Resetting password

Hello, everyone.

I recently picked up a computer that was in the trash.
It's an HP with a 40 gig HD that works (I slaved it to my HD to check).

It boots up, but it's password protected. How do I get past the password to format the drive and use it?

I really don't care what's on the drive (only 1.18 GB is used), I plan to remove all the programs.

 

Easy way:
Open the system up and look for a watch battery sized battery and remove it for a minute or two. Then put it back in and boot up. Sometimes the batteries are soldered onto the board which is a pain but you can usually use a flat head screw driver to lift it off the contact for a bit.

Harder way(if you're not comfortable with jumpers): Look for a jumper on the mother board that says something like CMOS reset..