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Hello all,
Someone tossed a Macbook (13" 2007), in our community dumpster, and I've revived it with a full charge and it seems to work just fine. It has Mac OS X 10.5.8 installed and I'd like to to a factory reset to take this machine back to it's original factory specs. I do not have the original install disc. Any info on how to do this is appreciated!
Thanks,
-Mark
MacBook
PS: additional instructions to work with Snow Leopard & older Mac OS X
can be found among ASC 'hardware' threads (iBook G4/PowerBook G4) as
these all use installer disc media; while not 10.6.8.
• "Tricking your Mac into creating a new user account" ~ excerpt from:
http://www.macyourself.com/2009/08/03/how-to-reset-your-mac-os-x-password-without-an-installer-disc/
"The third method of resetting your Mac’s password requires some
additional explanation. Rather than simply changing a password like
the previous two methods do, this one fools the operating system into
believing it has never been started before. This means when you restart
the machine, it will take you through the entire setup & registration
process all over again. Do not worry, all of your pre-existing data is still
available. Just continue with this process and do not choose the option
to transfer or migrate information to the Mac."
"Once you’re done, log in with your new admin account and go to System
Preferences > Accounts. You may have to click on the lock icon in the
lower-left corner before making changes here. You should see your
original user account(s) in the left column. Try clicking on one of them
to convert it to a standard user account (uncheck “Allow user to
administer this computer”) & change the password. You should be able
to successfully log in to that account now and access all of your files
and programs. If you want, you can log back in with your new admin
account and re-check the “Allow user to administer this computer” option
in System Preferences to grant admin privileges to the original user again."
"That should cover it! As always, remember messing with single-user
mode and Terminal is risky and may lead to trouble if you make mistakes.
Considering you’re already locked out of the computer, though, you’ll
probably be willing to take your chances at this point."
"One last thing… if you have a Keychain Access password, you will
probably need to reset that as well. You can do this by selecting
“login” under Keychains on the left and choosing Delete from the Edit
menu. You’ll lose everything in the Keychain, but you’ll now be able to
start fresh and add new ones."
+≠+≠+≠+
• See this: found again.. {Appears similar, from separate source.}
Another looks better? 'no password or install discs' [solved] ~ says:
"..Restart your computer, hold down Command-S and type in the following:
/sbin/fsck -y [Enter]
/sbin/mount -uaw [Enter]
rm /var/db/.applesetupdone [Enter]
reboot [Enter]
..Once you've done that the computer reboots, and ask you to set up an
admin password. From there you just change all other account passwords
in the account preferences.."
..from first (of three) in here:
https://ccm.net/forum/affich-13168-powerbook-g4-no-password-or-install-discs
[This could save you expense to test viability of an obsolete portable Mac.]
Good luck & happy trails!
🌞🌿⛵️🌤🎣🏕⛄️🌻
PS: additional instructions to work with Snow Leopard & older Mac OS X
can be found among ASC 'hardware' threads (iBook G4/PowerBook G4) as
these all use installer disc media; while not 10.6.8.
• "Tricking your Mac into creating a new user account" ~ excerpt from:
http://www.macyourself.com/2009/08/03/how-to-reset-your-mac-os-x-password-without-an-installer-disc/
"The third method of resetting your Mac’s password requires some
additional explanation. Rather than simply changing a password like
the previous two methods do, this one fools the operating system into
believing it has never been started before. This means when you restart
the machine, it will take you through the entire setup & registration
process all over again. Do not worry, all of your pre-existing data is still
available. Just continue with this process and do not choose the option
to transfer or migrate information to the Mac."
"Once you’re done, log in with your new admin account and go to System
Preferences > Accounts. You may have to click on the lock icon in the
lower-left corner before making changes here. You should see your
original user account(s) in the left column. Try clicking on one of them
to convert it to a standard user account (uncheck “Allow user to
administer this computer”) & change the password. You should be able
to successfully log in to that account now and access all of your files
and programs. If you want, you can log back in with your new admin
account and re-check the “Allow user to administer this computer” option
in System Preferences to grant admin privileges to the original user again."
"That should cover it! As always, remember messing with single-user
mode and Terminal is risky and may lead to trouble if you make mistakes.
