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.