I used cmospwd to killed the cmos on my thinkpad t41. I didn't even
try to restore it. I thought doing that clears the cmos. Now I
couldn't even get it to boot any thing. Laptop turns on but it stops
at the IBM THINKPAD screen. Is there anyway to get it to flash from a
bootable cdrom? I figure it is useless because the bios is erase
already. Any suggestion would be helpful. Thanks!

if you toasted your bios then your machine is toast
send it back to IBM they may be able to fix it
<paperchas3r@att.net> wrote in message
news:1164702841.016955.240790@n67g2000cwd.googlegr oups.com...
>I used cmospwd to killed the cmos on my thinkpad t41. I didn't even
> try to restore it. I thought doing that clears the cmos. Now I
> couldn't even get it to boot any thing. Laptop turns on but it stops
> at the IBM THINKPAD screen. Is there anyway to get it to flash from a
> bootable cdrom? I figure it is useless because the bios is erase
> already. Any suggestion would be helpful. Thanks!
>

on second thought if your can get into the bios you will need to
set it up for your machine. The default settings may get you back up and
running.

<paperchas3r@att.net> wrote in message
news:1164702841.016955.240790@n67g2000cwd.googlegr oups.com...
>I used cmospwd to killed the cmos on my thinkpad t41. I didn't even
> try to restore it. I thought doing that clears the cmos. Now I
> couldn't even get it to boot any thing. Laptop turns on but it stops
> at the IBM THINKPAD screen. Is there anyway to get it to flash from a
> bootable cdrom? I figure it is useless because the bios is erase
> already. Any suggestion would be helpful. Thanks!
>

BigJim wrote:
> if you toasted your bios then your machine is toast
> send it back to IBM they may be able to fix it

He'll need a new motherboard.

It's apparent that the OP was attempting to erase an unknown Supervisor
(BIOS) Password from the unit by using cmospwd to "kill" the BIOS. Possibly
a stolen Thinkpad.
--
James

Visit the Thinkpad Forums
http://forum.thinkpads.com

CMOS is not the BIOS; CMOS and the BIOS are two different things. There
is no reason to believe that a program called "cmospwd" would damage the
BIOS.


JHEM wrote:
> BigJim wrote:
>> if you toasted your bios then your machine is toast
>> send it back to IBM they may be able to fix it
>
> He'll need a new motherboard.
>
> It's apparent that the OP was attempting to erase an unknown Supervisor
> (BIOS) Password from the unit by using cmospwd to "kill" the BIOS. Possibly
> a stolen Thinkpad.
> --
> James
>
> Visit the Thinkpad Forums
> http://forum.thinkpads.com
>
>

Barry Watzman wrote:
> CMOS is not the BIOS; CMOS and the BIOS are two different things.

Semantics in this instance Barry and you're unnecessarily splitting hairs.

> There is no reason to believe that a program called "cmospwd" would
> damage the BIOS.

I never said or inferred that it would or did.
--
James

Visit the Thinkpad Forums
http://forum.thinkpads.com

No it's not semantics. If he wiped CMOS, the system is probably
recoverable. If he wiped the BIOS, he's in a much more severe situation.


JHEM wrote:
> Barry Watzman wrote:
>> CMOS is not the BIOS; CMOS and the BIOS are two different things.
>
> Semantics in this instance Barry and you're unnecessarily splitting hairs.
>
>> There is no reason to believe that a program called "cmospwd" would
>> damage the BIOS.
>
> I never said or inferred that it would or did.

Barry Watzman wrote:
> No it's not semantics. If he wiped CMOS, the system is probably
> recoverable. If he wiped the BIOS, he's in a much more severe
> situation.

If he can't access the BIOS and change the CMOS settings because the unit
has a Supervisor Password on it, the difference is moot.

You're certainly correct as to the level of severity in a "normal" situation
where one can still access the BIOS and reset all the CMOS settings to
default. Apparently that's not the case here and the OP is hosed.
--
James

Visit the Thinkpad Forums
http://forum.thinkpads.com

hey,

i had the same problem with my Acer Travelmate 4050.

i used CMOSPWD 5.0 and killed my CMOS same as you.. after that i could not boot from CD-ROM or Hard Drive.

i assume that since used cmospwd you have access to your BIOS? Try setting a new password, off your laptop for a few minutes and then enter BIOS again. Go to 'Exit' choose 'Load Default Settings' and 'save and exit'.

Your system should restart as normal after you have done this.

Worked for me!

Hope it helps!

I killed the cmos on my thinkpad t43 and now it will not boot. Have disconnected the backup battery etc. It had a BIOS supervisor password. One reply made an assumption that theft was involved by someone. I purchased this laptop on eBay and the BIOS password was locking entry to the BIOS. Theft was not involved on this one.

Is there a way to get this to boot up? It also stops at the boot screen and still wants a Password.