In each case, if the correct password is not known or forgotten then a tool like HDD Unlock is the only way to get further use from the hard drive.
This software includes proprietary coding allowing it to unlock drives that have been locked via a HDD password, ATA password or BIOS POST test via the boot-up sequence. Therefore, modern laptops sporting 500 GB or 1 TB of hard drive space could take several hours to be unlocked, reset and become usable again.
A 2.5 inch laptop hard drive will take a little longer than its 3.5 inch brother. To provide some sense of the time-frame required, an 80 GB 3.5 inch desktop hard drive will take approximately 25 minutes to complete the task. The process of unlocking a hard drive is not as fast as one might think. This diagnosis can be performed before any decision to go ahead with unlocking and resetting for future use as a fresh drive for a computer system or gaming console. It is also possible to diagnose a hard drive to determine whether it can have its user and master password removed. The following hard drive manufacturers are known to be supported with this application: Seagate, Toshiba, Western Digital, Fujitsu, Maxtor and Samsung. The package not only works with Windows desktop 3.5 inch drives, but it can also access 2.5 inch laptop drives, and X-Box drives. The drive will need to be erased when unlocked and then re-certified to be used again in the future. The HDD Unlock wizard takes the user through their self-explanatory software wizard process in order to safely unlock a hard drive.
Whether either a user password or a master password has been set for the hard drive, both can be removed safely from the affected drive. HDD Unlock is an application that can remove a hard disk drive password for IDE and SATA drives where the user has forgotten their security password.