Acer AZ1620-UR10P BIOS Problem???

Hello All,

I'm not sure if this is the correct forum for this question, but I think it is BIOS related.

I bought a computer---Acer AZ1620-UR10P --- in a pawn shop because it appeared to be "LOCKED" and I thought I could reformat/replace the drive and get it going. Well, that was wrong.

This computer was apparently a rent-to-own computer and was pawned by the original owner.
The pawn manager said that he contacted the rental store and they refused to release it because "HE was not the original owner", and the original owner refused to help after loosing the PAWN.
I bought it saying the computer was "Locked" and would only display the warning screen.
This screen also says it must "CALL HOME" every 120 days

Agent Machine [Locked]
Offline Key [xyzxyzxyzxyz]
Owner Key [abcdabcdabcdabcdabcdabcdabcd]
Version 5.7.3

I reformatted & reinstalled W7HP-SP1 with the recovery partition, and a 2nd STAND ALONE FRESH INSTALL W7U-32,(downloaded from THIS SITE DOWNLOAD LINKS so a clean W7-Ultimate disk) and also downloaded all of the microsoft updates both times, then when it restarted, both installation methods, it again began displaying the "locked" screen again, so I left it alone, connected to the internet, came back 4 hours later and it appears to have finally cleared it's-self up to run somewhat normaly.

My questions are--
1. Is there some program in the BIOS that is "Calling home", it seems to have survived reformatting.
2. Is there a small program that calls home and downloads a larger "locking" program?
3. Can I stop it--remove it--lock it out of operation?
4. Is this really a BIOS problem or something else?

Thanks in advance for any advice/assistance,
John

 

Thanks for your reply,

I will look for a battery to the CMOS
The CMOS is currently available to be edited & changed--There is NO PASSWORD on CMOS
This technically is not a MALICIOUS virus per se, but it could be a similar acting purposely installed program to keep control of the original buyer.

There is a similar idea used on leased automobiles that if you don't make the payments they turn your car OFF, and sometimes they turn your car off even after sucessfully paying for the car, it was in the news a couple of times in Atlanta.

I am welcome for more ideas-thoughts just in-case this is not the correct answer.

What is EFI boot device? Under the selector it has all of the regular selections "CD-HD-Removable-Lan"
I tried moving this to the last position of boot order because it looked suspicious.
Still get the message--

Agent Machine [Locked]
Offline Key [xyzxyzxyzxyz]
Owner Key [abcdabcdabcdabcdabcdabcdabcd]

Thanks,
John
Version 5.7.3