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Old Aug 25, 2010, 07:53 AM
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pachyderm pachyderm is offline
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Member Since: Jun 2007
Location: Washington DC metro area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SavvySpirit View Post
about a month ago I brought my Mac in to get it fixed. They ended up completely putting on a new system program, so I pretty much got a brand new computer. But it has passwords on it that won't allow me to do admin things like install programs, create other accounts, things like that.
Do you have a System disk? If you boot from that (hold down the C key while booting, or the Option key) with the System DVD in its drive -- I am not sure what you do next, but I think you go to one of the Menues and maybe launch Disk Utility instead of Install. It will allow you to choose a new administrator password.

If this is insufficient help I can try to research it for you, or you could go to... never mind. I went to Apple's Web site and got these instructions for 10.4, and I doubt if they have changed since then:

To reset the administrator password using the Mac OS X disc:

  1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc and restart the computer.
  2. When you hear the startup tone, hold down the C key until you see the spinning gear.
  3. When the Installer appears, choose Utilities > Reset Password.
  4. Follow the onscreen instructions to change the password.
  5. Quit the Installer and restart your computer while holding down the mouse button to eject the disc.
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