Source: Nerdworld
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.
Older systems allowed BIOS password resets by:
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.
Several methods were explored:
Many videos claim to show reset methods, but none worked for this model.
HP provides a Windows tool that can modify BIOS settings, but it requires knowing the current password — making it useless in this case.
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.
A custom Python script was created to:
Each attempt took about 9 seconds, making brute force extremely slow.
Initial lists:
Expanded lists:
Total runtime:
No password was ever found.
Despite months of effort, the BIOS password could not be cracked. The project is considered a “successful failure”:
The original project included:
(See original source for downloads.)
Modern HP ProBook BIOS passwords are extremely resistant to brute-force attacks. Without the original password or HP enterprise support, unlocking the BIOS is effectively impractical. This project demonstrates both the limits of brute force and the value of experimentation.