Reset OS X Password Without an OS X CD

Jenny Kortina — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 00:59:03 +0000

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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Reset OS X Password Without an OS X CD