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I've bought a second hand iMac, Intel Core 2 Duo with Mountain Lion. The disk drive doesn't work, there isn't a Recovery Partition and I don't have the password or master password.

Is there a way I can reset the password?


Posted on Jul 10, 2020 6:15 AM

Reply
Question marked as Apple recommended

The seller did not properly Erase and Reinstall OS X for resale and you should return it to them.

see > What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac - Apple Support


To properly Erase and Reinstall the OS X and set it up as your iMac,

you need to try the original gray disc set or a retail Snow Leopard Upgrade DVD in an external USB disc drive

or optionally, use another Mac to create a bootable installer on a USB flash drive or external USB hard drive.

see > How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

Posted on Jul 10, 2020 7:26 AM

2 replies

Jul 10, 2020 6:59 AM in response to PhreddyB

Is the Hard Drive Locked with FileVault?


How to change the admin password on a Mac…

https://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/mac-software/change-admin-password-mac-3535328/



See if you can create a new administrator account by restarting the Setup Assistant:

  1. Boot into Single User Mode: Start/restart your Mac. As soon as you hear the startup tone, press and hold ⌘ + S until you see a black screen with white lettering. (If you end up back on the login screen after a flash of the black screen with white lettering, enter your password and it will return to the black screen.)
  2. Check and repair the drive by typing /sbin/fsck -fy then ↩ enter - as directed by the on-screen text.
  3. Mount the drive as read-write by typing /sbin/mount -uw / then ↩ enter.
  4. Remove the Apple Setup Done file by typing rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone then ↩ enter.
  5. Reboot by typing reboot then ↩ enter.
  6. Complete the setup process, creating a new admin account.


Be very careful to notice the spaces in those Terminal Commands.


Once you've done that the computer reboots and it's like the first time you used the machine, except all your data will stile there. Your old accounts are all safe. From there you just change all other account passwords in the account preferences!!


Force Removing Password Protection

 

1) Add or remove DIMMs to change the total amount of RAM in the computer.

 

2) Then, the PRAM must be reset 3 times. (Command + Option + P + R).


http://www.securemac.com/openfirmwarepasswordprotection.php

Question marked as Apple recommended

Jul 10, 2020 7:26 AM in response to PhreddyB

The seller did not properly Erase and Reinstall OS X for resale and you should return it to them.

see > What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac - Apple Support


To properly Erase and Reinstall the OS X and set it up as your iMac,

you need to try the original gray disc set or a retail Snow Leopard Upgrade DVD in an external USB disc drive

or optionally, use another Mac to create a bootable installer on a USB flash drive or external USB hard drive.

see > How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

I've bought a second hand iMac, Intel Core 2 Duo with Mountain Lion. The disk drive doesn't work, there isn't a Recovery Partition and I don't have the password or master password.

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