Old work laptop

[audi321]

Hi all.

I've just found an old Thinkpad which I used for work some years ago (I've since left and they never asked for it back - I'd forgotten I even had it!).

Trouble is, it's locked down to hell and I can't get into it. Can't even boot from USB as the BIOS is locked down too.

I was thinking it would do for my son to use (just browsing and youtube etc). I've removed the HDD and put it into a USB caddy and formatted it.

But now what? I was thinking of installing Chrome OS (it looks like there's a similar open source version) but will the drivers be there? But all the installers seem to want to do is install it onto a USB stick (somehow it seems to know that it's a HDD rather than a stick).

Any ideas how I can install it directly onto a HDD in a caddy (as that's all the laptop will boot from).

[frisbee]

You might be able to reset the bios. Google the model and see if there is a guide.

[Horace Van Khute]

Reprogramming (requires de-soldering) BIOS would be the only option which a good laptop repair place should be able to do. Which ThinkPad is it, will it be worth the effort?

[audi321]

I can’t reset the bios so I’ve taken the bios battery out and I’ll leave it overnight to see if that does anything.

Model is T450. Don’t know if they’re worth anything really.

[Horace Van Khute]

That's a pretty recent model and seems to have a bit of cult following.

[audi321]

Not recent. I left in late 2015! I had only had it a few months but it’s at least 5 years old.

Reading up I don’t think just removing the bios battery is going to work. It’s a right palaver to get it done so I think I’ll forget it and just buy him a cheap chromebook. Not worth the hassle.

Thanks all.

ETA. My original question still stands really. I don’t need to reset the bios if I can put something bootable on the hdd when it’s in the caddy from my pc. ?

Edited by audi321 on Saturday 13th June 21:58

[Horace Van Khute]

2015 is considered pretty recent. If you don't want to find someone who can reprogram the BIOS (that's the only way you can get rid of the password and lock) you can sell it for parts. Obviously you'd have to break it but these ThinkPads are sought after so it should be worthwhile.

[Penelope Stopit]

https://www.cocosenor.com/articles/computer/3-ways...

[imck]

Do you have another PC/Laptop with SATA HDD that you can boot from USB?

Fit the Lenovo SSD to your other Machine as its only HDD
Install Windows 10 from USB. Probably don't connect it to Internet.
SSD back into the Lenovo.

I have a T450 as my Work Machine.
Decent enough.

[Mr Pointy]

imck said:

Do you have another PC/Laptop with SATA HDD that you can boot from USB?

Fit the Lenovo SSD to your other Machine as its only HDD
Install Windows 10 from USB. Probably don't connect it to Internet.
SSD back into the Lenovo.

I have a T450 as my Work Machine.
Decent enough.

Do you know what a BIOS lock does?

[xeny]

Mr Pointy said:

Do you know what a BIOS lock does?

It certainly stops you changing the boot device - does it necessarily stop a reinstallation of the same operating system booting? I was wondering about suggesting the same approach with Linux.

[imck]

Mr Pointy said:

Do you know what a BIOS lock does?

Depends how the BIOS is locked down.

If it is just passworded with USB Boot disabled, it should work.
The OP is asking how to get O/S on the HDD. This led to my suggestion.

[AJB88]

Cloudready is the OS you want which is a version of Chromium OS which ChromeOS is built on.

[audi321]

Thanks. I found that but the installer it comes with somehow knows that I’m not installing it onto a USB stick and won’t continue (even though I’ve got the HDD in a USB caddy).