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Project Fail: HP ProBook BIOS Password Crack
Source: Nerdworld
Background
A second‑hand HP ProBook was purchased with a locked-down Windows 10 installation. The BIOS was protected by an unknown administrator password set by a cyber‑school IT department. Although the system could be wiped and reinstalled, the BIOS settings remained inaccessible.
Why Traditional Methods Failed
Older systems allowed BIOS password resets by:
- clearing CMOS jumpers
- removing the RTC battery
- resetting configuration RAM
Modern HP ProBooks store the password in a separate rewritable ROM. Therefore, CMOS resets do not remove the password.
HP officially offers a master unlock key, but only to large enterprise customers. Regular users receive no assistance.
Attempted Approaches
Several methods were explored:
1. YouTube Tutorials
Many videos claim to show reset methods, but none worked for this model.
2. HP BIOS Configuration Utility
HP provides a Windows tool that can modify BIOS settings, but it requires knowing the current password — making it useless in this case.
3. Rust-Based Brute Force Tool
A GitHub project attempted to brute-force the password via the HP utility. The program could not be executed successfully, and others reported similar issues.
4. Custom Python Brute Force Script
A custom Python script was created to:
- read password candidates from a list
- call the HP BIOS utility
- attempt to clear the password
- log each result
Each attempt took about 9 seconds, making brute force extremely slow.
Password List Generation
Initial lists:
- 50,000 common passwords → no success
- 100,000 passwords → no success
Expanded lists:
- 500,000 generated candidates (with leetspeak variations)
- another 500,000 unique candidates
Total runtime:
- ~52 days for each 500k batch
- nearly 6 months of continuous testing
No password was ever found.
Final Outcome
Despite months of effort, the BIOS password could not be cracked. The project is considered a “successful failure”:
- the laptop now runs Debian Linux without issues
- the process provided experience with scripting, automation, and AI-assisted coding
- it highlighted the robustness of modern HP BIOS security
Provided Files
The original project included:
- Python script for sequential password testing
- Python script for generating 1 million password candidates
- HP BIOS Configuration Utility
(See original source for downloads.)