InsydeH2OIntel Acer laptops
Your Acer's BIOS password never left the machine. We know how to read it back.
Supervisor and user password recovery, done remotely. The laptop never leaves your desk, nothing is written to your firmware, and you pay only after the password has been recovered. $100 to $250 depending on the machine, and nothing at all if we cannot do it.
- Read-only, cannot brick
- No disassembly, no shipping
- No recovery, no charge
coverage
Is my laptop covered
Open Settings, then System, then About. The line that begins "Intel(R) Core(TM)" answers it.
Every Intel Acer laptop in the first three rows can be worked on. What changes between them is the price and the wait, because the machines further down take more work at our end. Core Ultra is a different family from Core i7, not a newer version of it, so a brand-new Core Ultra machine is further from the cheapest tier rather than closer to it. People read that the wrong way round often enough that it is worth saying twice.
Intel Core 12th, 13th or 14th generation
The range we have done the work for. $100 with a proof of purchase, $150 without one. Usually finished within 24 hours.
Intel Core 11th generation and below — older
Served, not refused. $150 with a proof of purchase, $200 without one. Up to 72 hours, because the groundwork for these machines is done per model rather than already sitting on the shelf.
Intel Core Ultra — newer
Also served. $200 with a proof of purchase, $250 without one. Up to 72 hours. It costs more than a 13th-generation machine because it is a different family, not because it is newer.
AMD Acer laptops
Nothing to attempt, at any price. The method needs an Intel platform, there is no AMD version coming, and we would rather say so than leave you hoping.
Acer Chromebooks
Different firmware entirely. Nothing here applies to them.
Acer desktops — Orion, Nitro N50, Veriton, Aspire TC
Different firmware again. This is a laptop service.
Older Acers that show an 8 or 10 digit code on screen
No, and you genuinely do not need us. If your machine puts an 8 or 10 digit number on the screen when the password fails, the free generators have solved those for years. Type that number into bios-pw.org and it will give you an unlock code in seconds. Keep your money.
Any machine not running Windows
The tool is a Windows program, so a laptop running Linux or anything else cannot be done as things stand. The password sits in firmware rather than in the operating system, so installing Windows would put the machine back in scope, but that is your call to make and not something we promise or support.
Two things are needed on every tier. The laptop has to be running Windows, with an administrator account you can log into — a BIOS password only blocks the F2 setup screen, so Windows normally starts as usual. And the laptop has to be yours. The evidence page sets out which machines have actually been verified and which are inferred from the generation they share.
Not sure which of those you have?
The free check settles it. Download the capture tool, run it, send us the one file it produces, and we reply with whether your laptop can be done, what it will cost and how long it will take. No form, no email address needed to get the tool, and no charge whatever the answer turns out to be. Start the free check.
It is for Intel Acer laptops running Windows whose generation is uncertain or unsupported. If your machine is in one of the rows marked no above, the answer is almost certainly no, and we would rather you knew that before spending an evening on it. If you would sooner hear it from us than take our word for it, send the file anyway — we will still look, and we will still reply.
price
What it costs
Every machine has two prices. Establishing that a laptop is yours is more work for us when there is no proof of purchase, and that work is what the difference pays for. Both columns are real prices: neither is a penalty, and neither is a special offer.
| Machine | With proof of purchase | Without | Turnaround |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supported — Intel Core 12th, 13th or 14th generation | $100 | $150 | Usually within 24 hours |
| Unsupported, older — Intel Core 11th generation and below | $150 | $200 | Up to 72 hours |
| Unsupported, newer — Intel Core Ultra | $200 | $250 | Up to 72 hours |
If we cannot recover it
$0
No deposit, no assessment fee, no charge for trying and missing. Payment is always after the password has been recovered, never before.
Guided remote session, if you want one
$20
A TeamViewer session in which we run the capture tool with you. Charged only when you ask for it. When we ask for remote access because we need it, which happens on unsupported machines, it is free — that one is for our benefit, not yours.
