Agilent 16804A LA Password

[ReedTriesToRepair]

I recently acquired an Agilent 16804A logic analyzer, but it came with a windows password on it. It looks to be windows vista and I'm having a hard time bypassing it. The software is set up on the Admin account, so I can't use the admin account trick to bypass a user password. Does anyone know if Agilent (Keysight) has a software repository to get the drives loaded back up on the unit if I have to wipe the OS and reinstall? I can't find any downloads on their website under the product page. Has anyone had this experience with Keysight to know if this is something they do, or do they drag their feet sending out drivers? I know other manufacturers have drivers on their website (like Lecroy, who has them for scopes from the 1990s still). Thanks for any advice.

[gslick]

What motherboard does your 16804A have? The BIOS boot screen should display that information. It should be either an Intel D915GUX, or an ADLINK M-880. (There were also newer versions with an ADLINK M-890 motherboard, but those should be running Windows Embedded Standard 7, and they are also obvious by having a DVI video port on the back panel instead of a VGA port).

For the Intel D915GUX motherboard 16804A you want the 16800-14102 recovery DVD.

For the ADLINK M-880 motherboard 16804A you want the 16800-14103 recovery DVD.

If you boot from those recovery DVDs it will install an activated Windows XP system image. Then the logic analyzer application needs to be installed separately.

As the 16800 series do not have a built-in DVD drive, you will need to boot from an external USB attached DVD drive.

The 16800-14102 and 16800-14103 recovery DVD .ISO images are available, although currently a bit of a pain to download.

[J-R]

There are quite a few easy ways to break into Windows, both online and offline, if you're interested in that route.

[gslick]

Did you buy this one?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/394435573339?nordt=true&orig_cvip=true

The photos for that one show a standard Windows XP logon screen. While the photos also show a Windows Vista Business COA, there is also a sticker next to the COA which says:

This product contains the Windows XP operating system. The installed instrument application is supported and qualified only with the Windows XP operating system. This Certificate of Authenticity referencing the Windows Vista operating system is valid and applies to this Windows XP operating system installation.

As far as I know Agilent/Keysight didn't ship any logic analyzers with Windows Vista, they skipped from Windows XP to the 64-bit version of Windows Embedded Standard 7. Possibly at some point Agilent was no longer able to purchase Windows XP licenses, and had to purchase Windows Vista licenses, but continued using Windows XP under the Windows Vista license.

The serial number of that eBay 16804A is later than MY46001000, and has a VGA port, so it should have an ADLINK M-880 motherboard, in which case the 16800-14103 Windows XP recovery DVD would be the correct one to use.

[ReedTriesToRepair]

Thanks for the suggestions, especially for your helpful info, @gslick .  I wound up just bringing it to a local computer repair shop and they made quick work of it. $40 later and I was on the road with no passwords at all. He used a special linux version that has been curated for resetting windows passwords, but had to copy it to an old HDD and plug it into the mobo because he said this unit was old enough not to want to boot from USB.

And yes, the link you posted was the one I bought. It is indeed Windows Vista. Perhaps it was user-upgraded at some point in time if Agilent skipped Vista, because the whole OS was branded with Vista.