How to Recover Deleted Files is not a problem, there are dozens of utilities for this. But what if the drive is damaged, has an erroneous geometry description, or is locked with a password at the controller level? Then the Victoria utility comes to the rescue. It is written in assembler, takes a few kilobytes and works directly with the controller.
FROM MS-DOS TO WINDOWS 10
Victoria was conceived as a tool for advanced diagnostics of drives (then - hard drives, and today also SSD) and control the settings of their work through low-level commands. Belarusian programmer Sergei Kazansky has been developing it for ten years and releasing an author's set of utilities for data recovery. During this time, there were many commercial releases of Victoria, several free versions̆ and one unofficial one, which we will pay special attention to.
Victoria was originally a disk utility for MS-DOS, written in assembly language. The ancient operating system was better suited than Windows due to the fact that
in a single-tasking environment, it is easier to provide exclusive disk access. With the advent of support for the porttalk.sys driver, Victoria versions 4.xx learned to work in a multitasking WinPE environment, as well as in Windows from XP to 10 of any bit depth. It has become easier to launch it, the actions in the graphical interface have become clearer, and the operating mode itself has changed. But here's the trouble: without understanding the new features of the program, some users began to lose data and entire disks instead of restoring them. Therefore, the latest official version 4.46b has a developed "protection from the fool".
By default, only non-destructive operations with drives are available in it. This is not just a read-only mode like other utilities that access the HDD / SSD using the Windows driver. Victoria at the first start also blocks the ability to change HPA (and screw up the geometry of the disk), accidentally run low-level formatting and "shoot yourself in the foot" in more sophisticated ways.
Victoria is the most versatile utility. It accesses any type of drive (HDD, SSD, USB Flash) and with any ATA-compatible interface. Its job is to send ATA commands to any device that supports them. Therefore, everything said about Victoria's work with disk drives is also true for solid-state ones, with the exception of what relates to their design features. It is clear that it is pointless for an SSD to watch the spindle spin time and try to control the speed of positioning the heads - it has neither one nor the other. Nevertheless, it is quite possible to test and even restore an SSD using Victoria.
Recover data on hard drive with VICTORIA 4.47
This version was made in 2013 by a programmer from Moscow, Oleg Shcherbakov. He patched the latest official Victoria build 4.46b. It is better to download (zip). On this site Shcherbakov published it along with the source of the patches. The rest of the resources can distribute anything under the guise of the new "Victoria".
Although Victoria is far from new program, there were also critical errorsthat needed to be fixed. One of them led to the fact that it was impossible to run Victoria on 64-bit versions of Windows. Due to the other, problems could appear when working with large disks. If the volume was higher than a terabyte, then Victoria 4.46b simply spent all virtual memory for drawing and color coding of checked LBA blocks. In version 4.47 Shcherbakov fixed all this.
Running Victoria 4.47 on Windows 7 SP1 x64, API mode Victoria has two modes of operation: PIO (Programmed Input / Output) and API (Application Prgoramming Interface). In PIO mode, the drive controller is polled by the program through the porttalk.sys driver. If you select API, then operating system tools will be used. Disk performance drops in PIO mode because DMA and high-level read / write optimizations are not supported. However, PIO mode allows you to use all the features of Victoria and send any ATA commands directly to the disk controller, bypassing the OS and standard drivers. It is through PIO that they most often work with disks in data recovery laboratories. Victoria supports both modern SATA drives and old ones - PATA (it is often called IDE by mistake). Victoria knows how to work with external drives (features will be described below).
Having selected the PIO mode, at the beginning of work, you need to scan the bus and identify the disk controllers with the PCI-Scan button. To the right of it, a window for selecting a disk port is displayed. Internal ones are usually detected without problems, but for external drives you will first have to find out their port numbers. This can be done in the properties of the equipment or in any diagnostic program (for example, AIDA64). After that, you need to manually set the port in "Victoria". Also, even at the scanning stage, you can select the All dev checkbox (all devices) and use the exclusion method to find the required disk in the list of found ones.
Victoria 4.47 in PIO mode It is advisable to use PIO mode specifically for low-level commands. A simple search for bad sectors and their reassignment to the spare area of \u200b\u200bthe disk is much faster (but less reliable) in API mode.
The limitations of the API mode are as follows: you cannot set or remove ATA passwords; work with Host Protected Area and viewing registers is also disabled. If any of these functions are needed, then you can switch to PIO mode. However, it happens that the PIO mode is not available. This happens when using older versions of Victoria on 64-bit OS. Another reason may be errors in the porttalk.sys driver or the SATA AHCI mode selection in BIOS / UEFI. A guaranteed way out of the situation is as follows.
- We write with WinPE x86 and put on it victoria program simple copying.
- We connect the required drive to the SATA / PATA port, if we have not already done so.
- Disable all other HDDs or SSDs (optional).
- Go to the CMOS setup, switch the SATA controller mode from AHCI to compatible (compatible, native or IDE).
- Download WinPE. Install drivers, including porttalk, if necessary.
- Launch Victoria in PIO mode, initialize the required HDD or SSD and execute the required command.
