Reset OS X Password Without an OS X CD
I wrote about this a while back on my blog, hackaddict, but it was such a popular post I thought I’d give it a revisit. A lot of people buy used Macs, and they often run into the problem of not knowing the admin password, so here is a way to get around not knowing the admin password on Macs.
To reset your OS X password without an OS X CD you need to enter terminal and create a new admin account:
- Reboot
- Hold apple + s down after you hear the chime.
- When you get text prompt enter in these terminal commands to create a brand new admin account (hitting return after each line):
- mount -uw /
- rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
- shutdown -h now
- After rebooting you should have a brand new admin account. When you login as the new admin you can simply delete the old one and you’re good to go again!
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So – it’s just that simple to hack a Mac OS machine if you have physical access? Are passwords basically useless then?
You fail to mention that in the process you delete ALL of your information.
That is not resetting the OS X password, that is called creating a new account and taking over someone else’s computer with a fresh start. The title of this post should be changed.
Yeah, now I’m f-ed thanks to this post.
Thanks for making the comment-You saved me a lot of hassle.
It would have helped if it was in the post!
no it dosent since you make a new admin you have acsess to change any other admins password the you go into the other account and delete your temporary one you made
Blabla is right. EW, Tex, and Steve don’t know how to go to accounts page in system preferences to recover the old account.
I did what this post suggested, and ended up with a machine that wanted to go through the original setup process, as it had ‘lost’ all my accounts.
But this *seems to have* fixed it:
mount -uw /
touch /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
shutdown -h now
The file .AppleSetupDone should have stuff in it (name, city, eye colour, registration info, etc), but it *seems* to work just as an empty file.
Does that really work?
did you find anything else that could possibly fix this problem?!
I followed this & I still can’t Log into my Mac with my own Name & Password which is really weird!
I don’t have my Mac original CD so I guess I’m kinda stuck, huh!
I have a MacBook & I went inside my settings & changed all users back to admin name & password & shut off my Labtop; after I powered it up again, after I typed in the admin name(my name & last name), I punch in my password & than enter; it doesn’t work & wont let me pass that window!!!; I tried ■mount -uw /
■rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
■shutdown -h now
than powered it up again & now all I get is Black & Grey window!; So I tried your instructions(Above)(mount -uw /
touch /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
shutdown -h now); Now I’m back where I started as I can’t pass my password window again!!!
Anyone know what to do as I would hate to take it into an actual Apple Store as I would hate to pay $$$ for something I can fix myself.
HELP PLEASE!!!
YUH TIGHT
Yeah this is a bad idea. Sorry, but removing that file will just trick OS X into thinking its the first time its been powered up, and take you through registration.
So if you absolutely need to reset your password without an Apple CD available, you’re better doing this.
its not working
Does this work if a firmware password is enabled? Cuz otherwise it’s a little disappointing to think it would be that easy to snag a computer and wipe all of its data, even if the owner, thinking he’s being all security-conscious, has bothered to enable a firmware password…
actualy no it does not delete the user account to do that you would have to do this
rm -R /Users/Username
The command simply deletes the prefs for the apple setup assistant and it could be another way to regain access should you not have your Install DVD. After running the command and rebooting youll be brought to the Apple Setup Assistant where it will allow you to create another admin user which in turn allows you to enable the root user and then regain access to your files.
Resetting a firmware password is as easy as changing the amount of ram in the machine and them zapping pram, that takes care of any firmware passwords.
>rm -R /Users/Username
That removes the users home directory. It doesn’t actually remove the account from the user list.
If you’re already going into single user mode, do it the right way
mount -uw /
passwd *username*
reboot now
Obviously replace *username* with the desired login name. If you don’t know it, go in to /Users and see which folders are available…
cd /Users
ls -a
:)
You saved my life!
brilliant, following the much treasured KISS principle.
Thanks alot !!!!!!!!!!
@John
All Personal Computers can be “hacked” this way. Even BIOS password can be got around by just pulling out the batteries!
Thats why on the first Mission Impossible film u have the computer locked up in a secure room ;-)
Awesome!
I had no idea. I recently just reformatted a Mac. Had I known this I could have saved valuable time and effort.
Thanks!
Hi i have a dual os mac with windows and mac how do i get to command line on the mac as when my pc reboots it loads up windows asap or if i keep hold of alt it gives me option to choose but then when i click on mac and hold apple and s it doesnt take me to command prompt
@ devious: When booted into OS X, change your startup disk to the Mac HD in System Prefs > Startup Disk. When you reboot, it will boot into OS X by default (instead of Windows), and then you can boot into Single User mode.
Oh, and using punctuation is not a bad habit to get into.
This worked perfectly, thanks so much :D
Awesome, will definitly write this down. Will come in handy. Great post!!
Excellent, I am printing this of mow. Will come in handy!
Hi,
I tried this on my personal MacBook, which runs the latest version of Leopard and it worked exactly as advertised.
I REALLY want to do this with my MacBook Pro from work, which runs Tiger 10.4.10. Can anyone confirm that this also works with Tiger?? I’m a little concerned about trying it on my work machine. I can’t make a true backup without Admin rights…
If anyone knows if this works in Tiger, please let me know.
Thank you!
i tried everything thanx so much ur the best
im am so happy
EW says:
You fail to mention that in the process you delete ALL of your information.
That is not resetting the OS X password, that is called creating a new account and taking over someone else’s computer with a fresh start. The title of this post should be changed.
MY REPLY: by the way i did that to my mac and i got all the data back. The hard drive didn’t
delete it
…So i did what was said, before knowing there was notes beneath, and the mac sounds the mac chime during start-up. However, upon entering the OS screen, where its loading…it has a small folder icon, and flashing to Mac face Icon….Wont do anything, acts as if everything is wiped…which means I would need a CD. I dont have one…Any words…..Thanx
Ok… Here is the Story… I have a Macbook SO X tiger… It was stolen 8 day’s ago… with all my stuff… including my battery, charger, CD and even my I-pod… I just got it back today… but the police told me the CD and ipod was no where to be found,,,
Here’s my issue… They never found the guy… But The Theif stole my password and changed everything !!! He put his own password! …. Plus now I don’t even Have a CD to reset it!!!!! Can someone please help me hack my own computer?!…. Does this work for my laptop?… All my modeling stuff and info has been lost!… I use this for work!… Please… Can someone be of any assistance… (These past few days have been crazy…. sorry for the begging….)
ModelBoi….
I’ll check this from time to time…. Thanks…
I will still be checking it from time to time… Any help would be appreciated . . .
