T42: Can access but can't change BIOS settings

[#1]

Question

I can get into the BIOS fine but I just can't change any of the settings in the BIOS settings screens because it says I need to be in 'admin' mode. I've entered the BIOS by hitting the blue 'Access IBM' button, F1, or F12 and I run into the same problem. This was previously my brother's laptop and he set a BIOS password which I know and he was telling me one of the F-keys will get you into admin mode but he forgets which one.

Answer

You'll need to know the supervisor password. Access to BIOs differs for different Lenovo machines.

From our support pages:

A Supervisor password protects the system information stored in the BIOS. The user must enter the Supervisor password in order to get access to the ThinkPad BIOS Setup Utility in order to change the system configuration. If the Supervisor password is forgotten there is no way to reset it to enter the BIOS configuration. Setting a Supervisor password automatically sets the master Hard drive password. The following is the icon that comes up in the upper left corner if a Supervisor password is set:

If you do not have this your system board may need replacement.