SysAdmin Needs to get into Windows 8

Hello I am a newbie to the site and am in need of assistance. I was deemed the "Tech Guy" at work and have one Windows 8 Ultrabook I need to gain access to. It was used by a programmer that used to work here. He did not leave his password with anybody and is unreachable.

I do not have a reset disk and cannot get into the BIOS when I boot up. The laptop needs to be reused for a new programmer we are hiring. Is there any way to force the Ultrabook into the BIOS? Starting to lose my mind.

I have tried the password crackers but, without any results. I've tried seven different programs. They all require that I boot to the disk/flash drive. Since I don not have access to the BIOS I have been S.O.L..

Any help is surely appreciated.

Thanks

I assume the computer boots up to a login screen?

If so, then you can use the Power Button icon that appears at the bottom right of the screen. If you right-click on the power button and hold the Shift key down when you click Restart, it should get you into the Advanced Startup options.

Depending on whether the PC came with Windows 8 pre-installed, that would let you get into the UEFI (BIOS) setup menu.

Also, if you don't need any of the files on the PC you should be able to Reset to factory settings.

I thank you for the reply. Unfortunately, my problem has escalated. Now when I turn it on there is a black screen with:

error: no such device: 90938a9a-a2b7-4f81-b87b-c4b0486fa82.
grub rescue>

Any chance you know how to get out of this?

Hmm - "grub rescue" sounds like a linux thing. Were any of the password crackers you tried linux-based?

They claimed to be for windows xp-8 but, I don't know if any of them were linux based. The programmer who used this machine might have used a virtual machine to use linux.

So was it booting to a Windows 8 login screen regularly when you tried it before? If the password crackers weren't being booted from, it seems strange that it should change...

If you have another Windows 8 PC (must be the same number of bits 32/64 as your problem PC) you could try making a Windows 8 Recovery Drive on a USB from the working PC and seeing if it will boot from that.

But you may need someone else's help - Linux is a bit beyond my knowledge I'm afraid.

Your right the password reset software I used was linux based. Now it won't let me do a single thing. Man I messed up. Thank you for your help!

anthonyflores said:

Your right the password reset software I used was linux based. Now it won't let me do a single thing. Man I messed up. Thank you for your help!

Click to expand...

If something's changed, that suggests it might have booted from it after all though?

If you can make a Windows 8 Recovery Drive on a USB from another computer, you may be able to Repair the part of the disk that is used to boot. I think a Windows 8 Setup Disk would be able to do the same.

That will be my next step. I thank you for taking the time to help me out!

That will be my next step. I thank you for taking the time to help me out!