-Modelboi
:]
LOL thats not hacking! Im not even sure if its worthy of being called cracking. Who has a password on their machine anyway. I only keep one on my broweser to keep my friends from screwing around with my business stuff.
ty m8!!!!
helped a lot
Do as he says but upon the start up you will here a chime THE APPLE CHIME :)! Once that is done, you have a 3 second time period to hit Apple Command – s. This works on any COMPUTER using Mac OS X 10.4.0 – 11. You must hold both firmly not to tough to brake your keys just enough to let it know whose boss. A screen “WILL!!!!” Pop up and you must hold both of them down at the same time until that appears. Once it does you will wait about a minute then do as it says and Voila! It works and FOR ALL THE NAY SAYERS NO it doesn’t wipe your information say do not transfer anything, and nothing is wiped. Logon as the admin and put in your password and change the old admins privileges to standard and then change yours to admin settings then reset the password on the old one to something you will remember. Then log out and go onto the old one and ALL OF YOUR THINGS ARE THERE AND NOTHING IS DELETED I HAVE DONE THIS 20000 TIMES TRUST ME my company uses macs and so many people forget the password and it takes to much time to do this with the disk that its easier this way and nothing will be deleted if you just put in the information needed nothing more don’t transfer anything.
Example -
The old account let say was name. JoeShomo!
Joeshomo forgot his password and doesn’t no how to get it back
Reads this then says okay. Shuts down his computer, turns it on hears the chime 3 notes before the end hits Apple Command – S together comes to the text screen.
Types in what it says and then reboots.
Comes to the First time start up screen. Follows the instructions and doesn’t transfer anything “TRUST ME DONT TRANSFER!!!”
Then names his new account FIXER!!!
He Logs on to FIXER!!! and goes to Account Preference.
Clicks make this computer an administrator! ” No need to put in any password here ”
Clicks on the Lock if its locked which it will be if someone is secure with there computer.
Goes to the JoeShomo account and clicks don’t allow administrator privileges.
Then below the names and Short name, clicks reset password!!
Change it to what ever you want that you will remember and finish up.
Close the Account settings.
Log out and go to the JoeShomo account don’t be worried your stuff is there!!
And if your smart you will leave FIXER!!! account or whatever you name it!
But if not then change it back and that does it.
DON”T LISTEN TO PEOPLE THAT TELL YOU THAT IT WILL SCREW ANYTHING UP IT WONT ITS JUST A glitch that allows the computer to think its the first time starting up but doesn’t wipe the hard drive. Because it already has a OS. Just a refresher if you will.
If that doesn’t help and you need more then that contact me at
dyllenowens@ymail.com I will help you further!!!
Any other problems contact ME WILLING TO HELP
i have an acer and it doesnt make a chime when do i start
I’ve just tried this method several dozen times on an old Apple ibook 500 running 10.4.8 and it doesn’t work.
The install CD method doesn’t work either as they are the original 10.2, nor does the restore CD method.
So I tried this method using “Apple S” holding it down before, during, and after the chime, but no luck. Tried various intensities on the keys, no luck either.
Any ideas?
This Actually Worked!!! Thanx So Much!!! F.Y.I. I used this on a Mac OS X Panther Desktop.
This reset procedure worked absolutely great! Thanks! It was a Godsend! Dave
This method seems to work fine. To all those who tell you to use passwd – it doesn’t work in 10.3.x and above…
I was able to get it to work, but only after pulling out the RAM and restarting the machine. It was the only way to get past the lock which prevented any of the hot key combo’s during start up. Once the RAM was out I had no problems using “Apple S” – that method should probably be included in this procedure for those encountering the same problem I did. Cheers!
Would this method also set the new admin as the owner. I mean to have a used computer transferred to a new owner (name, address, etc.).
I tried this on my iBook G4 and it didn’t work. could anyone help me?
Thanks. This works BEAUTIFULLY. I am selling some old macs and used this to “Virginize” them. I did it twice on each machine. First to create a user named DeleteThis User. I used this new user to delete the original (my) user. And then did the reset again.
Thanks a ton.
Pls i have tried all i could but i still dont get any of this. I need someone to help me out you can get me on my mail. authenticnelly@yahoo.com
Its a version 10.4.10. Kindly help me with procedures on how to reset the password.
Thanks
Be sure to type it exactly (including spaces and caps). Do each line one at a time, hitting Enter after each. I did this on 10.3 and 10.5.
mount -uw /
rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
shutdown -h now
I can’t believe anyone would actually go to a HACKING APPLE BLOG and then take the commands that the poster put on there and actually type them into the prompt. I learned that lesson back in an old AOL chatroom. I curiously asked the user where he got that cool ass rainbow font. He simply posted the link and “I” installed the backdoor trojan horse not knowing that It was exactly what he wanted me to do. Most peolple don’t remember the web when it was dangerous. God how I miss the sound of AOL 4.0 logging on to my dial-up modem. No disrespect to the poster. I see the point in having a blog like this but I just don’t think people see the danger in taking advice from a blog. If this guy said reformat your hard disk but he told you how to do it in code from a prompt so you didn’t know what you were doing you would probably do it blindly. I’m not saying that the code is incorrect that he posted. ( I ignorantly didn’t check into that.) Sorry poster. You sound like you know what your talking about so I hope you can understand I’m not attacking your blog. For all I know It’s good commands but I trust you as much as the rainbow font guy. That’s how everyone should trust what they read on a blog. I hope this works because I’m gonna try it either way because it’s not my laptop and I don’t care if it ruins my friends MAC. Yep you guessed it. I’m a PC.
Mikey Said:
“Yep you guessed it. I’m a PC.”
And always, have been, that was obvious by line 4 of your post
Even back then the Mac was all but immune from Trojans and Virus and clicking that link would have done nothing ;-)
this does work. i just did it on a MBP running 10.5.5.
after doing it, i kind of panicked and thought i had just deleted all of my data, but rest assured that this process does not.
it will take you through your initial setup again, but all it does is create another account. your original account will remain.
i would think that passwd [username] would have worked fine. i will retry that. it may save from having to go through the entire setup again.
> is it that simple to hack into a mac…
yes, it is – but only if the mac is not specifically
protected.
This is not a security leak. It is by design and
intentional, since most personal computers are
what the thing is called i.e. a personal item.
Booting into single user mode is a thing as old as
Unix. I used the trick on Unix V7 – early 80ies.
Most systems boot automatically using a standard
boot command line invisible to the user. And most
Unix including Mac OS X allow you to get into a
manual mode and specify your own parameters e.g. -s
to go to single user mode. In single user mode you are
omnipotent root, can mount disks and change every bit
on your system disk i.e. add new users, delete users
etc…
The trick fooling the system into an automatic
initial setup script is one way. There are more
traditional ways to reset password, like
editing /etc/passwd in very old systems or
nicl /var/db/netinfo/local.nidb… 10.5. needs
an even newer trick which I don’t know/use yet.
But such one will exist by design.
—
If you want to prevent this you can get a utility
(google for “firmware password”) and set a firmware
password for the machine. You will set a variable in
NVRAM of the machine and this prevents any key
combinations from changing the boot parameters.
The user of the machine is forced into a
regular OS boot on the default drive and you
loose the chance chance to intercept and
walk into the machine through the boot door.
That way you will end with the login prompt
and be locked out if you are not a regularly
authorized user.
But again – if you have physical control over
the machine you can remove the firmware password
(by changing the memory configuration on most macs
i.e. remove or add memory).
