Sounds like it's a bios password for the laptop. Go to the manufacturer
site and see if you can find instructions on resetting the "bios password"
"hawkeyesox" <guest@unknown-email.com> wrote in message
news:de574d4c6c94fbd80a51898658e3004a@nntp-gateway.com...
>
> My parents laptop with vista basic locked-up. They could not clear it so
> they turned the power off. When they rebooted, it came up with a black
> screen. Then they turned the power off and pulled the battery. Now it
> comes up with the black screen and is asking for a password (this is
> before the vista logo appears). They are over 80 and have no idea what
> the password is. Any ideas on how to get this computer up and running?
>
>
> --
> hawkeyesox