I forgot password on my MacBook Pro
I need to see what's on the hard drive of my old MacBook Pro 2008 before discarding it. I forgot the password
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If you forgot the password for that Mac, you will need to boot from its original, grey, System Install DVD.
When you see the Mac OS X Utilities screen, choose the Utilities menu > Terminal
At the Terminal password, type the following, exactly as written:
resetpassword
... followed by the Return or Enter key. That command launches the Reset Password assistant. Follow the prompts to reset your Mac's password.
If you can't reset your Mac login password - Apple Support describes the above steps, but most of its instructions only apply to newer, more secure Macs that don't rely upon installation media like yours. The most recent document applicable to your particular model Mac can be found here: Mac OS X 10.6: If you forget your administrator password (Archived).