Discouraging the manipulation of an operating
system image always boils down to a padlock on
the machine on the lowest hardware layer. The best
experts on this are probably system administrators
in schools and colleges around the world – because
they have to (had to) provide personal computers
to their students in a public place. At least that
is where I gained this expertise.
Regards
Thomas M. Stricker
Worked for me on the 2001 iMac and it came up as OS X 10.1 after I was able to get in
Localhost recommended I run these two lines first
/sbin/fsck -y
and
/sbin/mount -uw /
(root was read only) so I did that before doing the remove.
It left everything on the hard drive, not that I want it.
when i turn on my macbook i press apple+s but nothing happens and i have forgotten my password completely and i have no discs to re-install it..
please help me i dont know what to do…i could take it into someone but i never have any time..if you know how to help me that would be great..also i’m not the best with computers so would be great if it was in a simple way.. thanks a bunch!!!
can any1 tell me wat is apple +s where is tht apple key.plz shw me the procedure to strt cmmond prompt where we can write tht cmmand
hey can any1 help me.i gt 1 second hand laptop and itz locked.it shows hfa power house and below tht it ask for username and password which i dnt know.so can tht problem be solved by formatting if yes thn how can i format and if no thn wat is d procedure to unlock my macbook
This actually worked. Thank you so much.
Make sure you type the spaces in the text prompt info. You have to look closely at the code posted but you can see the spaces if you try. I tried it a couple times and it wasn’t working. I then came back and made sure I had it written right, checked al the spaces, re-did it and it worked fine. To get all your old info, as said, just create your new account, when asked to transfer your info at setup, keep it as it is (DO NOT TRANSFER) and continue. After you eventually get to your brand new desktop. Go to your system preferences, and change the password of your old account by unchecking “Give this user administrator priveleges” or whatever..then you can either keep the password off, or change it to something else. Just use a password you’ll always remember. Even for the new admin account. It makes it so much easier. I always make mine Pazzword for things I’m not worried about the security on. Then just sign into your old account and do whatever you want with all your old stuff.
Anyhow, thanks again.
AWESOME!!!! What a lifesaver!!!! YOU RULE!!! Thanks!
I don’t have a mac keyboard. I only have a normal microsoft one.. what button is considered the apple button?
I have the same problem. No apple keyboard. I got a used mac mini what do I do????
This worked like a dream and saved me a lot of heartache over a dodgy ebay purchase and very upset daughter on christmas! Thank you!
Nope. Doesn’t work. I’ve tried different combinations offered in the comments as well.
I’ve got an old imac (not sure of the date) running OS X. It’s just got the original owner’s name for sign in.
Any other suggestions? Oh, and requires: /sbin/fsk -y before entering /sbin/mount -uw
when i complete the directions you offered, it reboots then shows me the original screen, with the original username and no additional user option.
boo hoo hoo. please help. thanks!
… b… sh.. more difficulties with that comment editor … allowing Basic HTML is not a good idea.
While the given trick of deleting that particular flag file to fool the system intoa nother initial system setup is cute, it is not a robust and direct method to create a password free login. It might not work on older OS Xes…
The following direct method works as follows on anything with a netinfo database, i.e Puma, Jaguar, Panther up to Tiger or OS X10.1-10.4.
Boot into single user (Command S at startup)
Optional, required only if system was not shut down properly, which might well be the case… if you break into an unknown system, you never know for sure…
# fsck -fy
Mount the root file system read/write
# mount -uw /
Start the commandline tool to modify the netinfo database, where all user names and passwords are stored.
# nicl -raw /var/db/netinfo/local.nidb
Goto users directory in the database
> cd users
List directory with all user names (many are system users that can not log in)
> list
Pick the user that is the likely to be the standard user (that shows up in the dialog) – if the startup dialog is not set to a list you can also pick “root”
> cd
Remove password
> create . passwd “”
Remove the shadow hash method
> delete . authentication_authority
Quit the Netinfo Tool
> Quit
Continue the boot into multi user mode
# logout
… booting continues, passwd should now be empty.
That is how I could get into any system that allows me to enter the single user mode. It is the Next Inc. way of editing the /etc/passwd in other unix system.
I heard that Leopard (10.5) is different. I have not yet have to remove passwords from Leopard machines.
Regards
Thomas M. Stricker
hi Thomas how long is take that step to boot ? tanks
I needed to reset my admin user’s password on a OS X 10.5 machine today. I can confirm that the instructions on this macosxhints.com article worked: http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20080414140636495
1. Boot into single user mode (press Command-S at power on)
2. Type fsck -fy
3. Type mount -uw /
4. Type launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.DirectoryServices.plist
5. Type dscl . -passwd /Users/username password, replacing username with the targeted user and password with the desired password.
6. Reboot
I used this method when I entered above step 4 it says socket not connected. and when I enter exit or reboot, it continue rebooting but never reach to desktop
this worked perfect & for a non tech guy, that’s exciting! I followed your instructions, then went in & changed the password to ONE I CAN REMEMBER! ha – THANKS!!!!
Confirmed Fix. Does Work.
Thank you so much! This saved my ass. I upgraded from 10.3 with a DVD from work. I let it run, when I came back the login was up. The autologin was gone? I tried every account and pw I knew was on the system, no luck. I tried to use Systemstarter to start Netinfo so I could just reset the password but the process had been forked. I tried this and just redid the account. Reimported a few things and done. Thanks again!!!!!
Will somebody please seriously help me? I will pay you via paypal if I have too. I am a musician and I have hundreds of songs I can’t afford to lose. I do not have the boot disk, and I can’t lose all the info. I’ve tried booting in the single user mode, but one of the commands isn’t right, it says no variable or something. Please email me asap. I’m running osx 10.4
well my school is the administrator and i was wandering if you can tell me some way to completely wipe out my computer and still keep my files
I bought an iMac at a pawn shop for $50, the previous own passworded almost everything. Of course they passworded the updates, so I cant update my computer that is 2004 and 2005 as the newest updates. I am showing the computer is running OS 9 and OS X, does new admin password reset thing work?? I dont want to lose $50!!
Please Help!
i need help.. we did this on the laptop and it goes to the initial startup screen.. and says to registrer and stuff but then when creating an account it says to select a picture and they dont come up and then it doesnt continue.. you have to press go back then continue for it to say “Creating an account” but then it just says it fails and it wont create an account so its jsut the same thing over and over and im stuck in setup any help??
So does this delete the original user account?
(I was to lazy to read all of the comments to find out)
omg…everything was workin fine until i registrated it and then answered the few more questions thing and then it just stayed on one screen and nothin happened..i waited for a long time and nothing happen….can you please help me and tell me what went wrong…what i might be able to do…or is there another way?
