Hard reset

[Bryan Marks]

I just purchased a surface pro 3 from ebay. It looks like it was a demo for a store so it's password protected. I've tried resetting it, booting it off a usb drive...all just fails and goes back into the login screen...

I am about to smash the thing.

 

[guymalloc]

Haven't tried it with windows 8, but Petr Nordahl's password reset cd should allow you to reset or clear the password for the built in administrator account, or any other account. you will need to boot to the bios settings, clear the uefi boot, and the protected mode boot settings, and use the cd with an external dvd or cd drive connected to the usb port. A web search for Nordahl's cd image should find you an iso file to create it on another pc. It's a live linux disk with the password reset software built in. I have used it with windows xp, vista, and windows 7. The only problem is you will lose access to the accounts personal folders once you blank or change the password, but you may be able to run the reset from windows 8 after.