Hi! I recently bought a used Dell Inspiron E5400 laptop computer in Ebay. It had Windows 7 OS, but I wanted to install Windows 10 pro with an installation disk and have successfully used on other computers. I wasn't able to get the F keys to work well. So I decided to create a partition instead before running the installation media (on DVD). The installation process started ok. But then, we had to leave home in a rush, and I thought it's be ok to leave it at home, and that maybe it'd finish the process. But it was a huge mistake to have done so! Now, all I see, no matter what F keys I push - is a WHITE page, with words telling me I must type in a password in order to do anything else. I can't get the installation disk to run, nor any disks I put into the laptop. So since I didn't change boot order before I started the process, there's no way I know of to force the computer to allow the installation disk to run. Can you think of anything I could try that might help fix this problem? Thanks!

I also forgot to say, but I also tried the method of first removing the hard disk from it, before trying to run any kind of fixing media I had downloaded to DVDs to try out. I wasn't able to get it to fit back in after having taken it out. I can try some more - but so far, it doesn't fit in there as well as originally. I'll also mention I still got the same error message without the hard drive in as when it had been in the computer. Puzzling! I'd thought it would help enable me to be able to run fixing media on the computer. But I guess not!Since it didn't prompt for it previously, it doesn't seem like it is a STANDARD power-on password. From what you've described it sounds like the system had a supervisor password set.

It sounds like the system has a supervisor password set and also probably has some sort of anti-tampering check, which was somehow tripped through the installation process. Normally you don't need to put in the supervisor password to use the machine, but if the BIOS detects certain types (or number) of changes it will lock the system down and require you to enter the setup utility, with the supervisor password, confirm and save the changes as being "authorized". Note that this supervisor password would have been required if you tried to enter the CMOS setup utility to change the boot order; so this doesn't seem to be anything you caused to happen, but would have run into either way.

I had this issue with a old Thinkpad machine. It had no HDD, but would happily boot to the DVD Drive. as soon as I changed the system (In my case, I added a Hard disk) It now required me to enter setup and save, but that required a supervisor password I did not have, so it became IMPOSSIBLE to even try to boot at all!

In the case of my Thinkpad, I had to disassemble the laptop and then short out the security chip in a specific way while turning it on to clear the supervisor password. It looks like you may be in luck for a Dell system, as Dell gives them generated master passwords.

The message you see should be something like "This computer system, is protected by a password authentication system...". If you plug in that serial number into bios-pw.org, you can find out the generated master password Dell would have on that system and try that.Hi! I am unable to get past the password request, which is on a white screen. It happened after I RUSHED off in the middle of installing Windows 10, through using a Windows 10 Pro installation disk I bought (and have successfully used on other computers before). Now, no matter what key or key combination I press, I still get that same page. It won't let me tell the computer to do anything, since it complains that I haven't typed in the password. Though the company I bought it from through Ebay, said it has no password, and to just hit the "Enter" button. This computer is a Dell Latitude laptop computer, E5400. Pressing any of the Fkeys is useless, as no matter what key I press, I get that same white screen with that same error message. And it won't obey me when I press the "enter" button after seeing that message, either.

I removed the hard drive later, in hopes it would enable the DVD installation disk to run successfully. But I still got that same error message on the same white page. So then I put the hard drive back in, but it's not yet put in right, as I had a hard time fitting it back in there without it jutting out beyond the edge of the computer. I can try some more later though.Didn't you already post about this problem here?