Settings can be configured via the GUI or in the vcr40.ini file. The same file will help to remove the blocking of work with the primary port. By default, it is enabled in order to protect the system disk from accidental modification. To be able to select Primary in the port list, you need to do two things:
1. Disable the "non-destructive functions only" option and close the program.
2. In the section of the vcr40.ini file, add the line Enable PM \u003d 1, save the changes and restart the program.
PORTTALK
Recent versions of Victoria are able to automatically install the porttalk driver, however it is completely useless on 64-bit systems. The fact is that for the sake of greater security, they removed a couple of functions that are needed for porttalk and Victoria to work. Therefore, the porttalk driver (and, accordingly, PIO mode) works only on 32-bit versions of Windows, where there are Ke386SetIoAccessMap and Ke386IoSetAccessProcess functions.
EXTERNAL STORES
External drives are ordinary laptop (2.5 ") or desktop (3.5") models in containers with USB and FireWire interfaces. They are supplied with various controllers under the general name "SATA-bridge". Many of these bridges do not broadcast low-level commands. Therefore, with one external storage Victoria can immediately work in PIO mode in the same way as with internal disks, but with others you will first have to suffer. In the simplest case, it will be enough to remove the disk itself from the case (do not open the HDA!) And connect it directly to the port.
SATA hard drive without SATA port
Western Digital and, possibly, other manufacturers, some external hard drives were already produced with a soldered SATA - USB bridge. Therefore, they do not have the usual SATA connector. However, you can still connect them directly to the port by soldering the SATA cable to the pins on the drive board. To understand whether your disk belongs to such a series, you will have to disassemble it, or google by model number and look for datasheets.
HDD password recovery
One of the most popular low-level commands in PIO mode is working with passwords. According to ATA certifications, disk access can be restricted using a password. It is set by the user from the BIOS or using external utilities. There is also a master password preset by the manufacturer. You can lock the drive only with a user password. If it is forgotten, then the lock can be removed with a master password.
Depending on the set security level, the result of entering the master password will be different. At a high level (high), the master password acts on a par with the user password. It just unlocks the disk and that's it. If the maximum security level (max) is set, then entering the master password instead of the user password will unlock the disk only after all data on it has been completely erased (secure erase).
Working with ATA passwords is further complicated by the fact that, according to the standard, they always consist of 32 bytes (no matter how long you specify it). Extra characters are ignored, and missing characters are added automatically. The problem is that different programs add them in different ways. This is especially true for standard protective utilities on some laptops. Instead of traditional zeros (or at least spaces), they use non-printable characters. The 00h code cannot be typed at all from the keyboard (even via (ALT) + code). There is only one way out: do not enter the password in the program window, but read it from the file. Any characters can be written to a file using a hex editor.
It is not uncommon for the user to be unable to unlock the drive even when they enter the correct password. If you change the laptop or lose the standard utility, any other utility (for example, HDDL) will add the password up to 32 bytes with its own characters.
There is also a preliminary modification of the password. In many laptops, it is actually encrypted before being sent to the controller. Usually these are the simplest logical operations, but this does not make it easier. The user thinks that the password is known to him, while in reality the controller accepts a completely different one. If you have tried all the options for the assumed user and standard master passwords, but have not achieved the result, then there is only one way out - take the drive to the laboratory, where they will work with it in technological mode.
How to get a lost terabyte back
Sometimes Victoria's ability to work in PIO mode with HPA (Host Protected Area) - a service area of \u200b\u200bmemory in which the geometry of the disk is recorded, is very helpful. It determines the size of the drive, specifying it as the number of LBAs.
There was an amusing incident in my practice. Received a standard complaint: "the computer does not turn on" (read, the OS does not boot). The owner complained that he had been suffering for about a month. First he traveled all over service centers, then invited different enikeyschik - to no avail. I arrived, looked and also thought hard. All components are in good working order. The disk is detected in the BIOS, but it does not boot from it. Launched Linux from a USB stick. The Winchester is visible, but the logical partitioning utilities show a strange picture: 64 MB of total size and one partition with an unknown file system.
And then I realized that the HPA just flew off the hard drive. As a result, a terabyte disk came to be defined as a 64-megabyte stub. I switched the SATA ports mode from AHCI to compatible in CMOS setup, took a USB flash drive with WinPE and launched Victoria in PIO mode. Then I sent the command NHPA (restore factory volume).
Usually, in such cases, it is possible to instantly restore the passport value of the LBA blocks, but this time the miracle did not happen. Therefore, I found a service utility for this series of hard drives and sent a similar HPA recovery command from it. A terabyte of data returned from nothing on the next reboot.
Why did Victoria fail? I suppose because this disc had some specific features unknown to me or the universal program.
FAILED HDD SECTORS
Most often, Victoria is used to find and eliminate bad sectors. If everything is in order with the HPA on the disk and password protection is not worth it, but no utilities can read files from it in a reasonable time, then it's time to perform a surface test. Victoria can do this in any mode (PIO / API) using sector-by-sector read, write and verify write.
