- May 11, 2013
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My friend's brother has fallen victim to a scam and the computer is now locked with a password that he doesn't know. The scammers have said they'll unlock it if he buys them $3000 worth of iTunes gift cards but he's not foolish enough to do that.
I was wondering if there is anything I can do to get into the computer again? It's a Gateway laptop and he still has the original Windows 8 disk for it. He says there's nothing of any value on the computer itself so if we were to reformat the hard drive and reinstall Windows, everything would be good.
It occurred to me that if I could get into the BIOS and change the settings so that the laptop booted from the DVD drive and the Windows 8 disk was in the drive, perhaps it would reinstall Windows. I googled and found that F1 is supposed to make it boot to the BIOS if you press it when the Gateway logo comes up but I can't get it to go into the BIOS; it just keeps going until it gets to the password dialog.
I'd really like to help these people. They're two long-retired seniors; the husband is disabled and can only walk a few steps without his powered chair and his wife is just out of the hospital after major surgery. They can't afford to replace the computer right now.
Does anyone know any techniques I could use to get control of this computer again so that I can reinstall Windows on this laptop?
I was wondering if there is anything I can do to get into the computer again? It's a Gateway laptop and he still has the original Windows 8 disk for it. He says there's nothing of any value on the computer itself so if we were to reformat the hard drive and reinstall Windows, everything would be good.
It occurred to me that if I could get into the BIOS and change the settings so that the laptop booted from the DVD drive and the Windows 8 disk was in the drive, perhaps it would reinstall Windows. I googled and found that F1 is supposed to make it boot to the BIOS if you press it when the Gateway logo comes up but I can't get it to go into the BIOS; it just keeps going until it gets to the password dialog.
I'd really like to help these people. They're two long-retired seniors; the husband is disabled and can only walk a few steps without his powered chair and his wife is just out of the hospital after major surgery. They can't afford to replace the computer right now.
Does anyone know any techniques I could use to get control of this computer again so that I can reinstall Windows on this laptop?
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