Forgotten password on Mac Classic

Hi David. Welcome to the forum.

I never used a Classic myself and even so, I don't think any Mac of System 6 vintage had any native password mechanism. I think you are looking at a third-party security utility.

I feel very uncomfortable posting security get-arounds on the forum where just anyone can read over our shoulders and with the best will in the world, there is no way for you to prove your right…

For that reason and because you're more likely to get help there, please check out http://www.apple.com/usergroups/find/

Assuming it is runing system 7 and At Ease this might be a little more difficult. Does your computer say if At ease is runing when you are starting up. Its possible you installed some security software like FolderBolt. Which would make this even more difficult to recover.

If you are not worried about loosing the data that was in the computer you can donwload the software free and reformat.

You can try to start with a OS 7.0 Disk Tools disk,pressing C when starting.IF that works,you can try to copy your files on formatted disks.

David
To support System 7.x and At Ease may have been asking a lot of a Classic with only the initial-release 1MB of RAM (or perhaps 2MB with an expansion card already installed), although it was not an impossibility. When At Ease is open, its icon (an Apple window with launcher buttons in rows) shows in the top right corner of the window, in the menu bar.

Entry of a new password, to replace one that has been forgotten or lost, from the At Ease install diskette will allow an adminstrator access to the Finder and the normal file structure. If the System in use is 6.0.x, however, At Ease will not be the ruling security program.

As has been suggested, System 6 may have had third-party security programs used with it, but the words 'security', 'password', 'file protection' and so on do not occur in the System 6 manual's index. Neither does the disk utility Apple HD SC Setup have any provision for disk-level protection with a password. However, those considerations do not rule out the use of file directory-level third-party utilities, or third-party disk-level utilities either.

Without accurate knowledge about the System and the security utility it is difficult to help you with anything but generalizations.

David
A PS. If it should turn out to be At Ease that you have to deal with, this is public knowledge that can help you.

If is a security program,you can start-up with Extensions Off(That work with AfterDark). After, delete the Security Extension.

Ps. For Start-up with Extensions Off, Press and hold the Shift Key just after the Stat-up Chime and release it when the "Welcome To Macintosh Extensions Off" Box Appear.