Update. 08/18/2026: Original poster Reddit_2049 reached out to explain that their laptop wasn't authentication locked by a third party. Rather, they found the BIOS was factory locked to prevent consumers from having full access to HP's advanced configuration tabs and many underlying settings. In a message to Tom's Hardware, Reddit_2049 goes on to explain that "the RSA-related patch was necessary because modifying the firmware caused HP's integrity/signature checks to reject the modified BIOS and show 'BIOS Corruption Detected.'" Original story follows.
BIOS-locked laptops are sometimes sold at bargain prices due to the operational restrictions this kind of firmware security puts on the device. Can AI tools be used to bypass this security measure? The answer looks like a yes, as Reddit_2049 on the Claude AI subreddit recently shared the process that successfully unlocked their HP 15-dw1036ne.
A new owner of a BIOS-locked laptop will typically not be able to bypass a password or PIN at startup, nor be able to adjust any BIOS settings. It depends on what kind of lock has been implemented. There was a time when removing the CMOS could reset the BIOS and break these chains, but for a long time, laptop makers have had far stronger security.
The particular laptop model with a BIOS lock to bypass by the Redditor was the HP 15-dw1036ne, a 10th-gen Intel processor-packing laptop from the turn of the decade. This looks like a consumer laptop, so we reckon it will have had a power-on password set by the previous owner, which somehow didn’t get communicated to Reddit_2049 through the used/recycled electronics ownership chain. However, it isn’t explicitly stated what kind of BIOS lock faced the Redditor, so it could have been a BIOS admin lock. These locks aren’t as stringent or formidable as those possible with HP’s commercial laptops, which can even tie BIOS locks to the system TPM…
Back to the HP 15-dw1036ne unlock process, and it came with BIOS version F.68. The Redditor had access to a CH341A chip flasher and code disassembly tools, but said the system would throw up a ‘BIOS Corruption Detected’ message if any modification was detected. That’s a check that makes hacking it all the more difficult. This is where Claude Code stepped in.
Looking for previous examples and details of someone successfully unlocking this specific HP laptop’s BIOS was fruitless. So, Reddit_2049 asked Claude Code to pick through their backup BIOS dump and try to unlock it. Long story short, it worked.
The Redditor shared a few technical details about the three levels of patches that were required to unlock the BIOS. These include: finding the RSA-2048 DXE-FV signature check bypass, and 55 hidden setup fields, as well as revealing advanced BIOS configuration tabs. But most important to know is that Claude Code wrangled these bits and bytes, so Reddit_2049 now has a fully open BIOS on their HP laptop.
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A Python script that completes the whole process on this particular HP laptop is shared at the bottom of the Reddit post. This will back up your current BIOS, implement all three patches, and leave your HP 15-dw1036ne unlocked.
Please be warned that this script might not work with your laptop, even if it's an HP, even if it’s a 15-dw1036ne, or even if there are other differences like board revision. However, this example shows that laptops with locked BIOS access/features and no specific known bypass method can now be fully unlocked thanks to AI.
Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.
I kinda had the same with a locked Dell laptop. Someone handed it down to me but could only log in with her account and do very little. It would also not boot from another SSD, TMP and Secure boot prevented this, even booting from USB had been disable.
But some guy got the admin codes for it, they're out there, and on GitHub.
You just need a external keyboard to enter it (can't remember if it's QWERTY or AZERTY because that AZERTY layout is standard here.
This needed to happen. We have found a bunch at work that "someone" put passwords on that don't match any we use so we can't change the bios settings on machines we own. They're out of warranty so no support there either.
Us having total control over the machines we own and the software that comes with it?
What a crazy idea customers have, don't they know the logic of money, planned obsocecence and concept that ownership and contol have been replaced by renting and ads everywhere?
Its pretty common with hp computer in my experience, not a password but just no accessible bios settings. Very annoying of HP. I even got an old server of theirs off eBay once that had no integrated bios setup at all!