Bad sector detection When recovering data, you can use only read, but its options are also different. The simplest of them is sequential: from the first block to the last. The initial and final LBA values \u200b\u200bcan be specified manually, which is convenient for many reasons at once. Firstly, this makes it possible to test disks of any size, simply performing the test in fragments up to one terabyte. Secondly, you can re-check the suspicious area and exclude external factors. Victoria analyzes the time of access to the sector. Typically, for new disks, it does not exceed 5 ms for 80% of sectors. Sectors with a poll time of less than 50 ms are also considered normal. Those in which it is measured in hundreds of milliseconds are candidates for bad sectors.
If the sector was read after a few seconds, then this is an unambiguous bad block. Such a disk controller must detect itself during idle time and replace them in the address table with healthy sectors from the spare area. However, in practice this does not always happen. Victoria can ask the hard drive to perform such an operation (Remap) for those sectors that have not responded to requests for too long. Formally, during this procedure, part of the information is lost, but in reality it was already lost at the moment when the sector became bad.
In the paid version of Victoria, the Restore function was available - an attempt to read data from a bad sector at any cost and then overwrite it with a healthy sector. However, the program has not been officially supported since 2008, so purchase it full version Not sure it's going to happen. Free Victoria has helped out more than once by recovering HPA, resetting passwords and eliminating bad sectors, which caused other data recovery programs to freeze.
Reading graph during HDD surface test HOW Free Victoria Saved Secret Jobs
I will share one more story with you. Laboratory at the research institute, our time. The analytical instrument is controlled from the computer that came with it. A very specific software is pre-installed on the computer, which the developers no longer support. The distribution kit is not on the disk or on the website. There is only installed programand it stopped working. The laboratory carried out research on a multi-year government contract. Without the miracle device, the employees were bound hand and foot. We suffered and found out that the problem is with the disk. From antiquity, he was covered with badges, and normal work became impossible. An attempt to make a disk clone skipping bad sectors was unsuccessful - the cloning program hung tight. We ran the disk with the Victoria test with the Remap function. Pre-selected the necessary settings. By the evening of the same day, they successfully removed the disk image, and then restored everything from it to a new hard drive. The device came to life, the contract was fulfilled on time.
Victoria has four methods and three types of surface testing (twelve modes in total). In each, it automatically calculates the total number of defective blocks and writes their addresses to the log. Like a disk editor, Victoria is able to show the contents of sectors and allows you to change it. In PIO mode, Victoria displays information about logical partitions on the media even if it is not detected at all in the BIOS. No API-accessible utility is capable of this.
In addition, Victoria is able to control the level of acoustic noise of a disk (AAM), adjusting the speed of movement of its heads during search, start low-level formatting, change the size of the HDD and perform benchmarks. It can even be used to check the physical interface (cable and port status). At home, it will save HDD or SSD in many difficult situations, except for severe mechanical damage that requires opening the HDA. The laboratory will cope with them, using Victoria as one of the proven utilities.
Quite often, users set a password on the HDD. However, this would not be a problem if people did not forget these very installed codes. If this is your first time faced with such a situation and do not know how to remove the password from hard drive on a laptop, then this article is for you.
If you installed the code on the internal media and forgot, then you will not even be able to boot the OS installed on your PC. That is, the ability to use a laptop or computer for its intended purpose will simply be absent. In such a situation, the user can only delete the set password because there is no other way to get access to the computer.
Online service
There are several ways to remove the password from the hdd, and one of them is the well-known online service "BIOS Password Removal for Laptops".
To get rid of the forgotten code by using it, you must:
- Enter it incorrectly 3 times (any combination of numbers or letters).
- After that, the window should appear special code.
- We copy the received numbers.
- We enter the same combination on the site, using the link provided above.
A few seconds after entering a combination of numbers in a specially designated line, you will receive a code that will help you reset the password from your drive.
It should be clarified that this program is suitable for all models and manufacturers of hard drives (seagate, hitachi, toshiba, wd, etc.). Moreover, it does not matter what operating system is installed on your computer or laptop, because this service is considered universal.
BIOS
You can remove the password from the hard disk in the BIOS only if the cipher was originally installed through the bios.
All you need to do is use the standard default reset option:
Thus, we have reset the password from the HDD.
Second way
The next option is a free MHDD utility specially designed for a variety of hard disk operations.
First, you need to familiarize yourself with the operation of the drive password protection:
- Winchester can have high or maximum protection.
- Using the MHDD application, you can set a custom protection level.
- The factory-set master password can only be changed.
- Using a master password makes it possible to unlock the disk only with a high level of protection.
- In the case of the maximum level of protection, the hard drive can be unlocked only if a custom code is set.
- If the maximum security level is set and there is no user password, then the drive can be unlocked only by destroying all data using the Security Erase Unit ATA command.
Considering the above information, in order to remove the password from the hard disk, you should:
Thus, you can very quickly remove the previously entered and forgotten cipher.
Third way
Also, the HDD_PW.EXE (18KB) program will help you to remove the password from the hard disk. In order to remove the code using it, you need to do the following:
- Find out the error code (when loading, press F2 and enter the wrong combination of numbers three times, after which a special code will appear on the screen)
- Start MS-DOS application.