I am having the EXACT same problem. DId you ever resolve yours?
i have the same problem as jessica …..i need help.. i did this on the laptop and it goes to the initial startup screen.. and says to registrer and stuff but then when creating an account it says to select a picture and they dont come up and then it doesnt continue.. you have to press go back then continue for it to say “Creating an account” but then it just says it fails and it wont create an account so its jsut the same thing over and over and im stuck in setup any help??
can someone please help me out….message me to miguel-gsxr-1300@hotmail.com if you can please.
please can you help me i want my stolen password to be reset at any cost. please do contact me on sharma.sanchita@ymail.com as soon as possible.
I just whanted to say thanks for this info It worked just fine for me.
Thanks
I just used the procedure Reset OS X Password Without an OS X CD for a ibook G4 10.2 – upon rebooting and going into System Preferences/Accounts, I see a new account created “system administrator …standard” (the original account is there also). I was able to create a password, however after rebooting, NOTHING shows up on my desktop, it appears everything is gone! I try and select the original Account name, but still nothing happens. Please help, everything is on here…….somewhere I hope. Someone please respond.
i am confused do not how to act the commands help please please please x
thank you so much. This worked fine. This is great help.
The only thing I changed to get this working is the first line
It doesnt work for me as
mount -uw
Instead you need to put in /sbin/mount -uw
And then every thing else
Works perfect
We tried your commands as stating to reset for administration passwords but we did not receive a text for next command
It Works!!! Thanks! =D
I cant do! Can any of you boys help me..i found this ibook mac os x and i cant hack into the administrator password
write to me here salthedog@hotmail.com plz!!! :D<333
I try doing what you wrote and it didn’t work, so I try it any but this time without the cap letters in applesetupdone and got in. You can try it, it may work for you it did for me.
Make sure you uses the space bar -./ like it shows
BEWARE!!!! This tip left me stranded. Mac OS X Server. The procedure will throw me into Assistent alright, but once there all menu options are greyed out, and the setup assistent will NOT run. I have no idea how to get back. Anyone? (Thanks in advance!)
I should have followed the cd /Users advice in one of the comments, because it was the user name that I was missing, not the password.
THIS WORKS!!!! who cares about the lost info. :) I tried everything but this finally worked
THANK YOU SOOOO SOOSOSOSOSO MUCH
PLEASE ENTER “mount -uw /” (WITHOUT QUOTATIONS) IF YOU GET ERROR MESSAGES WHEN YOU TYPED “mount -uw”
im having problems reseting it. i used the keys but it worked until registration and now im trying to press the apple+s down i never hear the chime. can anyone please help me.
I tried this on my system but now it doesnt start up anymore the only thing that appears is an error screen saying i need to restart my comp. I went into Apple-s mode and it runs a long script and concludes with Panic we are hanging here. please help!! I did this and now my comp is broken!
antes que nada como estan?.. bueno espero que puedan ayudarme y ver si me pueden dar una ayuda o solucion.. yo tengo una mac os x 10.3.4 y sigo los pasos pero no me ingresa en modo monousuario.. que alguien me explique detalladamente como es que tengo que presionar comando + s… lo mantengo presionado pero no me aparece nada mi mac inicia normalmente y me canse de probar, intente de mil formas, mantenerlos presionados antes de encender el mac, despues del tono de inicio. y bueno hasta que se termino de cargar la ventana de inicio de sesion.. por favor.. que alguien me ayude. tengo esta mac con la contraseña de administrador que no tengo ni idea de cual es, porque como se deben imaginar, la compre usada. bueno espero su colaboracion. les dejo mi mail. sosa_235@hotmail.com
Muchas Gracias.
Hasta Luego.
Before that not like at all estan? .. good I hope that they could help and see if they can give me a help or solution me .. I have a mac you x 10.3.4 and follow(continue) the steps but me monouser does not join way .. that someone explains to me detailed like it(he,she) is that I have to press command + s … I keep it pressed but it(he,she) me does not appear at all my mac initiates normally and get tired of proving(trying), try of thousand forms, to keep them pressed before igniting the mac, after the tone of beginning. And good until stops being loaded the window of beginning of meeting .. please .. that someone helps me. I have this mac with the manager’s password that I have not even idea of which(who) is, because since(as,like) they must imagine, buy it used. Good I wait for his(her,your) collaboration. I leave my mail them. Sosa_235@hotmail.com Thank you very much.
Bye-bye.
THanks! I just bought a used i Mac for my niece and could not figure my way around to change the admin password this helped a lot thanks!!!
On an old iMac G3 500…
YOUR TIP ROCKED! SAVED ME HOURS!
thanks
chris@wellconnectedlife.com
I need to archive and install my mac book pro. I can only get the cd from the Apple manufacturer. I dont have a credit card. Can someone please tell me how i can do this myself. Please write to me at merkury_002@yahoo.com . Thank you.
i try this and it doesnt work . it brings me to the initial startup screen with the different languages it then says tiger 10.4.10. andthen i put in the languge and etc. put in my new username and password then it goes back to the beginning of the startup what can i do ? when i tried this it said .applesetupdone: command not found after i could not get applesetupdone to work i rebooted and this is what happened
I tried it and it works! I was really bummed with my used mac, no disc, no admin. password, no luck. All I can say is you ROCK!!! THANKS
After having success on setting a new account the first time, when I logged out it didn’t seen to recognized my new passwd and now that I’m trying to set another account it saids that an error occurred in the server with this text “-[NSPathStore2 rangeOfString:option:range:]“..can someone help me figure out what i need to do next or if I’m in trouble…thx
Didn’t work. Typed rm /var/db/ AppleSetupDone many times and I get “No such file or directory.
Please advise,
David
Tried sh /etc/rc
but your other commands still didn’t work.
I wonder if you can help. I have the installation CDs, I know the administrator user name and password. However, when I was doing my “spring house cleaning” on my Mac, I deleted the file that could remember and recognized my user name and password….. Now I am trying to reboot from the installation CD to reset my administrator user name and password, but I can’t boot up my Mac with the installation CD while holding down the C key, I only get the “Do not enter” sign on the gray screen. What should I do Now?
hold down the alt key after you hear the mac’s start up sound. then choose the disk you want to boot from. good luck:))
what if you cannot hear the chime anymore? can anyone please help me. send me a message to miguel-gsxr-1300@hotmail.com..ive tried everything and now the chime does not come on.
Recently I bought a used EMac G4 and I needed a password for something. I couldn’t get the password so I used the instructions at the beginning of the page to try and rest the password. I didn’t look at the comments to see that I shouldn’t have used it. When the computer started back up, it went through the set-up stage and I was pleased. The whole set-up was fine until i tried to create an account. When I clicked Continue from the page where it asks you to put in a password and stuff to protect your account, the computer says that there is an error with setting up an account. After I click OK to get rid of the message it starts the whole process all over again and I did the process all over as well and the message still said there was an error. Does anyone know a way that I am able to fix this or would I have to download a new version of OS X? ANY help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanx!!!
Thanx it works!
Thank you theappleblog so much!
This thing works..i have managed to get past the password..something else though, my computer is a MaG5 and its on Mac OS X; i have set the new account as the admnistrator but there are files in the former account that i cannot still access. I already set the account as standard. How do i go about that?
if you want to access the files you can’t
go to get info
and change sharing and permissions to read and write
cheers
Thanks!