Considering you’re already locked out of the computer, though, you’ll
probably be willing to take your chances at this point."
"One last thing… if you have a Keychain Access password, you will
probably need to reset that as well. You can do this by selecting
“login” under Keychains on the left and choosing Delete from the Edit
menu. You’ll lose everything in the Keychain, but you’ll now be able to
start fresh and add new ones."
+≠+≠+≠+
• See this: found again.. {Appears similar, from separate source.}
Another looks better? 'no password or install discs' [solved] ~ says:
"..Restart your computer, hold down Command-S and type in the following:
/sbin/fsck -y [Enter]
/sbin/mount -uaw [Enter]
rm /var/db/.applesetupdone [Enter]
reboot [Enter]
..Once you've done that the computer reboots, and ask you to set up an
admin password. From there you just change all other account passwords
in the account preferences.."
..from first (of three) in here:
https://ccm.net/forum/affich-13168-powerbook-g4-no-password-or-install-discs
[This could save you expense to test viability of an obsolete portable Mac.]
Good luck & happy trails!
🌞🌿⛵️🌤🎣🏕⛄️🌻
A few general ideas on how to reset a Mac and renew an old user password
(providing certain conditions are met) here, could be useful in this incidence.
You may be able to reset the user password & erase user personal
files.. This, after making a second Admin user account. ~ Then
hopefully could be started into new account. (erase old, after.)
Some instructions for this, are among Comments after article.
• Reset an OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard User's Password - Without a CD/DVD | T. Williamson
There's more than one article on how to reset the Mac OS X w/o
installer disc, to change user name; make new admin account.
I found this article might/not have 'all steps' required; while I've
done this, several years have gone by. Good resources no longer
available online; and better old site content has evaporated.
Advantages to this, for a Mac that has no disc media; otherwise
orphaned. Could use the MacBook as-is, without more invested.
1. Without the DVD/CD media.
2. Perhaps this idea may work.
[This other article tells of different process, for reset w/ 'terminal command-line'.]
• Reset Mac OSX User Password Without CD with 'command line'
https://brakertech.com/reset-mac-os-x-admin-user-password-without-cd-disk/
For use with Snow Leopard 10.6.8 and earlier; where you haven't original restore
DVD/CD disc; and original Mac utilities (erase/install features) ~ aren't available..
As Snow Leopard is last installer on optical disc media; instructions are "backward
compatible" to Tiger 10.4.11/Leopard 10.5.8. For the sake of showing your old Mac
can work, without spending much; find retail 10.5/10.6 DVD inexpensively, if at all.
An excellent condition early 2006-2010 MacBook 13-inch example, isn't worth much.
..To actually use this Mac, retail version 10.6.3+ DVD media is recommended..
I'm thinking I will need to purchase an install DVD, which is available on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-X-Snow-Leopard-Mac-OS-X-OSX-10-6-Install-DVD-osx-installation-disk-disc/203344756055?hash=item2f584abd57:g:LbcAAOSw00VfrUyq
If there's another way to do this, or if this would be my only option, please let me know. I am hesitant to buy this if it's not a legit copy.
THANK YOU!
That looks like the correct retail DVD. Keep in mind that the only web browser that may work using Rosetta PPC compatibility mode is TenFourFox which is a backported version of the current Firefox, but the developer just announced he is ending the project after the next release. While the laptop can run macOS 10.7 it is a paid upgrade and it won't have access to any current browsers AFAIK plus 10.7 has a major security vulnerability that was never patched so you really don't want to connect 10.7 to the Internet.
Another option would be to install Linux on the laptop which would give a fully supported OS along with access to the latest versions of the common web browsers such as Firefox, Google Chrome, and Vivaldi. Of course this means you must learn a new OS, but this would allow you to use this laptop for many more years. Linux Mint, or one of the Ubuntu flavors such as Kubuntu or Ubuntu MATE are the best choices for an older system with limited resources plus they should install easily and work out of the box on the Mac. They also have the nicest looking interfaces for someone used to macOS. The default Ubuntu with Gnome desktop requires a system with more resources.
HWTech, I really appreciate the reply, but it's way over my level of computer knowledge. Anything less technical would be much appreciated!
Restore a Macbook 10.5.8 back to factory settings - no discs