- Select the name of the utility in the window that opens.
- Enter the error code that you learned earlier through a space, and add 0 through a space.
- By pressing "Enter", you will see several passwords, one of which will definitely work.
After entering the code, be sure to change it to a new one and write it down.
When performing such steps on a 64-bit system, you may encounter some difficulties. The system may issue an error due to a mismatch in the utility. In this situation, it is necessary:
- Download DOSBox, install and run.
- Mount drive "C" with the command "mount c c: /".
- After that, at startup, press "F2", type the wrong code 3 times again and do the same.
To eliminate the likelihood of such situations, it is recommended to completely get rid of the cipher by disabling it in the PC settings. If you are in dire need of it, then it is worth writing it down in a notebook or any other place so that you do not have to reset again.
If you have lenovo laptop and at startup the message "enter hdd password" is displayed on the screen, the method described in this video will help you:
onoutbukax.ru
Reset password from HDD or BIOS
Good afternoon, dear blog readers! Today we will talk about something that is not so frequent, but important. I have more than once faced such a problem as the set password for hDD or BIOS. Probably many do not quite understand, and perhaps I do not understand at all what I mean. I'll explain in more detail now.
BIOS password
Bios is software, located in read-only memory (ROM), engaged in self-testing of devices and search for a bootloader. Naturally, the BIOS functionality is much wider than described above, but we will not dig deep, but consider directly on the topic of our article. The BIOS password is set to avoid manipulation by third parties.
How to remove password from BIOS
The installed bios password does not make it possible to get into it, and in this case there are three options for solving this situation: reset the BIOS settings by removing the CMOS battery on the motherboard, rearrange the CMOS jumper (jumper) on the motherboard in the opposite direction (not provided in laptops) or simply close contacts
and the last way to remove the BIOS password using the online service BIOS Password Removal for Laptops. If you know the password and it is simply inconvenient for you to enter it constantly when entering the BIOS, then you can disable it by entering the settings.
HDD password
Here the purpose and function of the password is slightly different. If in the first case you simply cannot get into the BIOS, then with the set password on the HDD, you cannot boot the operating system. And this is the inability to use a computer or laptop for its intended purpose.
How to remove password from HDD
If we considered three options to solve problems with the bios, then in order to remove the password from the hdd, I have only one for you, the same bourgeois online service. I have not described above how to use this site. To unlock a password that you don't remember, you need to enter it incorrectly three times (for example, 1234 or whatever). After the attempts made, a code will appear in the window, enter it on the site http://bios-pw.org/ and in response you will receive a code to reset the password from the hard drive.
How to put a password on a hard drive or BIOS
Set these passwords to protect data and from various manipulations. Each BIOS provides such a function. Current computers and laptops have a Security tab where you can set passwords. More on this in the pictures.
Setting passwords on BIOS and hard drive
Set Supervisor Password - set Administrator password Set User Password - set HDD User password Password - hard disk password Password on boot is used to enable or disable the password at boot.
Well that's all, my little article has come to an end. See you soon!
I would be grateful if you use the buttons: 
ssecond-life.ru
How to remove password from BIOS and HDD on a laptop.
We turn on the laptop and see this ... Nice picture, isn't it? I suppose those who have safely forgotten the BIOS password, or someone who is very clever joking with a laptop, will disagree with me. Have you ever reset a forgotten BIOS password on a laptop? Believe me, this activity is not for the faint of heart, where the chances of success tend to zero.
The fact is that, unlike conventional computers, in laptops, passwords are usually stored in non-volatile memory. There are no jumpers here for reset BIOS factory settings, and removing the battery rarely resets the password. It remains to rely either on luck in selecting the unlock code, or on replacing the BIOS and all sorts of "shamanism" with unsoldering the EEPROM legs (there are such materials on the network). So think again before you password-protect your laptop via BIOS.
If my warnings still did not stop you, take a look at the picture below, you will see something similar by disassembling a notebook to remove a password.
Is it scary now? Okay, I was joking, I had to radically disassemble the eMachines E510 for another reason. In this case, everything was solved easier ...
Removing BIOS Password for eMachines E510 Laptop
In general, they brought a laptop with a request to see what can be done and bring it into working order. Previously, he visited the service, where he was issued a verdict on the need to replace the password-protected hard drive. Apparently in the same place, to the heap, they set a password for the BIOS (so that there was no temptation to go somewhere else?). I don’t presume to assert, but the owner has no idea about the password for turning on the laptop, but the password for the hard disk is asked after ...
Well, first, let's try to remove the password from Laptop BIOS... Having climbed the network, I realized that the last good advice ended that way in 2005. Now no one wants to share secrets for free. There are, however, specialized forums (where you first need to register), where they post different codes for unlocking at the request of the participants, but the sources are kept in the strictest confidence and they are covered with an area of \u200b\u200bmystery (probably in order to emphasize their chosenness over the rest).