A proof of purchase is a receipt, invoice or order confirmation, and it is read by a person rather than a script. If something is missing or unclear we write and ask, because every case is different and there is no checklist. We can decline one, in which case the price is the right-hand column. We would rather tell you that now than have it arrive as a surprise.
One payment covers one machine and one recovered password. Before the password is sent you get a single final invoice listing everything owed, the unlock and a chargeable remote session if there was one, so nothing appears afterwards. Paid by cryptocurrency, Western Union or bank transfer. No cards and no PayPal; here is why. Once the password has been sent there are no refunds, with one exception: if it does not unlock the machine, tell us within 7 days and section 8 explains what happens.
the process
Five steps, one of them yours
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Start with the free check
Download the capture tool, run it, and email the one file it produces to [email protected]. There is no form and no email address needed to get the tool. We reply with three things: whether your laptop can be done, what it will cost, and how long it will take. That answer is free whatever it turns out to be, and nothing about it obliges you to go ahead. This step is for Intel Acer laptops running Windows whose generation is uncertain or unsupported. AMD machines, Chromebooks, desktops, machines showing an 8 or 10 digit code on screen and machines not running Windows should not send a file, because we will not look at it.
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Send the application
Your name, an email address, the laptop model, its serial number and SNID. Attach a proof of purchase if you have one. It is read by a person, and it decides which of the two price columns applies to you.
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Run the capture tool and send one file back
Double-click it, approve the Windows permission prompt, then leave it for about a minute. It produces a single file and opens the folder it is in. Send that file back. If you already sent a file with the free check, that is the file we work from and there is nothing to run again.
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We work on it at our end
Nothing further runs on your laptop and there is nothing more for you to do. Supported machines are usually finished within 24 hours. Unsupported machines take up to 72 hours, and we may ask to gather more detail over a remote session, which is free because we are the ones who need it. Both times are targets rather than deadlines, and we would rather give you an honest one than a firm one we miss.
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Proof, invoice, payment, then the password
First we describe what we found: how many characters the password is, and what kind of characters they are. Enough for you to recognise it as yours, and not enough to be any use. Then we send one final invoice listing everything owed, the unlock and a chargeable remote session if there was one. You pay by cryptocurrency, Western Union or bank transfer, and the password follows as soon as the payment arrives. If it cannot be recovered, you owe nothing.
the problem
Why a generator can't solve your code.txt
Because there is nothing in that file to solve.
The code.txt your Acer produced is base64 wrapped around an RSA-encrypted blob, and the digits inside it were generated at random on your own machine at the moment it locked. They are not derived from your serial number, your model, or anything else a generator could work backwards from. bios-pw.org, BiosBug and dogbert's bios-pwgen all answer an older Insyde prompt, written before this scheme existed. That is why the Badcaps BIOS-request threads for the Nitro V15 and the 2023 Nitro 16 sit unanswered, and why the community's own fallback advice has become "get a hardware programmer".
The other routes are worse than they sound. Removing the CMOS battery does nothing, because the password does not live in volatile memory and survives a full discharge. A hardware programmer works if your hand is steady, and one slip burns the chip and the laptop with it. An Acer service centre will do it, with shipping, downtime and their own ownership check. Every one of those needs the machine open on your desk or in somebody else's hands.
Your password is still recoverable. Just not from that file.
