets stuck before the dell splash screen with what sounds like a 'fizzing' or 'popping' sound every 3 seconds (It's not the usual bios beep codes) that will keep going for as long as I leave the laptop on. It it does start up okay, there are no errors and it boots into windows fine.

I've run the bios diagnostics (on one of the few occasions I could get to that stage) and it didn't find any faults.

Is this a system board failure? Or something I might be able to troubleshoot further?

Many thanks.

DC Jack or Motherboard

November 23, 2016, 4:50 am

≫ Next: WD15 with "Universal Cable"

≪ Previous: Inspiron 3521 won't start up

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I have inspiron 15-3521 Which is almost 3 yrs old. It was working fine until last week, all the components were working good. but then my charger went bad and i borrowed my friend's with same specs. I used for a day but on the next day i plugged in the charger but it was not detected by laptop so i used a pin and moved the DC jack randomly, it worked. But after a hour charging stopped and battery exhausted and laptop went off. now whenever i plug a charger or press power button nothing happens, NO LIGHTS, NO BEEPS. I think that happened due to my act with DC jack which is now very loose, but a technician told thay my power board went dead. plz help me knowing the real problem so my money can be saved.

WD15 with "Universal Cable"

November 23, 2016, 5:27 am

≫ Next: Touchpad does not work with "do nothing" command

≪ Previous: DC Jack or Motherboard

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Hi,

Checking the manual for the WD15 dock (link), the Display Resolution Table on page 31 gives different possible resolutions depending on the dock cable used.

It refers to the "Universal Cable".  When used with a Thunderbolt laptop this should give 4k resolutions at 60Hz.  The WD15 FAQ (here) lists the Universal Cable as being available summer/autumn 2016.  I can't find it on the website, is it available yet?

Cheers,

Richard

Touchpad does not work with "do nothing" command

November 23, 2016, 7:17 am

≫ Next: Dell Latitute E7440 Cannot On Using Battery Power

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I have an Inspirion 3147.  My touchpad becomes glitchy when I close the lid and reopen.  I narrowed it down to this specific instance.  I have it set for "do nothing" when I close the lid.  I checked a variety of forums, and I could not find a resolution.  I have attempted to reinstall drivers (including BIOS) several times, but no improvement.  Based on the forums I researched, this appears to have been a problem for some time with many laptops.

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Dell Latitute E7440 Cannot On Using Battery Power

November 23, 2016, 7:24 am

≫ Next: WD15 and XPS 13 (9350) Now seem to be working!

≪ Previous: Touchpad does not work with "do nothing" command

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Recently, I have bought another battery for my laptop as I always have to work mobile. When I put the new battery in the laptop to charge, the laptop cannot detect the battery. So I take out and send back the battery to supplier to replace the battery. Then when I put back old battery, I found out that my laptop cannot using battery power even though the laptop can charge the battery, detect the battery and I try the battery with other laptop,and it was OK. Only with my laptop. I already try other battery also I'm failed to power my laptop using battery power. It can only use power adapter. I already run diagnostic and everything was fine. I detected that after the incident where the replacement battery unable to detect, and I put back the original one back, on the battery icon on the taskbar show that the current battery detected as Battery 2. As Battery 1 not present. Can anyone help me? I already try every thing even reset the battery.

WD15 and XPS 13 (9350) Now seem to be working!

November 23, 2016, 9:02 am

≫ Next: Dell I 7 mother board

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We have two XPS 13's with WD15 in service at the moment, with two more waiting in the wings.

One system seems to work fine, with the XPS 13 cover open and using the XPS 13 keyboard along with a Logitech Unity wireless mouse and an external monitor + Ethernet hard wired to the WD15.  The other system was problematic, the difference being that it was trying to be used with its cover closed when connected to the WD15.  We finally figured out that the XPS 13 needs to be first connected to the WD15 while open, then turn off the Wi-Fi before closing the cover.  This seems to have "fixed" the problem.  The problem being that the Ethernet adapter would disconnect, shut down, whatever and then come back on briefly.  After a few minutes (or less) of this the external monitor would go off.  Opening the XPS's cover would usually bring things back to life.

