Unlocking a locked hard disk (lost password)

[engineer_comp_geek]

@Stan_Shmenge

Just seems a waste of a perfectly good hard drive. The other problem is how to install the os, this is one of those cheapie laptops where the install files are on a partition. We have the activation code, but we lack a Win7 install disk.

You can usually order system restore disks from the manufacturer for a small fee. Since you are going to wipe the disk and reinstall windows anyway that might be your easiest way out.