I dont KNOW if this the right place to ask this, but here goes.  I bought an everex stepnote model va250e laptop at a pawn shop.  It was powered on at the pawn shop when I checked it and everything on it worked fine.  So I turned it off, bought it, but when I returned home and tried to power it up, the first thing it does on startup is ask for a password, even before I get to the splash screen.  I took it back to the pawn shop, and all they said was 'well it was working when you looked at it over here.  We dont know what you did to it after you took it'. 

All this happened withing HALF an hour.  Well, anyway, is there anyway I can remove this darn password, or have I just bought myself an expensive paperweight?  Please help.Is this a Windows Password or a BIOS Password?

BIOS Password would be requesting password with a black screen, and Windows password would be a normal windows prompt with username/password.

If its the BIOS Password, some laptops need to go back to the mfr to be factory reset as for the BIOS is locked. This is set up on laptops that are high risk of theft to make the computer a brick for whoever stole it.

The only way I can see this being activated between the pawn shop and home would be if someone intentionally did this to it, or the cmos battery is weak and somehow allowed for a bogus password to be enabled to the BIOS system lock.

If this system is not one that has a BIOS lock that is protected, you can remove the cmos battery and wait like 10 minutes and then plug it back in and have the password reset to no password required. However most of the newer models have this feature which REQUIRES pc mfr to reset it which sometimes requires swap out of the bios chip.

You might have a computer brick on your hands if pawn shop or pc mfr dont help.

I generally stay away from pawn shops with electronic device PURCHASES, they generally do not operate to keep A+ customer satisfaction and prey on the poor and have shady business tactics. For the fact that so many people are willing to go in there for a chance on a deal or desperate for cash they dont mind upsetting someone as for there will always be more desperate people to allow them to continue making money. Also unless you have a good pawn shop that can be trusted its generally as-is no refunds etc ... "sorry charlie" business where they rarely lose out on any deals or are willing to give a refund to maintain you as a repeat customer, especially if the pawn shop is in a city with a heavy population where they thrive, whereas one in a lesser populated area may want to maintain a good customer relation for repeat customers.

If its a Windows password, please give the version of Windows and we can go from there, but i have a feeling this is a hardware BIOS password that you get right at the get go which is a far worse problem.Pardon me. The story is just not credible.   

EDIT:   Everex StepNote va250e is a cheap net-book and does not run Windows.
About  $240. used. Quote from: Geek-9pm on June 19, 2014, 03:12:01 PM

Everex StepNote va250e is a cheap net-book and does not run Windows.

Pardon me. The story is just not credible.   

EDIT:   Everex StepNote va250e is a cheap net-book and does not run Windows.
About  $240. used.