Is it possible for a BIOS User Password to reset itself?

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nitid

nitid

Honorable
Jun 12, 2012
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10,510
I have a Brand New Spiffy Desktop. Asus Maximus VI Hero ATX LGA1150 Z87 3PCI-E16 DDR3 SATA3 USB 3.0 Crossfire/SLI, Intel i7 4770k CPU at 3.50GHz and Ripjaws 2x8GB 16GB DDR3 with two solid state drives.

I am a newb, but solemnly promise not to have such a system go to waste on me.

In taking it one step at a time, I sat and fumbled around in my Republic of Gamers BIOS utility and chose to setup a USER password instead of an ADMIN password. After that I ran an old UBUNTU ISO for a bit then turned the system off. Left it alone for two weeks. Haven't fumbled with it until today; and I find that there are no passwords installed.

I have reasons to believe my old laptop is hacked and I was concerned that the person I think may be responsible tried to gain access to my new system, not knowing I had not installed an OS yet.

I am a person of logic and reason first, then speculative after. So I would like to eliminate all other possibilities before getting anymore worried about an intrusion.

I need to know if it is common occurrence for BIOS passwords to just, disappear?

All feedback most welcome!

Thankyou
 
Solution
drtweak
yea even with a dead battery the password is saved in the NVRAM so even unplugging and removing battery won't help you. That only works with other BIOS settings BUT it could have done it. I mean I've have things like routers and what not reset to factory default because there was a power outtage or something so it is possible?
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nitid

nitid

Honorable
Jun 12, 2012
15
0
10,510
Yup, I am sure.

Also, there is a "Quick Notes" tool in the utility and it saves anything you write. I had written a hint for the password at the same time and it is still there. (Yes, I realise I wouldn't have access to this hint without the password...I was just testing out the tool and writing things down helps me to remember :) )

Of note is this thread:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/149716-30-bios-password-ridiculously-easy-reset-asus-mothe

Doubt it is a dead battery, it's a brand new board. This is the only thread I could find closely related to my conundrum.

Desktop is plugged into UPS with battery protection.

 
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drtweak

drtweak

Illustrious
Sep 17, 2012
6,342
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38,640
yea even with a dead battery the password is saved in the NVRAM so even unplugging and removing battery won't help you. That only works with other BIOS settings BUT it could have done it. I mean I've have things like routers and what not reset to factory default because there was a power outtage or something so it is possible?
 
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