How to take cover off gateway m-1624? locatioon of cmos battery for hdd reset

While removing the onboard battery and disconnecting all power for 5 minutes may clear the bios, some passwords are written into NvRam (non volitile Ram). This may require you to move some jumpers. Try this.
It may be necessary, on occasion, to clear the CMOS settings. When the CMOS is cleared, all information stored in the CMOS is replaced by default data, which means that all of the configuration information, such as hard drive types and I/O port setup, is cleared, including the password. Use the following procedure to clear CMOS:

1. Power down the computer.
2. Remove the left cover of the computer.
3. Wearing an anti-static wristband grounded to the chassis, remove the jumper from pins 1 - 2 of the Clear CMOS jumper block (JP15) and install it on pins 2 - 3.
4. Remove the jumper from pins 2 - 3 of the Clear CMOS jumper block (JP15) and install it on pins 1 - 2. (NOTE: Some earlier systems will power up as soon as the jumper is removed from pins 1-2. Later versions of the BIOS change this, 6.00.10 or later.)
5. Reinstall the cover and power up the computer.
6. Run the BIOS Setup program to reconfigure the system.

Sounds like a bad HDD. Remove HDD and test, replace if necessary.

The CMOS battery is attached to the underside of the motherboard. you will need to carefully disassemble the entire laptop to access it. If there is a bios password there is no way to tell if there is an issue with the HDD. I would start with removing the CMOS and then resetting the Motherboard using the reset jumper. You need to look up the board and find where the reset jumper is, probably through a web forum or the manufacturer website. after resetting and replacing the battery, you may still run into issues...the password may be set through a TPM chip. This chip stores the security settings in flash memory. The jumper may reset this also, but I am not 100% on that.

HDD password is a security measure against theft. Contact Gateway and verify you are the owner. Itherwise you need a new hard drive and reload of all software/drivers.

try removing the cmos battery and reinstalling it.

You need to keep the unit off any blanket or rug.
Also need to purchase a cooling carriage. This carriage can be purchased cheap at walmat for under $30.00.
Until then, you need to get a little more air under the unit.
Try not to cover any air vents.

Here is a tutorial showing you how to reset acer password: http://data-recovery-reviews.net/reset-password-on-acer-laptop.html

HDD password> Is that the same as a BIOS password? You can pull the MOBO battery or look for a tiny jumper that says CMOS, reset jumper to other position for a few seconds and replace to original position then boot up. If all else fails, there is a floppy boot disk you can make from the internet that will allow you to reset a login password, look up on Google.

must open case and look for the CMOS jumper then move it, wait then move it back...sorry.