At the end of the article, I will give a link to one such mysterious source that helped unblock the hard tOSHIBA disc without communicating with these "gurus". And the English-speaking GOOGLE took me there.
Removing the BIOS password on the eMachines E510 was not difficult at all, you just had to short-circuit the battery contacts. To be honest, I didn't really hope for success, but sometimes simple methods turn out to be very effective. I am not saying that this unlocking method is suitable for all laptops, but it is worth trying, especially since it does not require any special knowledge and skills.
The eMachines E510 laptop is almost a service technician's dream (unless major repairs are required). provides easy access to the insides. For example, you can clean it by removing only one back cover, although the latches are very tight. Removing the cover, we get access to the desired battery:
Attention! Before closing the contacts, you must turn off the power and remove the battery from the laptop. Just in case, I held the screwdriver (I closed it with it) for a couple of minutes, because I didn't know exactly and I don't know how much is needed. The main result is that the BIOS password is gone! However, the happiness did not last long ...
Removing password from HDD TOSHIBA MK1246GSX
Here the main ambush awaited me. To understand what this is about, read the article Modern HDD Password System. The article is not mine, I just posted it on my blog so that it does not disappear (I will gladly add a link to the source when I recognize the author).
I brought this article only to get acquainted with what we are dealing with, the advice from it did not help. If you have carefully read the text, you will notice that it is not recommended to enter the Master password from the laptop, it will convert it. However, it was not by chance that I wrote at the beginning of the topic about specialized forums and "gurus". You don't need to be a genius to understand - unlock codes are clearly not taken from the head, and I do not believe in supernatural possibilities and exclusivity.
I got into the jungle of the Internet and came across an entertaining article BIOS Password Backdoors in Laptops on Dogbert's Blog, where I also found a link to an online calculator for removing passwords.
The point is that after three incorrect attempts to enter the password to access the hard disk, a certain code is issued - Encrypt HDD Key:
It's time to share the link promised at the beginning of the topic: BIOS Password Removal for Laptops. Many thanks to the author of this resource. At my request (I entered my Encrypt HDD Key), two unlock codes were issued, for Acer, HP and Fujitsu-Siemens. The code for Acer suits me perfectly, because eMachines is practically the same Acer. The password was successfully removed from the HDD :)
mdex-nn.ru
How do I remove the password from the hard drive?
Removing the password on the hard drive and laptop BIOS is a fairly common problem that users often encounter. There are several methods (utilities) that can help you remove your password. On this moment time, many utilities are popular in solving this problem. To remedy this situation, you need to follow certain rules.
Instructions
If you set a password and forget it, the program data will be useful to you:
BIOS_PW.EXE (18KB) to remove the password for Computer BIOS.
HDD_PW.EXE (18KB) to remove the password from the hard disk.
To do this, when loading, press “F2” and enter the wrong password three times.
Enter a five-digit error code separated by a space, which the laptop displays when the password is incorrectly typed.
Add the digit 0 through a space.
Now press Enter. The program will provide you with several passwords. One of them should go to the BIOS.
After entering passwords on BIOS or HDD, do not forget to change them to new ones.
If you try to perform the above described actions on a 64-bit platform, difficulties may arise.
The system will report that it is impossible to run a utility or component, because the program is not compatible with the 64-bit version. The solution is pretty simple.
Download DOSBox from the developer's site, install and run.
First, mount the C drive. You can do this with the following command: “mount c c: /”.
imguru.ru
Password system of modern HDD
I'll make a reservation right away that the article is not mine and is rather ancient (approximately 2005). It is an addition to the previous post How to remove password from BIOS and HDD on a laptop. It was not possible to establish the exact source, so if you have information about the author, I will gladly post a link.
Any modern drive supports a password system. Before you start working with the password storage system, you need to learn two things:
- The drive can be password protected with either a "High" security level or a maximum ("Maximum"). The difference is described below. MHDD reports the level of protection when identifying the drive (F2).
- You can password-protect the drive by sending the appropriate command, selecting the mode (high or maximum), and sending the drive a new User-password. In MHDD, you can load the drive with the PWD command.
Contrary to the common misconception, it is impossible to "lock" or "lock" a drive using a Master password. The master password can only be changed. The Master password can unlock the drive if the USER password is forgotten, but this is possible only if the protection level was set to “High”. If the protection level is "Maximum", then you can unlock the drive only if you know the User-password.
If the protection level is “Maximum”, the User-password is unknown, but the Master-password is known, then it is possible to unlock the drive and destroy all data using the Security Erase Unit ATA command. This is implemented in MHDD (FASTERASE command), but this procedure in MHDD only works with User passwords.
Thus, a drive locked with the “High” protection level can be unlocked using either the Master or User password. If the protection level is “Maximum”, then the drive can be unlocked only with the User password, or with the Master password, but with the destruction of all data.
Manufacturers set factory master passwords, and if they are not changed in advance, they can be used to unlock a password-protected drive, the protection level of which is "High".
You can set the User password by issuing the PWD command to the MHDD. This sets the protection level to "High". The ability to set a different level in MHDD is not available for security reasons. Also, the entered password is displayed in the mhdd.log file. After setting the password, the drive must be turned off.
