Reformating an old laptop

[Stavvy]

So my friend has a laptop she wants me to reformat. It's an old Compaq running Windows 2000. It was her dad's computer from a few years back. Has a bunch of programs on it she doesn't need, but a security log in that she can't get past. I've tried to figure out a way to access command prompt before windows boots up, or even a BIOS screen, but to no avail.

Can anyone help? Azu?

[Ophan]

When i wanted to reformat my whole computer, i simply used a disk for the computers current operating system. I know you could torrent one via another computer, and burn it to disk. Also does her father know the password or was this computer completely forgotten?

[Stavvy]

The computer's years old, and probably completely forgotten. When her dad got it, it had Win2000 a few months before the OS was released, so that should tell you how old it is.

Yeah, I'm sure I'll have to torrent a pirated OS.

[krexia]

If you can't get into the BIOS or anything at all, as a last resort you could always just replace the hard drive. Smaller ones are pretty cheap. Weird that there's no "Press F10 for Setup" option or anything before the OS loads, though.

[The Lionheart]

I know this is a bit old, but I figured I'd check and see if you got it figured out anyways.

I would suggest booting to a linux live CD (Download | Ubuntu), deleting everything off of the harddrive, and then reinstalling windows.

[Azurith]

So Stavvy, my recommendation is to remove the laptop's CMOS battery.
If the bios was password protected, this will reset any password/security settings.
(It will *not* change windows passwords/security.) It should be located near the memory or
harddrive if you check the bays on the bottom of the laptop.
Without a specific model, I can't get more specific than that.

If you want a full and complete wipe:
Darik's Boot & Nuke
Darik's Boot And Nuke | Hard Drive Disk Wipe and Data Clearing
Supports settings for "DoD" standards for hdd cleansing.

There is other software.. but DBaN is free.

~~Azu