What is one method of bypassing a system BIOS password?

The correct answer is B. Removing the CMOS battery. The BIOS password is stored in CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) memory, which is a small amount of volatile memory on the motherboard kept alive by a small coin-cell CMOS battery. Removing this battery causes the CMOS memory to lose power and reset to factory…

Submitted by tyler.j· Apr 18, 2026Computer Forensics Investigation Process

Question

Options

ARemoving the processor
BRemoving the CMOS battery
CRemove all the system memoryRemove all the system? memory
DLogin to Windows and disable the BIOS password

How the community answered

(36 responses)

A
3% (1)
B
89% (32)
C
6% (2)
D
3% (1)

Explanation

The BIOS password is stored in CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) memory, which is a small amount of volatile memory on the motherboard kept alive by a small coin-cell CMOS battery. Removing this battery causes the CMOS memory to lose power and reset to factory defaults, which clears all BIOS settings including any configured password. This is a well-known physical bypass technique used in both legitimate IT support and forensic investigations. Removing the processor or system memory would prevent the system from functioning but would not clear the BIOS password. Logging into Windows to disable the BIOS password is not possible because the BIOS password is checked before the OS loads.

Topics

#BIOS bypass#CMOS battery#Hardware security#Physical access

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