I forgot my password
I forgot my password on my MacBook pro. Can you help me?
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.8)
I forgot my password on my MacBook pro. Can you help me?
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.8)
Here is an article:
So you forgot your Mac password… uh oh. Don’t worry, it happens and you aren’t out of luck. You’ll need to reset the forgotten password and there’s several ways to do this, we’ll focus on the two best methods; one does not require a Mac OS X installer CD and is a great hack, and the other is much more simple if you happen to have a Mac OS X DVD laying around.
Reset Mac Password – without a CD
Using a pretty nifty trick you can reset a forgotten Mac password without a Mac OS X installer CD/DVD. The steps may seem a little intimidating at first but I assure you it’s easy if you follow them exactly, here is exactly how to do this in three stages:
Stage 1) Boot into Single User Mode and remove a setup file
fsck -fy
mount -uw /
rm /var/db/.applesetupdone
Stage 2) Create a New User Account upon System Boot
You aren’t finished, but the hard part is now over – no more command lines, you’ll now be in the familiar Mac OS X GUI to finish the password reset process. In this step we just create a new user account as if you just got a new Mac:
Stage 3) Reset the Forgot Password via System Preferences
You are almost done, now you just need to reset the forgotten user account password using the Accounts control panel:
Optional: If you’d like, you can delete the temporary account you created to reset the users password. This is wise for security purposes.Here’s how this works: by deleting the .applesetupdone file, you are telling Mac OS X to re-run the setup wizard, which by default creates a new user account with Administrative abilities, which can then reset the forgotten password of any other user on the Mac. This is a great trick and excellent troubleshooting technique if you don’t have a Mac OS X installer CD/DVD laying around, which is pretty much the norm as many people tend to lose or misplace the installer disks that come with their computers. I have used this exact method multiple times to restore various Macs with forgotten/lost passwords.
Reset Mac Password – with the installer CD/DVD
Resetting a forgotten Mac password is easier if you have an installer disk handy, we have covered this tip before on it’s own:
This is borrowed from our article on how to reset a lost password with a CD. This is obviously an easier method but it’s of no help if you own a MacBook Air with no DVD drive, or if you just don’t have the installer Mac OS CD laying around. If you’re in that situation, the best alternative is to use the above method that does not require a CD to reset the password.
I Hope I Was Able To Help You Or Solve Your Question.
Simmm
3/12/2012
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I came across many methods to fix this problem, but yours was the only one that allowed me to reset the password on our macbook air without the start cd. Thanks you so much!!!
Thank you for this explanation!! Question regarding the reboot method with the installer disk...will I loose anything that has been saved to my computer hard drive? Do I need to back anything up before I reboot to get my password?
I forgot my password