I have been given for personal use a laptop from work which was used by a previous employee.
The Windows Vista Business passwords have been lost.
Both the BIOS and the HDD passwords have been set and are known. My intention is to remove Vista and install a brand new and legally bought W XP SP3 but I need to get into the bios bit to set the machine to boot off of a cd. The Function F2 and F12 keys don't work (tapping rapidly while Windows loads) as the machine simply asks for the bios and HDD passwords every time. I enter these correctly and am presented with the screen with the users' icons and subsequent request for user passwords.
The machine is a quite expensive Satellite Pro and it's a pity to dump it so any help will be seriously appreciated.

Most machines have a boot option to set the boot device on a one-time basis (often F12) - this avoids having to mess around in the BIOS.
Check the manuak, or download the manual from teh manufacturer's website.

When I start the machine the first screen I get is 'enter password' which I do; the second screen says 'enter HDD password' which I do. Windows then thinks for a while and opens in the time honoured way witht he icons of the users. There is no opportunity to enter into the bios bit to make any changes

I set these two passwords as a previous laptop was stolen and it wasn't password protected, so when I was given this one I did the F2 procedure at start up and set them. It appears this now stops tapping F2 at start up from entering the bios. why?

Pressing the Fn key and each Function button along the top row makes no difference; I have tried each one in turn at start up.

Try tapping the DEL key as soon as you switch on

Originally Posted by NoelDP

Try tapping the DEL key as soon as you switch on

For an instant there is text white on black, then the password request comes up. It's over too quickly to read.

Ah! I've now a screen that says 'WINDOWS FAILED TO START etc...etc.. insert the installation disk, choose language, click Repair your computer"......

the problem is we don't have a Vista installation disc. This rather sounds as though it's a stolen laptop but it isn't, honest !

(It's a long time since I had to deal with this....)
You say you have both the BIOS access and HD access passwords enabled?
If I remember right, if you use the F2 (or Del) key immediately after the BIOS access password, it should (maybe after another passwrod request) allow access to the BIOS