Your machine still has to check the password against something, and whatever it checks against is still sitting on the laptop. That is what we work backwards from, and it has nothing to do with code.txt. How it is stored and where it is kept is the part that took the research, and we do not publish it — not here, and not inside the tool you run. What you get is the answer, not the method. The evidence page says what has been verified, what is inferred, and why the specifics are withheld.
the alternatives
The other ways in, and what each one costs you
Every route open to somebody locked out of a modern Acer. We would rather you picked the right one than the one we happen to sell.
| Route | What it involves | Risk to the laptop | Warranty | Works on a modern Acer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ask Acer | Ship the laptop to a certified service centre and wait. They decline remote help outright, so the machine has to physically leave you. | None | Intact | Yes, when they agree to do it |
| Chip programmer and clip | Open the laptop, clip a CH341A programmer onto the flash chip and read it. The clip has to seat perfectly on a chip smaller than a fingernail. | Wrong alignment, wrong voltage or a slipped clip burns the chip. That is a dead board and an invoice far larger than the one you were avoiding. | Voided — the machine has been opened | Yes, if your hands are steady |
Crack the code.txt |
Nothing to attempt. The file is encrypted to a private key that only Acer holds, and the digits inside it were random to begin with. | None | Intact | No. Not by us, not by anyone |
| Free generator | Type the code your machine shows on screen into a free site, and it hands you a password back. | None | Intact | Only on older Acers that display an 8 or 10 digit code |
| This service | Run one read-only tool, email us one file. The laptop stays on your desk and nothing is ever written to it. | None. The machine is only read | Intact. Nothing opened, nothing written | Yes |
If your Acer shows a code on the screen rather than producing a code.txt file, the free generator is the right answer and you should go and use one. We would rather send you there than take your money for something you can have for nothing.
safety
What this does to your laptop
Nothing is written to your BIOS or your firmware at any point.
Anything that runs on your machine only reads. The capture tool drives Intel's own digitally signed flash utility, and every command it issues is a read command fixed inside the program. There is no code path in it that can write, erase or reflash anything, so it cannot brick your laptop, change your BIOS settings, or modify Windows. No data is written to the machine. The only thing produced is the one file you send us.
If you would rather not take our word for it
Take the sensitive data off the laptop before you run the tool, or install a clean copy of Windows on it first. Neither affects the recovery in any way, because what we read has nothing to do with your files or your Windows installation. We suggest it genuinely rather than as a disclaimer: it costs you an afternoon and it means you do not have to trust us at all.
What goes in the file
- The data we need to attempt the recovery, which is a one-way value and not your password
- Your model, serial number, BIOS version and board revision
- A diagnostic printout we use to tell why a machine did or did not work
What never leaves your machine
- Your files, photos and documents
- Saved passwords and browser data
- Your Windows accounts, and anything the tool used while it was working
The file is sealed to us before it is saved, so it is unreadable to anyone who intercepts it in your mailbox. That protects you at least as much as it protects us: it means your machine's identifiers are not sitting in a plain text file in an inbox.
questions
Questions people actually ask
Why won't bios-pw.org or BiosBug work with my code.txt?
Because there is nothing in that file to solve. Your code.txt is base64 wrapped around an RSA-encrypted blob holding digits that were generated at random on your own machine at the moment it locked. They are not derived from your serial number, your model, or anything else a generator could work backwards from, and there is no way to test a guess offline. Those generators were written for an older Insyde prompt and simply do not apply to a machine that produces code.txt.
Is it safe to let someone else run a tool on my laptop?
Judge it on what the tool can do rather than on trust. It only reads, it uses Intel's own digitally signed flash utility to do so, and every command it issues is a read command fixed inside the program. It has no write path. It does not read your files, your browser data or your Windows accounts, and the file it produces is sealed to us before it is saved, so nobody who intercepts it can read it either. If that still is not enough, take out anything sensitive first, or install a clean copy of Windows before you run it.
Will this brick my laptop or void the warranty?
It cannot brick the laptop, because nothing is written to the firmware at any point and reading cannot corrupt it. Nothing is opened either, so no seal is broken and no warranty sticker is touched. Compare that with the hardware programmer and chip-swap methods, where a slip genuinely can kill the board.
Will I be asked to disable my antivirus?
