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User profile for user: hssoundguy
hssoundguy Author
User level: Level 1
9 points

Getting into an old Locked hard drive

I had an old MacBook pro that crashed.(motherboard failure) I sold it a while back, before selling it, I pulled the hard drive out and i just found it in a drawer. I plugged in the hard drive and quickly remembered why I put it in the drawer...I need a password that I can not for the life of me remember.

Ive tried every variation for the password I thought it would have been and still no luck.

Is there a way I can get around the password so I can get my old files?

Thanks!

MacBook Pro

Posted on Apr 12, 2021 5:16 AM

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User profile for user: HWTech
HWTech
User level: Level 9
60,284 points

Posted on Apr 12, 2021 4:55 PM

If the drive is encrypted using Filevault, then you would need to use the Filevault Recovery Key that you should have written down or saved at the time you first enabled Filevault. Otherwise you will need to boot the hard drive on another Mac which is capable of running the OS on that drive to attempt to reset your password:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202860


If the drive is not encrypted, then you don't need any passwords to access the data on the drive except your current admin password to access the folders under a different UserID. You can also use Carbon Copy Cloner to access the items in locked folders.

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User profile for user: HWTech
HWTech
User level: Level 9
60,284 points

Apr 12, 2021 4:55 PM in response to hssoundguy

If the drive is encrypted using Filevault, then you would need to use the Filevault Recovery Key that you should have written down or saved at the time you first enabled Filevault. Otherwise you will need to boot the hard drive on another Mac which is capable of running the OS on that drive to attempt to reset your password:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202860


If the drive is not encrypted, then you don't need any passwords to access the data on the drive except your current admin password to access the folders under a different UserID. You can also use Carbon Copy Cloner to access the items in locked folders.

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Getting into an old Locked hard drive

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