Simply turning off the Wi-Fi before closing the cover seems to be the key for us!  We have the settings set in the Power Setting so that Nothing should happen when the cover is closed.

We have Installed the latest updates (as of 11/22/2016) including BIOS 1.4.10.  Lowered the Wi-Fi power output down to 75% as suggested elsewhere, etc.  This didn't correct the problem, only turning off the Wi-Fi before closing the cover has helped.  

Even with the Realtek Ethernet Adapter disabled, and the Ethernet cable disconnected from the WD15, when we shut the cover of the XPS 13 with the Wi-Fi on - the WD15 becomes unstable.  We have an external USB drive attached to the WD15, the USB connection comes and goes, losing the drive.  The Realtek Ethernet adapter disappears from the Network Adapter list, etc.  Opening the XPS 13 cover helps but not everything recovers.  It usually takes a reboot.

Again, we seem to be OK when the XPS 13's cover is open.  And OK - if we turn off the Wi-Fi - before closing the cover.

Dell I 7 mother board

November 23, 2016, 9:22 am

≫ Next: XPS 13 keeps waking up

≪ Previous: WD15 and XPS 13 (9350) Now seem to be working!

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I purchased  dell I7 two years ago and have used approximately once a week

The mother board had to be replaced the first year and now i have the same problem again .very concerned about the quality of this product and whether it's going to last after this fix.what optional do I have.this laptop cost me about $ 1000.00 two years ago. Christy

XPS 13 keeps waking up

November 23, 2016, 12:26 pm

≫ Next: Inspiron 5559 Runs Very Slow

≪ Previous: Dell I 7 mother board

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Hi,

I've got a strange issue with my XPS 13 waking up all the time in the middle of the night while it's trying to go from sleep to hibernation mode. I posted a detailed description already here. Turns out the Dell Dock (D3100) is now my main suspect since I find the following in the system log every time this happens.

The driver \Driver\dlcdcncm for device USB\VID_17E9&PID_436E&MI_05\7&1bb74d15&0&0005 stopped the power transition.

lsusb told me that VID 17E9 PID 436E is the D3100, so I had a closer look at the driver and found out that I'm using 8.0.762.0, while there is a more up to date driver 8.0.778.0 to be found here (I would like to add I found this driver in a forum post I found using Google, since finding a driver on the Dell support page is just not possible). I downloaded and tried to install the package, which on the website is referred to as "Driver (DL R8.0M2) for Dell SuperSpeed USB3.0 Docking Station (D3100/D3000/D1000), Universal Dongle (DA100) and Dell MKS14 monitor stand". Strangely, the warning message asking for admin permission says it's "DisplayLink Core Software". When I hit 'Ok' a message box with the title "Install DisplayLink Software for Dell USB Graphics Software" just keeps telling me that the "DisplayLink Software for Dell USB Graphics Software is already up to date". I'm not really trying to update any graphics software. The ReleaseNotes.txt is hardly telling anything about docks, and nothing at all from D3100/D3000/D1000 or DA100. Also the dates stated don't match the date on the download site (21 Sept 2016). This is all a bit weird and suspicious.

So, I guess my question is, how do I update the D3100 driver to version 8.0.788.0?

Inspiron 5559 Runs Very Slow

November 23, 2016, 12:30 pm

≫ Next: Drivers for Dell Wireless™ DW5808 Gobi 4G/LTE full Mini-Card on Precision M6800 Running Windows 10

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I recently purchased a Dell Inspiron 5559 running Windows 7 Professional.  From day 1 it has has run very slow.  As time has gone on, it hasn't improved.  I am very disappointed in it.

Also, the power button doesn't light up.

It is running Windows 7 Professional, has an Intel Core i7-6500U processor, 8 GB 1600MHZ DDR3L memory and a 1 TB 5400 RPM HDD.

Any suggestions to improve performance?