Drive 0 password unknown

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A neighbor was recently given a Dell GX620 Optiplex desktop, which once belonged to the state Dept. of Education. Originally running XP-Pro, it looked like it was running Windows 8, but he couldn’t use it because it kept asking for a password. To solve the problem, seeing as he hated Windows 8 anyway, I re-installed Windows XP-Pro. For the past 2 weeks it was going fine, but he just got hit by ransomware – and didn’t pay up – nothing to lose, and no money anyway. I took it home, but again, it asked for a password that didn’t seem to exist. Neither Hiren’s Boot Disk or Ophcrack found any passwords present. I removed & scanned the HD for malware via USB to another computer and may have removed the offender, but I’m still stuck after boot up when it wants a password. Going into BIOS, I see the only password set is for Drive “0”. Removing the jumper disables all except the password for the HD. So, I can’t disable or remove the HD password without knowing the present password. Any work-arounds?

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