Change Admnistrators Password on G3
I recently purchased a 600mhz G3 iBook laptop on eBay. It has OS X 10.4.11 installed, 2 USB ports, and a built-in tray-loaded CDROM. It was cheap and I thought a good opportunity to learn a little bit about OS X (I'm new to it).
When the laptop boots, it goes directly into OS X without prompting for a password. When I try to install software, the operating system asks for the Administrator's password which I don't have. I contacted the seller and he was unable to help as he didn't know the password either.
So I did a search on the Internet for help.
One recurring suggestion was to boot the computer form the OS X disks and use the Change Password utility. I tried that but the computer won't boot from the CD.
I tried pressing the C key while the computer was booting, but it booted directly from the hard drive into OS X.
I tried holding down the Option key while booting to select the boot device. The hard disk was the only boot device shown.
And finally, I held down the Command-Option-Shift-Delete keys when restarting the computer but it still booted off the hard drive directly into OS X.
Each time, when it booted into OS X with the install CD in the drive, the operation system would open a window for the install CD. If I select Install Mac OS X there, it asks me for the Administrator's password. I tried running the Change Password utility directly from the install CD but the system told me I couldn't execute it from there.
I found some info on the internet about how to change the password without using an install CD. All the instructions stated that the computer should be booted into terminal mode by holding the Apple & S keys while booting followed by a series of terminal commands. I tried that but the laptop still booted off the hard drive directly into OS X so I couldn't get into terminal mode.
Is my iBook an older version which can't boot from the CDROM? And if so, how can I change the Administrator's password?
I'm new to the world of OS X and Apple computers and this is extremely frustrating.
When the laptop boots, it goes directly into OS X without prompting for a password. When I try to install software, the operating system asks for the Administrator's password which I don't have. I contacted the seller and he was unable to help as he didn't know the password either.
So I did a search on the Internet for help.
One recurring suggestion was to boot the computer form the OS X disks and use the Change Password utility. I tried that but the computer won't boot from the CD.
I tried pressing the C key while the computer was booting, but it booted directly from the hard drive into OS X.
I tried holding down the Option key while booting to select the boot device. The hard disk was the only boot device shown.
And finally, I held down the Command-Option-Shift-Delete keys when restarting the computer but it still booted off the hard drive directly into OS X.
Each time, when it booted into OS X with the install CD in the drive, the operation system would open a window for the install CD. If I select Install Mac OS X there, it asks me for the Administrator's password. I tried running the Change Password utility directly from the install CD but the system told me I couldn't execute it from there.
I found some info on the internet about how to change the password without using an install CD. All the instructions stated that the computer should be booted into terminal mode by holding the Apple & S keys while booting followed by a series of terminal commands. I tried that but the laptop still booted off the hard drive directly into OS X so I couldn't get into terminal mode.
Is my iBook an older version which can't boot from the CDROM? And if so, how can I change the Administrator's password?
I'm new to the world of OS X and Apple computers and this is extremely frustrating.
iBook G3, Mac OS X (10.4.11)
