You’re cleaning out the garage, or picking up a cheap "for parts" laptop from a flea market. You fire up that old Dell Latitude or Precision. You expect the Windows logo. Instead, you are greeted by a padlock icon and a harsh, blinking text field asking for a .

So, next time you see a "Broken BIOS Lock" Dell on eBay for $20, buy it. You now have the skeleton key.

You have two options: Pay a locksmith $150 to read a chip on the motherboard, or throw the computer in the trash.