First off I had just recieve my Grandma's old iBook 10.4.11 which is extremely slow currently. She has a password on the computer that she can't remember what it could be and I can't change any setting or perform any softaware updates for the computer, I want to perform a factory restoration for the computer. How do I do that?!?!?! Somebody please help me 😟
iBook-OTHER, Mac OS X (10.4.11)
Hi, and welcome to Apple Support Communities.
Do you have the Mac OS X 10.4 Install disc(s) and/or the system install and restore discs that came with the iBook when it was new?
This list may help you identify which iBook it is:
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/ibook/index-ibook.html
Click on the Apple logo in the upper left corner of the display and choose "About This Mac" from the drop-down menu. This will give you the version of the OS which is installed, the processor type and speed (in MHz or GHz), and how much memory is installed.
Clicking on "More Info…" will take you to the System Profiler where you can find out which type of optical drive it has and the capacity of the hard drive. This information can help determine which exact model it is.
I have a Mac OS X 10.4
800MHz PowerPC G3
640 MB SD Ram
I do not have any of the discs that came with the computer originally. The computer was my grandmothers and she doesn't remember the password or have any idea where the discs are. Thank you for your help
There are three different iBooks that fit that description:
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/ibook/stats/ibook_800.html
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/ibook/stats/ibook_800_14.html
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/ibook/stats/ibook_800_2.html
The first two have Combo drives (read DVDs and read and write CDs); the last one has a CD-ROM drive (only reads CDs).
This is why I asked you to go into the System Profiler and tell us which optical drive it has. We still need to know that.
You are going to need a Mac OS X 10.4 disc to reset the password. If your grandmother can't find hers, then buying one is an option, but they are not cheap.
I just finished fixing a similar problem with an iBook G3 my son gave me today. He got it a while few years ago from a friend and had it set to auto log on.... And of course he could not remember any password:) No original disks available and the ones that came with my mini mac would not boot up the iBook.
I followed the intructions I found on
http://www.macosxtips.co.uk/index_files/reset-lost-os-x-account-password.php
"First, note the short name of the account. This is the same as the name of its home folder, but not necessarily the name that appears in the login window. Restart your computer, and while it is starting up, hold Command-S. This will start up your Mac in Single User Mode. Once it has started up, you will need to enter three lines of code. Enter
sh /etc/rcpasswd yourusernamerebootI found the short name when I went to system preferences and then accounts.
Make sure to type the spaces also and wait untill the computer finishes the "sh /etc/rc" command before proceeding to the next entry. Could take a few minutes as these older machines are slow.
For me the confusing part is that you need to substitute the actual shortname of the acount where the instructions state "yourusername" For some reason I was thinking to literally when I read the instructions.
After that you can boot up use the new password and change everthing.
I created a new administrator account rebooted and deleted the old account. Now I can use that old 2004 office for mac program that now longer is supported on my min mac after I upgraded to lion. Just finished loading it and am waiting on safari updates to finish.
Hope this helps you get your computer working. Good luck
How do I identify my iBook and how do I restore this computer!!! Please help :(