markman523

Q: How do I find out a former owners password?

How do I get a former owners password to install software?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Feb 25, 2013 8:19 PM

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Q: How do I find out a former owners password?

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  • by Klaus1,

    Klaus1 Klaus1 Feb 26, 2013 1:47 AM in response to markman523
    Level 8 (48,878 points)
    Feb 26, 2013 1:47 AM in response to markman523

    Call him and ask him, as you should have done at the time you bought it - as well as obtaining the original install disks.

  • by edex67,

    edex67 edex67 Feb 26, 2013 9:29 AM in response to markman523
    Level 4 (3,250 points)
    Feb 26, 2013 9:29 AM in response to markman523

    If he won't provide the disks (as many do not) then try booting into Single User Mode by holding down Cmd-S. Then type:

    • fsck -fy
    • mount -uw /

    At this point you can go 2 ways:

    1. Changing the password of the current user - type passwd <username> where username is the short name of the user you want to change.
    2. Starting the setup wizard - do a rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone. This will start initial setup.

    Then, you can type shutdown -h now to turn off the Mac.

  • by rccharles,

    rccharles rccharles Feb 26, 2013 10:42 AM in response to edex67
    Level 6 (8,516 points)
    Classic Mac OS
    Feb 26, 2013 10:42 AM in response to edex67

    Have you tried point one?  You need to be running full Unix to do passwd.

     

     

    ->Start up some utility processes that are needed.

    sh /etc/rc

     

     

    ->You will probably need to press the return key once the system stops typing.

  • by edex67,

    edex67 edex67 Feb 26, 2013 2:00 PM in response to rccharles
    Level 4 (3,250 points)
    Feb 26, 2013 2:00 PM in response to rccharles

    Seemed to work fine for:

    http://osxdaily.com/2011/04/25/change-admin-password-mac/

    Without doing the sh /etc/rc. It seems to no longer be needed (don't quote me though, I usually use the method #2 or remove the NetInfo database as well).

  • by rccharles,

    rccharles rccharles Feb 26, 2013 6:55 PM in response to edex67
    Level 6 (8,516 points)
    Classic Mac OS
    Feb 26, 2013 6:55 PM in response to edex67

    I haven't tried it  either in years.  How passwords are save changed in 10.5 ( or was it 10.6 .)  Apple got ride of the netinfo database. 

     

     

    Robert

  • by rccharles,

    rccharles rccharles Feb 27, 2013 11:32 AM in response to rccharles
    Level 6 (8,516 points)
    Classic Mac OS
    Feb 27, 2013 11:32 AM in response to rccharles

    I booted my Tiger 10.4.11 in single user mode via holding down the command + s when powering on.

     

    /sbin/fsck -fy

    /sbin/mount -uw /

    passwd user-name

    # returned without asking for new password.

    # ( did not work )

     

    # ->Start up some utility processes that are needed.

    sh /etc/rc

    passwd user-name

    # asked for new password.

    # (worked).

     

    So, the working of passwd has changed over time.

     

    Robert