Unlocking a drive with a password with the "High" protection level is possible with a User or Master password. If the password is unknown, then, in general, it is impossible to unlock the drive, although there are two ways:
- If the password is not encrypted by the drive itself, you can try to read it from the surface using technological commands;
- Unlocking is possible using specially developed methods.
If the password is known, then the procedure for unlocking the drive in MHDD is as follows:
- issue the UNLOCK command, select the User password, and enter the password. This temporarily unlocks the drive (until you turn off the power).
- issue the DISPWD command, select User password, and re-enter the password. This removes the blockage completely.
According to the ATA / ATAPI standard, you cannot issue the DISPWD command without first unlocking the drive with the UNLOCK command.
If the password is unknown and the protection level is "Maximum", then you cannot do without special means. If the password is unknown, and the security level is “High”, and the Master password has not been changed, then it is possible to unlock the drive knowing the factory Master password.
List of known Master passwords
Fujitsu hard drives: thirty-two spaces. In MHDD, you must enter 32 spaces when prompted for a password.
Seagate hard drives: the word "Seagate" without quotes, with capital letterpadded with 25 spaces to 32 symbols. In MHDD, when prompted for a password, you must enter the word Seagate followed by 25 spaces.
Maxtor hard drives: the phrase "Maxtor INIT SECURITY TEST STEP" - case is important! There is one space at the end of the phrase. Password length is 31 characters.
Samsung hard drives: 32 characters "t". In MHDD, when prompted for a password, 32 characters t must be entered.
Western Digital Winchesters: the phrase "WDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWD", without quotes.
IBM Winchesters:
dTTA series: "CED79IJUFNATIT" padded with spaces to 32 characters. in MHDD to request a password, enter the above phrase, and then 18 spaces.
dJNA series: "VON89IJUFSUNAJ" padded with spaces to 32 characters. in MHDD to request a password, enter the above phrase, and then 18 spaces.
dPTA series: "VON89IJUFSUNAJ" padded with spaces to 32 characters. in MHDD to request a password, enter the above phrase, and then 18 spaces.
dTLA series: "RAM00IJUFOTSELET" padded with spaces up to 32 characters. in MHDD to request a password, enter the above phrase, and then 16 spaces.
Winchesters Hitachi, series DK23AA, DK23BA, DK23CA: thirty-two spaces. In MHDD, you must enter 32 spaces when prompted for a password.
Toshiba Winchesters, all series: thirty-two spaces. In MHDD, you must enter 32 spaces when prompted for a password.
Important note: if you are trying to unlock a drive that was locked by a laptop, please note that laptops change Master passwords automatically. Also, the password entered from the laptop keyboard is different from the password that the laptop sends to the drive. The password entered from the keyboard is pre-encrypted and only then sent to the drive.
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All important information for the user is stored on the hard disk. To protect your device from unauthorized access, we recommend that you set a password on it. This can be done using built-in Windows tools or special software.
You can set a password for the entire hard drive or its individual partitions. This is convenient if the user wants to protect only certain files and folders. To secure the entire computer, it is enough to use standard administration tools and set a password for account... To protect an external or stationary hard drive, you will have to use special software.
Method 1: Disk Password Protection
The trial version of the program is available for free download from the official website. Allows you to set a password when logging into individual disks and HDD partitions. However, the lock codes may differ for different logical volumes. How to install protection on a physical disk of a computer:
After that, all files on the hard disk of the computer will be encrypted, and you will be able to access them only after entering the password. The utility allows you to install protection on stationary disks, separate partitions and external USB devices.
Tip: To protect your data on internal drive, it is not necessary to put a password on it. If other people have access to the computer, then restrict their access through administration or configure hidden display files and folders.
Method 2: TrueCrypt
The program is distributed free of charge and can be used without installation on a computer (in Portable mode). TrueCrypt is suitable for protecting individual partitions hard disk or any other storage media. Additionally, it allows you to create encrypted container files.
TrueCrypt only supports MBR hard drives. If you are using an HDD with GPT, you will not be able to set a password.
To put a security code on your hard drive via TrueCrypt, follow these steps:
- Run the program and in the menu Volumes click "Create New Volume".
- The File Encryption Wizard will open. Please select Encrypt the system partition or entire system drive» if you want to set a password on the drive where Windows is installed. Then press "Next".
- Specify the type of encryption (normal or hidden). We recommend using the first option - "Standard TrueCrypt volume"... Then press "Next".
- Next, the program will ask you to choose whether to encrypt only the system partition or the entire disk. Select the option you want and click "Next"... Use "Encrypt the whole drive"to put the security code on your entire hard drive.
- Specify the number of installed on disk operating systems... For single OS PCs, select "Single-boot" and press "Next".
- Select the desired encryption algorithm from the drop-down list. We recommend using "AES" along with hashing "RIPMED-160"... But you can specify any other. Click on "Next"to go to the next step.
- Create a password and confirm it in the field below. It is desirable that it consist of random combinations of numbers, Latin letters (uppercase, lowercase) and special characters. The length must not exceed 64 characters.
