I recently bought a laptop from a flea market, but it came without a charger. After I got a charger and powered it up, I was greeted with a login screen saying 'Full Disk Encryption' with Trend Micro's logo. It's asking for a username and password, which I don't have. I couldn't find any helpful information about how to bypass this or reset it. Is there a way to clear this laptop of its previous data, or should I just consider tossing it?
3 Answers
The best move is to wipe the hard drive and do a clean Windows install. It's risky to use a laptop that previously belonged to someone else without fully wiping it first. Just a heads up, though: since it has Trend Micro full disk encryption, it could be a stolen company laptop. If that's the case, it might have tracking in the BIOS, and it could lock you out as soon as you try to connect online.
Check the Trend Micro website. They offer a utility that might help you decrypt the drive for formatting. Look for the 'Preparing the Recovery Tool' section in their help center. It can be a bit of a hassle, as you'll need to create a bootable USB ISO.
For sure! You can find guides online on how to download a Windows installation image and create a bootable USB drive. Once you plug it in, boot the computer from that USB (usually by pressing a key during startup to access the boot menu). Follow the prompts to wipe the drive and install a fresh copy of Windows.
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