HT2643: How to identify iMac (Flat Panel) models
Learn about How to identify iMac (Flat Panel) modelsQ: I have this beautiful iMac, bought in 2002, but have had it in storage 10 years. Just got it out and it started like a charm, but ... I have this beautiful iMac, bought in 2002, but have had it in storage 10 years. Just got it out and it started like a charm, but needs a password, long forgotten! How do I get in! more
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Helpful answers
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Jun 22, 2013 12:01 PM in response to gttnyby WZZZ,★HelpfulAny idea what OS it's running?
This might work if it's some version of OSX. If it's still got OS9 on it, then I doubt it.
http://osxdaily.com/2010/08/10/forgot-mac-password-how-to-reset-mac-password/
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Jun 22, 2013 1:06 PM in response to gttnyby a brody,If you had both Mac OS X and Mac OS 9 on the same partition, booting with the X key will force it to boot into Mac OS X.
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Jun 23, 2013 12:00 AM in response to a brodyby gttny,Thanks so much! I followed the instructions and have gotten access to use the pc! Fantastic! And, yes....I had OSX and got in without the cd.
BUT........in accessing the old "user" (me, of course) and changing the password, it seems that I don't access the photos and documents and everything that I had before. Did I delete these items or are they "there" somewhere?
Again, even if I lost what I had before (which would be a shame!), I really appreciate your having helped me get back in.
but.....old photos?
Thank you
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Jun 23, 2013 5:04 AM in response to gttnyby WZZZ,Did you follow all the instructions in Step 3, in particular locating the old user?
If it's still not available maybe the following will locate it and the data.
Get free OmniDiskSweeper and run as root. (The link is to earlier versions; you will need to locate the one that's suitable for the OS version you are running. To see that, click on the > About this Mac.) Open Terminal in Utilities and copy/paste and hit return. Give your admin pword when requested, which won't appear as you type it in. You will also get a scary warning about using sudo; keep going. Hit return again. running as root will allow you to look into other users.
sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper
Be very careful when running as root not to delete anything. root gives you elevated privileges and you can do some severe damage if you start removing things without knowing what you're doing. I take it you just want to look around to see where things are, so that shouldn't be an issue.
Btw, after all that time, I seriously doubt the PRAM battery is still good. That battery, also known as the clock battery, maintains power in the Paramater RAM, which stores some settings including the date and time. If the clock is off, or perhaps some other settings, this may lead to some issues and should be replaced when you can.
EDIT: I don't think you will be able to run OmniDisk after all. The earliest OS it can be installed to is Tiger 10.4, which you probably don't have. But who knows, give it a try anyway.
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Jun 23, 2013 5:19 AM in response to WZZZby WZZZ,Disk Inventory X works on 10.3. Maybe you have that OS. I can't give you instructions to run as root, since I don't have it.
Some others
http://alternativeto.net/software/omnidisksweeper/?platform=mac
Maybe Grand Perspective.
I can only vouch for OmniDisk.
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Jun 26, 2013 12:52 PM in response to gttnyby rccharles,Macintosh-HD -> Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal
# press return to run the command.
The sudo command will ask for your administration password. No characters will appear when typing your password. Press return when done typing. sudo stands for super user do. It's just like root. Be careful.
sudo find -x / \( -iname "*.jpeg" -or -iname "*.png" -or -iname "*.gif" -or -iname "*.jpg" \) -type f -exec ls -l {} \;