- After that, data collection will begin to create a crypto key.
- When the system receives enough information, the key will be generated. This completes the creation of the hard disk password.
Additionally, the software will prompt you to specify the location on your computer where the recovery disk image will be written (in case of loss of the security code or damage to TrueCrypt). This step is optional and can be done at any other time.
Method 3: BIOS
The method allows you to set a password on the HDD or computer. Not suitable for all models motherboards, and individual setup steps may differ depending on the features of the PC assembly. Procedure:
After that, to access the information on the HDD (when entering and loading Windows), you will have to constantly enter the specified in BIOS password... You can cancel it here. If there is no such parameter in the BIOS, then try using Methods 1 and 2.
The password can be put on an external or stationary hard drive, removable USB storage medium. This can be done through the BIOS or special software. After that, other users will not be able to access the files and folders stored on it.
More recently, I had to face a terrible situation. The hard drive was locked, though only 8GB, but still it is also money (:
When you turn on the computer and identify devices, stumbling on the definition of the hard drive, the computer displays a message
HDD Locked. Please enter the password
After researching the problem, I found a lot of interesting information regarding locked screws. After reading everything below, I did what is even below (:
There are paid solutions (expensive and 2 options with saving information (more expensive) and without it - cheaper).
Master passwords for HDD. Master ATA password.
Contrary to the common misconception, it is impossible to "lock" or "lock" a drive using a Master password. The master password can only be changed. The Master password can unlock the drive if the USER password is forgotten, but this is possible only if the protection level was set to “High”. If the protection level is "Maximum", then you can unlock the drive only if you know the User-password. If the protection level is “Maximum”, the User-password is unknown, but the Master-password is known, then it is possible to unlock the drive and destroy all data using the Security Erase Unit ATA command. This is implemented in MHDD (FASTERASE command), but this procedure in MHDD only works with User passwords.
Thus, a drive locked with the “High” protection level can be unlocked using either the Master or User password. If the protection level is "Maximum", then unlock
the drive can only be used with a User password, or with a Master password, but with the destruction of all data.
Manufacturers set factory master passwords, and if they are not changed in advance, they can be used to unlock a password-protected drive, the protection level of which is "High".
You can set the User password by issuing the PWD command to the MHDD. This sets the protection level to "High". The ability to set a different level in MHDD is not available for security reasons. Also, the entered password is displayed in the mhdd.log file. After setting the password, the drive must be turned off.
Unlocking a drive with a password with the "High" protection level is possible with a User or Master password. If the password is unknown, then, in general, it is impossible to unlock the drive, although there are two ways:
1. If the password is not encrypted by the drive itself, you can try to read it from the surface using technological commands;
2. Unlocking is possible using specially developed methods.
If the password is known, then the procedure for unlocking the drive in MHDD is as follows:
1. Give the UNLOCK command, select the User password, and enter the password. This temporarily unlocks the drive (until you turn off the power).
2. issue the DISPWD command, select User password, and re-enter the password. This removes the blockage completely.
According to the ATA / ATAPI standard, you cannot issue the DISPWD command without first unlocking the drive with the UNLOCK command.
If the password is unknown and the protection level is "Maximum", then you cannot do without special means. If the password is unknown, and the security level is “High”, and the Master password has not been changed, then it is possible to unlock the drive knowing the factory Master password.
List of known Master passwords:
Fujitsu hard drives: thirty-two spaces. In MHDD, you must enter 32 spaces when prompted for a password.
Seagate hard drives: the word "Seagate" without quotes, with a capital letter, padded with 25 spaces to 32 characters. In MHDD, when prompted for a password, you must enter the word Seagate followed by 25 spaces. Also, advice from one of the site visitors: if the password does not fit, try entering the word SeaGate and 25 dots.
Winchesters Maxtor: the phrase "Maxtor INIT SECURITY TEST STEP" - case is important! There is one space at the end of the phrase. Password length is 31 characters.
Samsung Winchesters: 32 characters "t". In MHDD, when prompted for a password, 32 characters t must be entered.
Western Digital Winchesters: the phrase "WDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWD", without quotes.
IBM Winchesters:
DTTA series: "CED79IJUFNATIT" padded with spaces to 32 characters. in MHDD to request a password, enter the above phrase, and then 18 spaces.
DJNA series: “VON89IJUFSUNAJ” padded with spaces to 32 characters. in MHDD to request a password, enter the above phrase, and then 18 spaces.
DPTA series: "VON89IJUFSUNAJ" padded with spaces to 32 characters. in MHDD, when prompted for a password, enter the above phrase, and then 18 spaces.
DTLA series: "RAM00IJUFOTSELET" padded with spaces up to 32 characters. in MHDD, when prompted for a password, enter the above phrase, and then 16 spaces. http://www.ihdd.ru/mhdd
Winchesters Hitachi, series DK23AA, DK23BA, DK23CA: thirty-two spaces. In MHDD, you must enter 32 spaces when prompted for a password.
