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What does the red arrow mean?

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What does the red arrow mean?

Posted on Dec 12, 2012 8:28 PM

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Posted on Dec 12, 2012 8:38 PM

It means that the old password you entered is wrong, or the system thinks it's wrong. To change a forgotten password, proceed as below.

If the user account is associated with an Apple ID, and you know the Apple ID password, then possibly theApple ID can be used to reset your user account password.

Otherwise, boot into Recovery by holding down the key combination command-R at startup. Release the keys when you see a gray screen with a spinning dial.

When the OS X Utilities screen appears, select Utilities Terminal from the menu bar.

In the Terminal window, type this:

resetpassword

That's one word with no spaces. Then press return. A Reset Password window opens.

Select your boot volume if not already selected.

Select your username from the menu labeled Select the user account if not already selected.

Follow the prompts to reset the password. It's safest to choose a password that includes only the characters a-z, A-Z, and 0-9.

Select  Restart from the menu bar.

You should now be able to log in with the new password, but you won't be able to unlock the Keychain. If you've forgotten the Keychain password (which is ordinarily the same as your login password), there's no way to recover it. You’ll need to reset your keychain in the preferences of the Keychain Access application.

1 reply
Question marked as Best reply

Dec 12, 2012 8:38 PM in response to Smileylanie

It means that the old password you entered is wrong, or the system thinks it's wrong. To change a forgotten password, proceed as below.

If the user account is associated with an Apple ID, and you know the Apple ID password, then possibly theApple ID can be used to reset your user account password.

Otherwise, boot into Recovery by holding down the key combination command-R at startup. Release the keys when you see a gray screen with a spinning dial.

When the OS X Utilities screen appears, select Utilities Terminal from the menu bar.

In the Terminal window, type this:

resetpassword

That's one word with no spaces. Then press return. A Reset Password window opens.

Select your boot volume if not already selected.

Select your username from the menu labeled Select the user account if not already selected.

Follow the prompts to reset the password. It's safest to choose a password that includes only the characters a-z, A-Z, and 0-9.

Select  Restart from the menu bar.

You should now be able to log in with the new password, but you won't be able to unlock the Keychain. If you've forgotten the Keychain password (which is ordinarily the same as your login password), there's no way to recover it. You’ll need to reset your keychain in the preferences of the Keychain Access application.

What does the red arrow mean?

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