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Reloaded OSX and it suddenly doesn’t recognize pw

I had to erase my hard drive and reformat so I lost everything. I reloaded OSX. Then I updated the OS and got a prompt for my password and IT DIDNT WORK!!! I tried booting in recovery mode, selecting Terminal and entering “reset password” and hit return. It didn’t work! Help! I DO know my password. Maybe it’s asking for an old one for some reason?

MacBook Pro 13", OS X 10.10

Posted on May 29, 2019 10:14 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on May 29, 2019 10:46 PM

If you reinstalled macOS from scratch, then you had to create a new password and username during the initial system setup. If you did not do that then you need to. Open Users & Groups preferences, ssselect your account from the list, then click on the Change Password button.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 29, 2019 10:46 PM in response to profpf

If you reinstalled macOS from scratch, then you had to create a new password and username during the initial system setup. If you did not do that then you need to. Open Users & Groups preferences, ssselect your account from the list, then click on the Change Password button.

May 29, 2019 10:48 PM in response to Kappy

If the above does not work, then see the following:


How to Create a New Admin User Account, if You Have None


Reboot the computer. At or before the chime, press and hold down the COMMAND-S keys to start into Single-user Mode. You will boot to a black screen with scrolling white text, release the keys and wait until it finishes. Enter the following lines at the command prompt pressing RETURN after each:


    mount -uw /

                ^     ^  Note spaces

    rm /var/db/.applesetupdone 

        ^    Note space

    reboot


After you reboot the computer you will be taken to the Setup Assistant. When you get to the point where you are asked to set up your new user account, create a new admin account. Be sure to name this user account something different than any other account that already exists on the system. When you finish the Setup Assistant, it will automatically log you into the new account.


You need do nothing more. Log into the Admin account only when you need to, such as installing or upgrading software. Log into the Standard account for your normal computer uses. If you prefer using just one account, the admin account, then you will need to make some changes as discussed below.


You can transfer your files from the old account to the new one. See Transferring files from one User Account to another. Once you have moved all your files into your new account, you can delete the old account using Accounts or Users & Groups preferences.

Reloaded OSX and it suddenly doesn’t recognize pw

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