~iMac G4, OS X Tiger
this is exactly what i needed. you saved me alot of money!
thanks.
When you say apple+s do you mean shift or the letter s
I used this with my Macbook running OS X 10.4.6 and it worked. It didn’t work immediately I had to muck around with the spaces eg. not follow the above prompts to the spacing but it did work at the end!!! My Macbook had just returned from the Repairers who have put a password into my MB AND lost my install disc that they took responsibility for. I was going to have to wait weeks to get the replacement installation disc from Apple so thanks for this tip!
Could somebody help me?
I used this method to create a new account, which worked perfectly in just one try. But when i have to fill in my data (Apple ID, name, address, etc.) the keyboard is blocked! It just makes this annoying sound when i press any key. Without entering your data you obviously can’t continue registration.
Is this because my laptop is overheated? Or is something else the matter?
Help would be very much appreciated, since my laptop is useless this way!
this fix works great!
Thanks dude!
Absolutley brilliant! Worked a charm
My mac admin password is not working, I can still login with the help of the mac installation disk and resetting password utility. I have only one user(admin) on our mac. I already reset my password using os x disk but when I enter my new user name and password for any administrative task. It gives me error – invalid password. I can see my password hint changed(it is same as I enter when I reset my original password). My problems is – I want to change my admin account password but don’t want to change my user profiles i.e. user’s desktop settings, networks settings, mounted drive, installed printers etc. I don’t want to loose my user settings.
Ok, everything seemed to be fine until I registered the new account. It
“spun” around for about 5-10 minutes and gave me a message
Sorry, an unexpected error has occurred. (unable to add standard user)
Can anyone advise? Thanks in advance
thanks every one, this threads been great, managed to reset my clamshell which I bought but couldn’t get in
“i need help.. we did this on the laptop and it goes to the initial startup screen.. and says to registrer and stuff but then when creating an account it says to select a picture and they dont come up and then it doesnt continue.. you have to press go back then continue for it to say “Creating an account” but then it just says it fails and it wont create an account so its jsut the same thing over and over and im stuck in setup any help??”
i have the same problem when i tried this method. after it asks me what my computer will be mainly used for it freezes and does nothing. some insight to this is greatly appreciated
thanks
This worked a treat!!
I have a Mac 4 Desktop (?) I had my password changed because I forgot it But I lost a lot of valuable templates and pictures! How do I get them back?
Sioux2385
Is there a way to use this method with a windows based KB as i havent got a mac one? the only one that i have that will work with the tower is a USB one..
DD, you can use any USB keyboard on your Mac–just use the Windows button in place of the Apple button and it’ll work the same. Alt can be used in place of option, also.
OP, this is a great trick. Hopefully it’ll keep working in 10.6.
this is the SHIZNITS MAn, thanks a bunch!!!!!!!!!
Great post. Worked just as you said it would. Plus, I still have the old admin as a user in case he wants all his girlfriend’s naked pictures back. LoL
Thanks a million!
Wow it sounds like everyone has had great luck with this blog or whatever I have a MacBook with OSX 10.4.11 and I’ve tried the
mount -uw /
rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
shutdown -h now
then
#sh /etc/rc
#passwd *username*
#reboot
I don’t know if there is something I’m missing. This is my first Mac now I’m kinda having doubts if anyone can help please e-mail me.
Thanks for the info. My stepmother got a new mac notebook and several months later gave me her desktop model. It is locked and she swears that she can’t remember the name or password that she used!!! She doesn’t have an installation CD and I wasn’t sure what to do! I’m going to try your method. Wish me luck!!!!
I’m using a Mac OS X version 10.5.7 , i tried through :
-command+s
-mount-uw/
-rm/var/db.AppleSetupDone
-shutdown-h now
Those things doesn’t work :|
hey ! when I finished add one more admin into my mac , and when I using the new admin so how can I see all application from another one ???
need help. i turn on my mac and after the sound i press apple than s and i doesnt take me any where.?
TO EVERYONE STUCK IN SINGLE USER MODE:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TA20809?viewlocale=en_US
That link totally helped me! I’m never using one of these sites again, way too confusing for a novice!!!
honestly dont understand how everyone else is having problems..
but it worked just fine for me.
thanks for the post. :D
a good looks i forgot my password andm im bck in play boi thanks
Good one. Much appreciated – got me out of a hole.
have a new model macbook pro 4 gb and i have forgot password, well kids have made a new one. have started up and at apple sound pressed command then -s and held but all i get is a clicking sound. please can anyone explain in plain english whats wrong or how i go about breaking into my apple. on holiday at the moment and need to do some work. thanks. gerard44t@aol.com
legends!!!!!!!!
OMG … it totally works … I have 10.4 Tiger. It works. though at first i thought it didn’t cause you really have to carefully enter all spacing and etc. but it totally works, thank you sooooo very much.
I’ve tried everything and it just isn’t working i can’t download anything because i don’t know the password or change any of the settings and it’s pretty much unusable at this point now
anyone know where im going wrong? i’ve tried it in just like it’s on here
Reset 10.5 Leopard password
1. Power on or restart your Mac.
2. At the chime (or grey screen if your chime is turned off), hold down Command+S on your keyboard to enter single-user mode.
3. This step is optional, but it’s a good idea because it checks the consistency of the hard disk before moving on. At the prompt, type fsck -fy and press Enter/Return. Wait for the checks to complete before going to the next step.
4. Type mount -uw / and press Enter.
5. Type launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.DirectoryServices.plist and press Enter.
6. Type ls /Users and press Enter. This lists all of the usernames on the computer – helpful if you don’t know or remember what these are.
7. Type dscl . -passwd /Users/username password and replace “username” with one of the users displayed in the previous step. Replace “password” with a new password of your choice. Press Enter.
8. Type reboot and press Enter.
Reset 10.4 Tiger password
1. Power on or restart your Mac.
2. At the chime (or grey screen if your chime is turned off), hold down Command+S on your keyboard to enter single-user mode.
3. Type sh /etc/rc and press Enter/Return.
4. Type passwd username and replace “username” with the short name of the user account for which you’d like to reset the password.
5. Type your desired password and press Enter. It won’t show itself on the screen, so be careful what you type. You will most likely have to enter it again to confirm.
6. Type reboot and press Enter.
Rez
Thanks MAN, you really helped me!
only dscl . -passwd didn’t work for me but you certainly got me in the right direction: I had to do
dscl . -delete /Users/username AuthenticationAuthority
Note: Replace “username” with the affected user account’s short name you noted above.
Press Return
Type this, followed by Return: passwd username
reboot
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1543
I did your code thingy and now when I turn on my computer it goes to the login page but dosn’t show anything just the loading sign and just sits there
Hi,
I’ve try this:
1.Reboot
2.Hold apple + s down after you hear the chime.
