If you bypassed it with a USB stick, it's not a BIOS password. POST/BIOS all take place before the device boots to anything, including a USB drive.
Perhaps what we're after is an OS password - if Linux it'd likely be LUKS. You should be able to install a distro, you just won't be able to access the currently installed distro without the password.
Perhaps what we're after is an OS password - if Linux it'd likely be LUKS. You should be able to install a distro, you just won't be able to access the currently installed distro without the password.