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Acer 5517 Bios Password Reset
Published May 18, 2011 | 
The other day I recieved an Acer 5517 aspire that had a damaged drive and the user needed the files from it. Normally I would just use a Hiren boot cd to get into an Operating System Enviroment or use the dos tools to go move the datat to another drive. The problem was the BIOS had been locked with a password and the boot menu on an Acer 5517 is disabled in the bios by default so booting from a cd wasnt an option. I searched the net for answers with not alot of luck other then companies that claim they will unlock it for you for a price. I eventually found a spec sheet and after a quick look found the fastest an easiest solution to clear the CMOS password. these are the steps in case someone else ever runs into the same problem. This might work on other models also but this writting is specifically for the Acer Aspire 5517 and do it at yer own risk.
- First remove the battery then unscrew and open up the hatch where the memory is
- Carefully pull out the memory sticks.
- Now there should be 2 solder pads NOTE: there is a sticker it wasnt covering them on mine but it may be on yours if so peel of the sticker .
- Take anything metal like a paper clip or what not I just used a metal flat head screwdriver and simply touch both pads at the same time.
- While still touching both pads completing the circuit use the AC adaptor and turn the computer on wait a couple seconds and turn it back off
- Now remove the screwdriver replace the ram and battery pack turn the computer on press F2 and voila your into the BIOS again.
Hope ya found this useful as I couldnt find much on google to help me when I had the problem so I thought I’d share it.
EDIT: Ive edited the photo another user posted and adding it under this edit, Hope this helps
w0000000000t thank you so much it works wooooooooot
hey no problem. Glad to share it becuase I looked everywhere for the solution
It is currently 6:44 A.m. Eastern time in Ohio where I am. I have been working on this Acer 5517 since 10:00 P.m. the night before. I have looked all over the web and even DLed the PDF of this laptop’s manual to figure out how to do this and I have found jack shit. All I could find was supposed backdoor passwords, and stupid crap that hasn’t worked.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JUST TELLING ME WHAT I NEEDED TO KNOW…. LOL My god all these other people jump you through hoops and you have six damn simple instructions…… God, you are frigging awesome. BTW if that is you in the background, wicked eyes. Wish I had some.
P.s. it would be nice if you could have included a pic. I see a lot of jumpers under the memory.. :S
there should be only 2 under the sticker
I know your pain thats why i posted this it took me hours to find anything close to helpful. I didnt have a camera when i did it so sorry about no picture
Ugh… this might sound like a stupid question… but the solder pads… I can’t find them
… can anyone help me figure out which they are?
Nevermind… that worked like GOLD… you rock man
You really are the only one who has an answer. So here’s where im at. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/53293328/AcerBIOS.png Sorry about the formatting. My machine is splayed out on the table right now. Are you talking about the two little spots next to the sticker or the two larger square ones? I’m ready for 110 volts of let’s find the fuck out.
The ones u marked in blue
Dewd you are the man. Saved me big time! Thanks for the love.
Bought an Acer Aspire 5517 from a pawn shop, needing to wipe the drive and re-install (no boot up disk) this trick worked!! cleared the bios password and was able to boot from the DVD.
Thanks for posting this!!!
Ok I must have done something wrong because my screen is black now.
My laptop is not coming on at all now. What happen?
well i hope you didnt short out the wrong pads
Good lookin out man…saved me a lot of trouble. Cheers!
Worked like a charm. This saved me taking the whole laptop apart.
Thanks!
Looked so hard for this info and wasted alot of time. So glad you posted this…. GoDLiKe you ROCK!! Also like to thank ADAM A. for posting picture and GoDLiKe again for answering which solder pads. WOOT!
I have to admit when I got to this page I was a little freaked out
but I must say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!
My daughter borrowed my son’s laptop and it had the BIOS password on it. We followed your instructions exactly and with Adam’s picture we found the little solder posts and connected them. Worked beautifully! My son says thank you now he can play his Club Penguin again!
The Coopers!
Glad I could help… Wish i had of took my own pictures when i figured it out but hind sight is 20/20. If I ralized how popular this post would become I would have wrote it better lol
I tried taking the black and white wire out kind of jumper wires to reset bios but did not work so do I take all memory sticks out and underneath there I will see those I don’t Wana ruin anything so I wish there was a picture to follow or could you describe clearly like how to take ram out etc thanks
Hey thanks to the user who posted the picture I finally have one for this post hope it helps
Thanks for pic big help but now it asks for sata password that did not clear up I can Acess bios by f2 but can’t delete that password any suggestions for that ? Thanks for help
I dont think thats a bios problem thats a whole new world of annoyance for you. Try to google sata password to see what i mean…
I finally cracked that open too found a software to crack that password online thanks for all the help
thanks that was a big help, found the sevice manual that didn’t help much at all and i tried the software no help there.
The picture instuction gave all the confidince i needed. i BIG thanks…
After taking apart the entire laptop only to find that the cmos battery was soldiered to the board, I found this site and you just saved an acer aspire from getting a sledge hammer!
Thanks!
Very useful however I did a step or two different, here’s how: (Still giving props to GodLike who directed me there…)
-First remove the battery then unscrew and open up the hatch where the memory is.
-Carefully pull out the memory sticks.
-While the memory and battery is out press and hold the power button for about 10 sec (Do not plug in power supply)***
-Now there should be 2 solder pads on the board near the slit where the memory would fit.
-Take anything metal I used a metal flat head screwdriver and simply touch both pads at the same time. (I held it for about 5 sec.)
-Wait a couple seconds before assembling.
-Now replace the ram and battery pack turn the computer on press F2 and that’s it no password.
This variation worked for me I was a little concerned about using the power cord so I excluded it.
Thanks GodLike you da man.
ive done it with the battery in and was fine its just a good idea to remove it becuase it could have problems…. Are you sure your screen is working?
You absolutely ROCK! This worked likeacharm took me only about 2 minutes, and was not as convoluted and ridiculous as some of theother so-called solutions that I found! Thanks so much for posting this!
Thank you so much. This worked like a charm. My head was hurting from all the reading about taking the laptop apart, just for the cmos reset.!!!
My thanks!
What shoulder pads??? I need help
The ones in the picture
well i got a blackscreen after folllowing instructions….no idea now what happened and what to do next …..any adviced. will be apreciated….
Well not too sure, U have to be careful to do the right pads and it has to be the acer 5517, although im sure it mite work on other models its most likly diff pads…..