3.When you get text prompt enter in these terminal commands to create a brand new admin account (hitting return after each line):
•mount -uw /
•rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
•shutdown -h now
And now my Mac Mini kept reboot, I can’t access my Mac os x 10.5.4
Can someone help.
Enable a firmware password
Worked excellent even remotely on a PC guy…that is proof of working :-). Thanks
OMG THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH it worked amazingly BTW you know when it worked after you type exit a shit load of words n crap fly through the screen its like your starting up again go with the flow DO NOT TRANSFER i was hesitant at first just gotta have faith. after its quite simple System pref accounts n there it is your old account unlock it change its password delete the new account and your done! =D i have macbook 10.5.7 and macbook pro runnin leo worked for both
i cant seem to get it to work for me
ive done it before but i got another one and i did it, now it jus goes through it and at the last question i click and it says creating account but then it restarts the thing. and i try it again, and it goes through the reboot again.
Tried the above and got the new user setup wizard on reboot. After entering all the new details I receive an internal server error and standard user not setup any help would be appreciated. Thanks Andy
ive got a ibookg4 with mac 0sx i cant use the cd dvd drive due to the admin pass word when i restart using this article it restarts and alls it does it sends me to a screen where i have to enter a pass word i can get past that using a password but to change anything i have to have a password for the admin what do i do?
does this actually work without messing up my apple mac? cause its actually my dads apple mac that he bought off a friend a couple of weeks ago and it was his girlfriends computer but she didnt tell us the password so we cant install anything onto it. just wondering that if i done this would it work as its my dads laptop and i will get into ALOT of trouble if i broke it or messed it up.
write back thanks x
good one…. it worked fine.. tnx
great it helped me too
ur AWESOME……. tnx a bunch
It worked fine for me.
This Emac was given to me, and I needed the admin PW to update. It wasn’t available, so this is great.
i have the same problem, i cannot downlod anything on my mac pro because there’s anadmin password. what wwill i press on the keyboard for apple and s keys. thanks a lot
hello again, i was trying this one but it says root device is mounted read-only, firewire unable to determine security mode, defaulting to full-secure…. please help me what to do. thanks a lot…
Works like a dream, Thank you so much
thanx alot it is fantastic
hello,
i did what is posted and it worked because now my imac boots up like its the first time. but now it gets stuck once the little movie begins. everything just freezes!
can anybody help me with this problem??
thanks.
worked perfectly, thank you!!!
Worked great for me, many thanks!
I can get the initial screen up but my problem is that the laptop seems to be stuck in caps lock so I can’t type in the above commands to reset the password. And the reason the password won’t work is presumably because the lap top is stuck to caps lock. Any suggestions
Will I lose all the documents on my laptop by running this process? Thanks a lot if someone can help me out.
I do all the step and then it takes for ever to go through the process like it acts like it is loading… please help!
This definitely works, I managed to do it and I am a mac novice. I notice a few people reckon they haven’t been able to get it to go?? Real simple: follow the instructions exactly!
There are a lot of tools and utilities that can be downloaded and used to recover, reset, retrieve or reveal existing password. These windows password recovery utilities, free or paid, are usually a Linux boot disk or CD that able to comes with NT file system (NTFS) drivers and software that will read the registry and rewrite the password hashes, or can brute force crack the password for any user account including the Administrators. The advantage is that there is no fear of leaking your password to outsiders, while the process requires physical access to the console and a floppy or CD drive, depending on which tool you choose. And it’s not easy, although it always work!
Below is the most famous recovery tool I found:
Windows Password Recovery Tool 3.0 – it is the most popular Windows password cracker . It is a very efficient implementation of windows any versions. It comes with a Graphical User Interface and runs on multiple platforms.
Password Recovery Bundle –This is a utility to reset the password of any user that has a valid (local) account on your windows system. You do not need to know the old password to set a new one. It works offline, that is, you have to shutdown your computer and boot off a floppydisk or CD. It’ll detect and offer to unlock locked or disabled out user accounts. It is also an almost fully functional registry editor.
Windows Password Key 8.0 -It is considered as the best tool to reset local administrator and user passwords on any Windows system. It creates a password recovery CD/DVD, USB Flash Drive for home, business and enterprise. And most of all, it’s the most popular and safe solution for removing your Windows password until now.
http://sn.im/bypasswindowspassword
ok so i tryed this on a machine running tiger and it worked perfectly but i have an Imac running snow lepord and it has a constant code and information running down the screen and wont stop to alow me to type. dos anyone know what i am doing wrong and if so how do i fix this
My iBook wont start in Single user mode when i press apple + s at startup. It just buzzes for awhile and the screen is totally grey. After that there is no sound and no activity and the screen is still grey. Nothing else happens.
Help please! Anyone?
I need to change the administrator password and have lost my startupdisks when moving.
Hi Eva,
This same thing happened to me. Did you ever figure it out? Help!
Thanks a lot for the tip, works perfectly!!! Had some IT dude wanna rip me of, says i gotta pay up of else, then i gave him d finger. Thanks to HACKADDICT!!!!
Worked perfecty! Thanks so much, tried many other ways to get root password but this worked and none of my information or other accounts were compromised. Thanks!
AMAZING… THANK YOU UNIVERSE!!! :-)
I have a mac mini and i tried to do it but i have a windows keyboard which does not have an apple key so how can i make this work for me?
Use your Windows Logo Key! :-)
worked great and did not loose any documents or apps,, Thanks
many many thanks
It works great, thanks a lot.
i have G4 laptop but i forget its admin password
when i put the cd into disk drive and hold C key it showes me a mkessag “you need to restarthold down power buton…….”
and in the end of messag a code i written
FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF
plz help me my email id is netking_bus@yahoo.com
Asad! on February 6th, 2010 at 4:44 am
i have G4 laptop but i forget its admin password
when i put the cd into disk drive and hold C key it showes me a mkessag “you need to restarthold down power buton…….”
and in the end of messag a code i written
FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF
plz help me my email id is netking_bus@yahoo.com
i forget to tell you that this time OS is 10.3.3
and i want to install 10.2.4
Plz Plz Plz help me
Bought used from a__Hole on ebay with no password and lots of other crap. Worked for me G4 Powerbook OSX 10.4.11 !! Thanks !!
PS See previous post. It did revert to original NEW OS settings for me though, but I didn’t care as I just got it .
I bought an Imac all in one, (Indigo), with an airport card…it is locked out, and I cannot get to the prompt for single user, and I do not know what the password is, nor do I have a CD…is there a “hard reset” some where in the computer? I downloaded on to a cd a OS X9.2.2 updates from Mac site-and it didn’t work, and the CD is stuck in the slot….am I S.O.L.?
HELP HELP HELP
i read a good half of the comments, because i couldn’t figure out where to enter the code. So i have this black screen and white writting. it say’s:
”
Root device is mounted read-only
if you want to make modifications to files:
/sbin/fsck -fy
/sbin/mount -uw
if you wish to boot the system, but stay in single user mode:
sh /etc/rc
localhost:/root# ”
So where do i enter the code because i don’t get prompted, and i am a bit thick?
