A friends ex rental iMac running Mavericks has suddenly asked for a password (after approx 18 months of use without using a password). What can he do to reset his password? He cannot get beyond the recovery screen using 'Command R' on start up.

Question

A friends ex rental iMac running Mavericks has suddenly asked for a password (after approx 18 months of use without using a password). What can he do to reset his password? He cannot get beyond the recovery screen using 'Command R' on start up.

As described in the title . When he bought it he received no handbooks or passwords etc.

I dont think the computer has developed an operating system problem.

Do IMac's or Mavericks have a default password that may work.

Herbit

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Posted on Oct 9, 2015 3:38 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

jeremy_v

Community Specialist

Oct 9, 2015 6:24 PM in response to Stephen Holroyd

Hi Stephen,

I see from your post that your friend's iMac is prompting him to enter a password of some kind. The only password I can think of for a system would be the administrator password, such as the one that's required to install downloaded applications. In order to reset that password you will need to boot the computer into recovery mode by following the directions below.

1. Restart your Mac and hold down the Command + R keys at the same time right after you hear the chime

2. When the boot completes you will see the OS X Utilities window. Do not select anything in this window.

3. In the menu bar select Utilities > Terminal

4. Type resetpassword (no space between the words) and press Return on your keyboard

5. In the new window that opens, select your Macintosh HD and enter your new password (and hint if you choose)

6. Select Save

7. Select OS X Utilities > Quit OS X Utilities from the menu bar

8. This will prompt you to restart your Mac

9. After restart, enter your new password to log in

Have a great weekend.

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Answer 2

Oct 9, 2015 6:31 PM in response to jeremy_v

Thank for your answer Jeremy.

He went through and put in an Admin password but then was asked for a keychain password and after changing his Apple Id he was underway again.

It the middle of this (and it may have caused the problem) he found that his Mac keyboard was faulty so he is now using a microsoft keyboard but operational.

So thank you again.

Steve holroyd

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