Toshiba Winchesters, all series: thirty-two spaces. In MHDD, you must enter 32 spaces when prompted for a password.
Below are the User passwords set in certain situations by various popular programs:
MHDD versions 3.x, occurs when an internal error occurs: 32 letters "A" or 32 letters "B" (capital Latin).
HDDL, occurs when an unsuccessful quick erase attempt: "fuck".
HRT: 32 characters with a code of 0. In order to enter such a password in MHDD, it is enough to press ENTER when prompted for a password.
HDD ERASE 4.0: during disk cleaning sets the password "idrive" - \u200b\u200byou can also remove it with it!
That's just a prog HDD ERASE 4.0 my screw got locked, all because I didn’t wait for the end of the "erase" to reboot the car ...
Another it-shnaya riddle about passwords on media.
We have a WD400 hard drive like this:
Playful pens (or bad luck? (- :) set a password on him).
On numerous forums, smart people write what it is (setting a password) with information carriers from WesternDigitall sometimes happens due to a power outage, incorrect completion programs like PQmagic or Acronis.
So, there is a task to remove.
A bit of theory from Victoria's help:
Security options management. Passwords, password removal, temporary unlocking.
Theoretical introduction:
Modern hard drives have 2 types of passwords and 2 levels of secrecy. First, let's look at the types of passwords:
- User password: serves to restrict access to user information. When setting a User password, the hard drive rejects commands such as read and write. Consequently, information from a password-protected hard drive can neither be read, nor changed, nor erased. This can be done only after removing the password or after temporary unlocking.
- Master-password: NOT intended to protect information. Its purpose is to remove the User-password if the latter is lost. The master password, being set on the hard drive, will not affect its performance in any way.
- High: high level. The High level password can be removed using the Master password while saving the information on the hard drive.
- Maximum: maximum level. If the User-password of the Maximum level is set on the hard drive, then the Master-password will not be able to delete it (the screw will give an error), and to remove the password, you will have to use Security Erase. This is a special command that will ask you to transfer the Master-password to the screw, after which it will erase all information from it, and only after that it will unlock it.
Is it possible to "find" a lost password by brute force? In the case of a hard drive, it is almost unrealistic. According to the ATA standard, after FIVE unsuccessful attempts entering the password, the screw blocks the commands (in this case, the status "Expired" will appear in the passport). Re-entering is possible only after turning the power on and off. There is no limit to 5 attempts if you use erase via the master password to remove the password. In this case, a natural obstacle for enumeration will be a pause for waiting for readiness (about 1 second) given by the screw.
The practice of setting and removing passwords.
There are keys for working with passwords
PWD: set password to disk;
DISPWD: remove password from disk;
UNLOCK: temporarily unlock the screw (until the power is turned off);
LOCK: temporarily disable the password system (until the power is turned off);
After entering the commands, a menu will appear on the screen with a choice of password options and a security level. Navigation through the menu is carried out with the arrow keys (up and down), the selection of the desired item - with the ENTER key. Next, you will be prompted to enter the password:
Enter password:_
After entering the password, press ENTER. If the screw fails, the password will be set immediately.
It should be borne in mind that master passwords for most hard drives are preset at the factory, and thanks to the Internet, they can be known to a wide range of people. Therefore, it is better to change the master password immediately. The set master password will not affect access to information in any way.
On the contrary, if someone locks the hard drive with a password (for example, a malware virus), knowing the master password, you can unlock it.
To remove a user password through a known master password, you need:
- Pressing F10, select the "master password" item in the menu;
- enter the master password (up to 32 characters). Winchester will be unlocked.
this, having received a passport, make sure that the passwords are removed.
A useful application of the password erase option is to quickly erase all information (for example, before selling an HDD). In addition, security erasure, being by its nature a record, has the property
elimination of some types of surface defects and updating SMART statistics. In order to perform a quick erase through the security system, you must:
- set on the screw any user-password of the Maximum level;
- set any master password on the screw, for example 1234. Both passwords can be the same;
- by pressing F10, select the master password, then enter it and wait for the operation to complete.
Note:
- If you have already called up the password entry line, but changed your mind about entering it, press ESC.
- To prevent forgetfulness, the program creates a small (32byte) text file in the current directory where it puts the entered password. At the next password entry, the program will automatically read the contents of the file and slip it under the user's nose :) This option can be easily disabled, how to do this, read the section "Working with an ini-file".
- If the tested drive says in the passport that it does not support security options, a message will be displayed in the bottom line of the screen: "Attention: this HDD does not support password processing!" The inscription will in no way interfere with _try_ setting / removing the password, to be sure of it practically.
After some poking around on Google, it was found out that the standard master password for WD hard drives is 32 characters like this: " WDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWD".
At first, nothing worked:
Then, apparently, a miracle happened and we saw the wonderful inscription "Done" after executing the password reset command:
And it seems like Hurray! .... but after the reboot, the password appeared again and now it cannot be removed in any way ...
Anyone have any thoughts on this?
P.S. Do not offer Acelab PC-3000 and A-FF REPAIR, since the use of these products is much more expensive than the cost of a hard drive.