Thanks guy’s
Thanks man , you saved my life
For OS X 10.5:
Use “mount -uaw /” instead of “mount -uw /”
Worked fine once I used that.
It just wont work for me… when I get to the AppleSetupDone part all that happens is that they say applesetupdone? like they are asking me if the setup is done! What do I say… yes?
So i do the shutdown thing and then all that happens is that my computer is exactly the same
I just want my friggen computer back
Ok This is exactly what happens: I type in rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone and then I get this back : override rw- – - – - – root/wheel for /var/db/.AppleSetupDone?
What do I say to that??
After I the the .AppleSetupDone process I rebooted. The apple comes up, then the screen just turns grey and will not do anything. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS??! I am freaking out!
I am running 10.5 on a PowerPC G5 Mac.
Thanks!
thanx it’s absolutely work for tiger 10.4
Mi wife lost the Mac OS 10.6.4 disks for her macbook pro, some how when we turn on the laptop it asks for the password, which of course she doesn’t remember.
How can I reset the password without the disks? I mean we can’t even use the laptop…
I don’t know much about this so please excuse my ignorance!
Thanks,
Rocco
THANKS!
You just saved me 50.00 for apple phone support!
Ive done this to remove the password but now my system will not turn on?
الباسورد اتسرق ممكن تبعتهولى على sheref_king_2008@yahoo.com
When i get to the text prompt it loads everything an at the and at the end its just to fast and doesnt give me a chance to enter the commands. IT exits the text prompt and goes strait on with the booting.
How to i enter the commands then?
hi i have a question, i don;t know if i could do this on my macbook which is running tiger. My question is after we restart and do all that process will have airport extreme still in there or will it be gone?(i need to connect my macbook to wifi)i’m a little worried about doing this because i have no tiger disk. thanks
i need serious help, i got this macbook a few days ago, someone has had it previously and they were a teacher. i have no way of getting into contact with them, i don’t have an installation disc and i dont know the admin passwords so i am limited on what i can do,
im scared to do this because im worried it will want me to enter a registration number/code cos i dont know that either, someone please help, i just want to be able to use my macbook properly!!!!! :(
I have a mini mac. what key is the apple key on a pc keyboard?
its the center key on the bottom left of your keyboard! where it has the windows cymbol on the botten
you think this is gonna work with my Mac OS X version10.5.8
the command lines are wrong is not working at all for me
We are having a problem with our password as well. However, we cannot seem to get past a screen that just has a box asking for the password. Nothing else. We have tried rebooting from the start up disk, and all the tricks on the apple help site, our manual….. still nothing. We have tried every password that we have ever used…. nothing. At the point of using a crowbar on it :(
after the last command the macbook pro running 10.4 does not start up now.. wtf! Anyone has advice
Wow! Did that advice ever work! The smoothest reset I have ever done. Added benefit: 2,146 items moved to trash, freeing up many MB’s! Plus – BEST OF ALL. “I got rid of MSN messenger! (I don’t do widows!) The iBook G4 runs just perfect for a 6 year old machine that’s been around. Pawn Shop sold this iBook to me for $80.00 Thanks for your time
namaste’
which button is the apple button
I have a mac os x since 2004, if not mistaken, and i didn’t touch it for 2 years aprox, i don’t remember the password. I can’t get anywhere. I turn the computer on and there’s the user name already written with my photo and the “turn off” “sleep” and “restart” buttons. when i click the user name it opens the password field and the login button. after millions of tries it remains the same, not an error, or a question. can u help me?
I JUST DID IT! IT WORKS! ITS DOES NOT DELETE THE OLD ACCOUNT! IT WORKS! I JUST DID IT! YOU CAN SAFELY DO IT!
Thank you for this post my friend!
Thank you
ok i did this but it wont load y???
Just got a G3 iBook from school, running 10.3.9 (it was about to be thrown out). There was a student account (managed) that auto logged-in, and nobody that I know of knew the teacher/admin password. Tried removing /var/db/.AppleSetupDone, and it let me add my admin account. All of the other accounts were preserved, but I deleted them anyways as I didn’t need them.
For anyone claiming that doing this deletes the data, they are WRONG, it just runs the setup assistant again to create an account and register the computer. Nothing else is deleted.
My mac wont log on with out a computer name and a password. I know the password but i dont know the computer name. How can i get it to come on?
hi, I just got a used eMac but I have a windows keyboard for it so don’t have those mac buttons? Can you still do this trick with a windows keyboard?
i have bought apowerpc g4 10.3.6 from a garage sale, cannot get into the adminstrator part the password kicks me out. i have tried all your instructions but yet i cannot get in to it to reset the pc.its outdated will not let update at all… does anyone no where i can burn the bootdisk a site tha t will allow it for free…
I have find method with more detail and screen shots here http://www.trickyways.com/2010/06/forgot-mac-password-see-how-to-reset-without-disk/
ummm okay after i do that process im
not sure what to press after that to finish the
whole process… Help.
this worked perfect except i dont have anything anymore lol
Hey, just go to the apple menu, click systems preferences and then go to accounts. You should be able to reset the password of your old account then. I did. This worked perfectly for me. After resetting old account, log off and log onto it and delete the new account you created. Ta-dah
You are absolutely right. In it something is also idea excellent, agree with you.
what do you mean by reboot what do i do before typing in the text im confused
were do i enter terminal at
I have very big problem with my Macbook Pro….
I install windows 7 on my Macbook pro but now it is direstly going to windows 7. before there was windows XP and on the startup it was asking for either MAC OS or WINDOWS XP but now it is not possible..can any body help through this that how can i recover my MAC OS
U SAVE MY FRIEND $140 TO BUY THE MAC OS X SOFTWARE, FROM BEST BUY, AND I JUST GOT $60 TO DO THIS JOB, IT WORKED PERFECT, AND TO THE DUMMY GUY BELOW, IT DOES NOT DELETE ANY INFORMATION U JUST HAVE TO GO IN TO ACCOUNT SETTINGS AND CHANGE THE PASSWORD FROM YOUR OLD ACCOUNT AND THEN REBOOT IN TO YOUR OLD LOGIN NOT THE NEW ONE, THAT WAS CREATED WHILE IN THE PROCESS…
If you had any common sense you would take from the context of the tutorial that its deleting the account in question….. how the fuck does this tutorial fuck you over, if anything you just didnt make any progress… if you’re stupid enough to delete your account and blame this guy…. then even a mac isnt simple enough for you… you need an echa sketch
ok i have the same issue i did everything on here but on my mac you have to type in a username and password its not listed so what do i do please help
I have a Power PC G3 (IBook vers.22.15)
running on Mac OS X 10.2.8 (6R73)
and I succesfully entered a new user account,
once I am logged in, deleted the old users.
You loose nothing. You just have to register the PC
with Apple as if it is a new registration.