No, and you should be suspicious of any tool that asks you to. Windows may show a blue "Windows protected your PC" box because the file is new rather than because anything is wrong with it; click More info, then Run anyway. If a third-party antivirus quarantines it, add an exclusion for that one file. We publish the tool's SHA-256 checksum so you can confirm you have the genuine program before you run it.
I use BitLocker — is this safe?
Our tool cannot cause a BitLocker problem. It only reads and changes nothing on your machine. The risk comes afterwards: once you have the password and start changing settings in the BIOS setup screen, Windows can decide the machine has changed and ask for your 48-digit BitLocker recovery key on the next start. Most people have never seen that key, and without it the encrypted files are gone — not recoverable by you, by us, by Microsoft or by Acer. So before you change any BIOS setting, sign in at aka.ms/myrecoverykey, find your recovery key and save it somewhere that is not the laptop. It takes two minutes and it is worth doing whether or not you ever use us.
How do I know you actually have my password before I pay?
Because we describe it to you first. Before any money moves we tell you how many characters the password is and what kind of characters they are — all digits, mixed letters and digits, upper and lower case, whether there are symbols in it. Anyone who half-remembers their own password recognises it from that. It is also of no use to anybody, which is why we are willing to send it before being paid. We deliberately do not send you part of the password itself, not even one character. A fragment is worth something to someone, and a description of the shape is worth nothing to anyone but you.
What if you can't recover my password?
You owe nothing. No deposit, no assessment fee, no charge for trying and missing. Payment only ever happens after a password is in hand, so a failure costs you the minute it took to run the tool. We would rather have a reputation for saying no than for taking money hopefully, so if your machine turns out not to be one we can work on, we tell you so plainly and that is the end of it.
Can this be used to unlock a laptop that isn't mine?
No, and it is not offered for that. The process requires you to already be logged into Windows on the machine as an administrator, so it recovers access to a setup screen on a computer you are already inside. It does not defeat a Windows login, and it does not defeat disk encryption. Applications must confirm ownership, we ask for a proof of purchase, and anything that reads as a locked-out thief rather than a locked-out owner is declined.
apply
Apply for an unlock
Nothing is charged here and no tool is downloaded. You send the details, we confirm the price and the turnaround for your machine, and we reply with the next step. If you would rather have that answer before applying, the free check gives it to you first, for any Intel Acer running Windows.
- Goes straight to us, stored nowhere
- Your receipt is forwarded, never filed
- Price and turnaround confirmed before anything starts
Privacy
The form sends what you typed, and your receipt if you attached one, straight to a private channel that only we read. There is no database and no file storage behind this site, so nothing you send is written to a disk here and there is no stored copy to leak. No analytics, no advertising trackers and no third-party scripts run on this page. Cloudflare, which serves it, keeps standard request logs.
Your details are used to assess and carry out your unlock and for nothing else. They are not sold, shared or published. Write to [email protected] and we will delete our correspondence and any attachment you sent. Files sent to [email protected] for the free check are kept apart from live orders and treated the same way.
Terms
This is a best-effort recovery service, not a guarantee. Payment falls due only when a password has been recovered and is being handed over; if recovery fails, nothing is owed and the matter ends there. One payment covers one machine and one recovered password, and a single final invoice is issued before the password is sent. Turnaround times are targets, not deadlines.
Once a password has been sent it cannot be refunded, because a secret cannot be handed back. The exception is a password that does not work: report it within 7 days with a short video of it failing on the machine and we investigate, retry, and refund in full if we cannot fix it. Section 8 says what the video needs to show.
The service is offered for laptops you own. Applications confirm ownership, proof of purchase is requested, and anything that reads as a locked-out thief rather than a locked-out owner is declined. Since nothing is charged before a password is handed over, a declined application costs you nothing.
The capture tool only reads, and no liability is accepted for pre-existing faults, failing storage or unrelated damage that happens to surface while it runs. Reading cannot cause them, but a laptop that was already dying can die on any given Tuesday. The full terms are in the service agreement.