Restart your computer,
hold down Command-S
and type in the following:
/sbin/fsck -y [Enter] (there is a space after fsck)
/sbin/mount -uaw [Enter] (there is a space after mount)
rm /var/db/.applesetupdone [Enter](there is a space after rm and /db/)
reboot [Enter]
I used this to get into an iMac G4 running 10.2.3 for my sister in law and it worked perfectly, much to my surprise! Many many thanks.
Hi guys; I do have a MacPro with OS X 10.6.4 running on it, and it worked. After restarting the system my password worked just like it used too. Thanks Guys.
This worked fine for me. I too thought I was going to lose everything but I followed the instructions, went through the setup to add another account, went to ‘system preferences’/'accounts’/entered the new admin account’s credentials,clicked on the listing for my old account, reset the password, logged out and logged into the old account. Thanks for this.
where is the applekey ?
changing password of any user without loss any information
1. boot the pc while pressing CMD+S…
2. in the terminal do: mount -uw / ( this remount the drive with read/write)
3. do : ls /Users ( then look for the username to change the password )
4. do: passwd “username” ( without the quote “” )
Does this work with OS 10.6.4 ? And are u sure it works?
When u say apple + s do you mean command + s?
i do that many time but cant succes
i simply use this method
# Hold apple + s down after you hear the chime.
# When you get text prompt enter in these terminal commands to create a brand new admin account (hitting return after each line):
* mount -uw /
* rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
* shutdown -h now
after doing it all it cant restart
please help me
thnks for helping me
i use this method and i succes to remove my passwrod without disk
try on this method mount -uw /
passwd *username*
reboot now
Obviously replace *username* with the desired login name. If you don’t know it, go in to /Users and see which folders are available…
cd /Users
ls -a
If you make a new admin account and delete the other one, will you lose all your pictures and music and stuff?
is there a way to disable it?, working for a school environment with CS students who take linux classes are enabling extra accounts to bypass network settings.
Thank you! I bought a Mac Powerbook in an auction and couldn’t update software or access one of the user accounts because they were password protected and I had no way to reach previous owners and buying new install CD’s would have made the total purchase price of the machine more than it was worth. This fixed the problem perfectly and now I have a new little powerbook that works great! Bless you!
Worked beautifully for me, and I’m a total Mac noob. Not the easiest of reads but I followed exactly what Dyllen DjO wrote.
Basically, type what it says to type in the original post. It will reboot and eventually go into the process of setting up your “new” Mac. Answer a few basic questions including creating a password for the new account. Once fully booted go into the Accounts section in System Preferences, click the lock icon to unlock and enter the new password you created for this account. Click to give yourself admin priveledges if you don’t already have them.
Once you’ve successfully unlocked, you can click on the other user accounts to edit them. You can change their passwords without needing the old passwords. You can also assign or remove admin priveledges for those accounts too. Nothing has been deleted, the old accounts are still active, but now you’ve given yourself access to them. Works great!
I followed the above code. Anyone know their way around this? When I typed rm(Space)/var/db/.AppleSetupDone (Enter) it said No Such file or directory
Please help me
Its a bit scary when you see the (the end) of a fresh installation, and maybe its a good idea just to create a complete new username to be sure nothing gets overwritten.
Thanks for this post
This does not work on my Powerbook G4 1.5Ghz with OSx 10.4
Worked for me. I followed what Dyllen DJO wrote as well.
This worked perfect for me. It created a new admin account. I then when in and reset the password for the original account with the unknown password.
Thank u so much this really works…
btw does this erase everyhting from the computer
its worked and even apple support told that it will difficult to do it from command prompt … good work man ,,,
thanks alot for the help
Great! It works…..
Hey! I have read quite a few of the comments posted, and have still found nothing to help me…here’s why: I have recently purchased a used mac pc, unfortunately it did not come with a mac keyboard or mouse…I bought a wireless package set and it works great…however keyboard and mouse are not mac, they are windows! So, as to re-setting my password the way advised in this article… I am TSOL! Can anyone help me with that one!??? PLEASE! I need this computer for work and as well to speak to my daughter. I am desperate…tried everything I can think of as well as all the advice (short of buying this disc) in order to solve this problem. Thank you in advance!
Hi I have the same problem currently have you had anyone help you with it and what did they advise you. I have a n eMac actually so I dont know if it would be any different.
Can someone tell me how to access another user’s data if I am the administrator? My teenage son has stuff on my Apple laptop. He wasn’t supposed to create his own account but did. I would like to disable his account but want to be sure his school stuff, etc., is off there first. I have admin password but not his password.
Thanks!
worked PERFECTLY thank you soooooooo much!
ca marche pas :(
worked like a charm thanks for this :D
It worked well on my ibook G4 but after trying it several times
Thanks a million times
help!!
just tried to press apple and S and got a lot of text but somehow cant add any other text. can i now simply turn off the computer or what can i do?
I want to Thank you for this!!
I got my imac with my partner 3years ago and he was sadly killed a few months later in a trgic accident,
I stupidly put the password on when I moved into a home with other people, and could remember the username but it had a space before which I hadnt remembered, I was sooo worried everything would be wiped, and after moving, all my stuff is up in air and I could not find my disc,
I found this so useful, and it saved alot of heartache with losing all the stuff I have on the computer of my late partners.
THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!!
A little tip though
**HIT RETURN BEFORE YOU ENTER THE CODES. THEN IT WORKS!**
AND REMEMBER DO NOT TRANSFER!!
I’ve tried to enter the terminal commands on my os X panther system and I’ve searched a few different sites and found a few variations on how to make a new admin. profile. I keep getting no file or command does not exhist then it goes back to root. I’ve been told that my best bet would be to buy os X 10.3 to solve this problem. I dont want to buy anything though. I just want to do my homework on my computer. I was entertaining the idea of crashing os X and replacing with an open source system. Any thoughts on how to go about that, or is there another way to salvage my free bee computer?
how do u reboot it?
i did this and right when i was holding apple + s my fans went crazy and now they wont stop!!!!!!! and it didnt work!!! HELP
yes i have imac and masterscreen name is locked and i dont no the password the imac version is 10.4.11 1983-2007 and ser#ymo3332pjwq i need a startup cd can you mail me one my address is 218 casdorph road charleston wv 25312 thank you?
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!
thanks ..it’s work really
hey i just got a mac compter of some guy and it lets me go on the net and allthat but when i wanna install something the user name comes up and asks for a password how can i get around this it pissing me offf!!! soo bad!
i’ve lost my macbook pro with snow leopard os x, i would like to enquire if the thief can reset my password, can they reset the password encypted that i created on my mounted disk. i’ve created a folder and hide it in the main disk, mounted and if you click it, it will ask for a password. can they change the encypted disk password. Please reply. Thanks.
woah thanks alot, I did exactly as you said and now the laptop wont even turn on… what the ?
I tried it and didnt work. im not the smartest on computers anymore help?
Alex Dascenzo forgot her password to her “new” macbook. Thanks for your tips, YOU ROCK. Made it way too simple.
This did exactly what I needed it to do and, despite other comments, I can still see the files from other accounts that were on here. Thank you for the info.
works great