Resetting admin password sans startup disk

Hi! I have an iMac G5 (non intel) that I stopped using about three years ago after we got laptops. I change my passwords frequently and now I can only log into my son's account. I need to reset the admnin password for the whole thing and the only tutorial I saw needed the startup disk and the only one I have is the one for my laptop. Does anyone know how to fix this?

JackNordic,
Mac OS X 10.6 requires a Mac computer with an Intel processor.
http://www.apple.com/macosx/specs.html

Similar Messages

  • Resetting Administrative Password without startup disk

    Away from my home, attempting to access Macbook Pro administrative settings.  Forgot password and unable to gain access without my startup disk.  Wondering if there is a way around this or a way to reset password.

    Forgot Your Account Password
    For Snow Leopard and earlier
         Mac OS X 10.6- If you forget your administrator password
    For Lion/Mountain Lion
        Boot to the Recovery HD:
    Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
         When the menubar appears select Terminal from the Utilities menu.
         Enter resetpassword at the prompt and press RETURN. Follow
         instructions in the dialog window that will appear.
         Or see Reset a Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Password and
         OS X Lion- Apple ID can be used to reset your user account password.
    If you are unable to boot from an installer DVD:
    (these will only work on Leopard or earlier)
      1. Boot to Safe Mode by restarting and after the chime press and hold down
          the COMMAND-S keys until a black screen with white type appears.
      2. At the prompt, type the following commands pressing return after each
          command line:
         /sbin/fsck -yf
         If you do not receive a "Filesystem OK" message then repeat this command
         until you do.  If after seven tries you still do not receive a "Filesystem OK"
         message, then the system is corrupted and needs to be reinstalled.
         mount -uw /
         cd /private/var/db/netinfo
         mv local.nidb local.old
         rm ../.AppleSetupDone
         shutdown -r now
    The second-to-last command above will cause OS X to think that the operating system is newly installed, and when the new owner starts up the computer it will send him/her to the startup wizard where he/she can start a new user without reinstalling.
    This last method does not actually change a password. It simply removes the user accounts and lets you create an initial admin account as if the computer were new out of the box.
    Reset Admin Password Using The Terminal
    You can reset the password by printing out (or writing down) and carefully following these steps.
    First, find the short name of the admin user on the machine. The easiest way of doing this is by looking at what the directory is called in the Users folder.
    Now, start in Single-user Mode. It should boot into a command line.
    Enter these exact lines. Press RETURN after each.
    mount -uw /
    ifconfig lo0 up
    cd /var/db/netinfo
    netinfod -s local
    Now you'll need that short name. Enter "passwd", a space, and the short name of the admin. For example, if the admin was rather prosaically called "imadmin", you would enter "passwd imadmin".
    The computer will now prompt you to change the password for "lmadmin" (or whatever the short name was). Go ahead and enter a new password.
    Now, enter:
    sync
    reboot
    and the machine will reboot. The admin password should now be changed.

  • I need to reset admin password w/o disk

    I need to reset my Admin. password on iMac can not find disk updated to OSX 10.9.3

    If the user account is associated with an Apple ID, and you know the Apple ID password, then maybe the Apple ID can be used to reset your user account password.
    Otherwise*, start up in Recovery mode. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, select
    Utilities ▹ Terminal
    from the menu bar. In the window that opens, type this:
    res
    Press the tab key. The partial command you typed will automatically be completed to this:
    resetpassword
    Press return. A Reset Password window opens. Close the Terminal window to get it out of the way.
    Select your startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name) 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 your Keychain will be reset (empty.) If you've forgotten the Keychain password (which is ordinarily the same as your login password), there's no way to recover it.
    *Note: If you've activated FileVault, this procedure doesn't apply. Follow instead these instructions.

  • Resetting admin password without OS disk

    Hi there,
    Simple question, how can I reset the original administrator password without a Mac OS X disk? Reason being the client doesn't have his.
    Is there another livecd maybe that has similar functionality or is it a lost cause?

    Cal Apple to order a new set of discs. Meanwhile the following method should let you create a new administrator account.
    You need to get into single use mode for steps that are listed below.
    This page will tell you how to get into single user mode.
    <http://www.securemac.com/macosxsingleuser.php>
    Basically, you hold down the command-s key when powering on.
    1) Get the Mac to set up a new administrative account. You can then delete the old account.
    This was Posted by: JoseAranda at September 9, 2006 3:48 AM
    OK, restart your computer, hold down Command-s and type in the following:
    /sbin/fsck -y Enter
    /sbin/mount -uaw Enter
    rm /var/db/.applesetupdone Enter
    reboot Enter
    Once you've done that the computer reboots and ask you to set up an admin password.

  • Can't reset admin password with startup disc

    I inherited my eMac when my roomate left for the road. I am not able to get in touch with him and I need to change the administrator password. I have the Mac OS X 10.4.6 discs and when i try to restart from the discs, I get a grey screen with coding on it. I see the word panic somewhere in the code. Is there any way i can reset this password with these discs?

    Read > http://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4101 That user tip will show you how to reset the password. You will lose the keychain after resetting your password

  • Resetting admin password *without* install disks?

    I am locked out of my ibook g4. have read all the discussions and suggestions posted here, but the only solution seems to be to do a restore install holding down c. problem is that I am overseas and don't have my discs with me.
    my computer was purchased two months ago. it's a 'refreshed' apple product. when I got it, the password was set as a return/enter (no characters). I changed this to a personal password and it has worked til now. is there any common password that an apple tech might have used that I can try?
    any other way to get into my computer?!
    thank you.

    I wonder if it might help to boot to safe mode. If you do so, be aware that it can take quite some time, due to the process involved. http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107393

  • Resetting Password without startup disks

    Left startup disks home, unable to get access to administrative settings.  How do I reset password without startup disk?

    jsmurphy06 wrote:
    Left startup disks home, unable to get access to administrative settings.  How do I reset password without startup disk?
    "unable to get access to administrative settings?" 
    Why, are you admin or not?

  • How to reset administrator password without a disk

    how can i reset administrator password without a disk....first time using macbook....
    please help me to reset the adm. password step by step.
    thank you so much

    http://www.rit.edu/its/services/desktop_support/mac/xforcenewadminacccount.html
    http://osxdaily.com/2011/04/25/change-admin-password-mac/
    http://osxdaily.com/2011/08/24/reset-mac-os-x-10-7-lion-password/

  • Resetting admin password.  Please help!!

    My friend has a G4 ibook with mac osx 10.3.8 installed, unfortunately he has forgotten his password and this prevents him from installing any software now. I have read the support pages from apple which state i should use the installation disc of the original mac os x. This has unfortunately been lost. I have tried with a newer installation disc "tiger" and this does not work. Can anyone help me.
    Thanks

    Alan....try the following.....
    Reset Admin Password ..... using Terminal
    1. Type.... passw < return>
    2. It'll prompt for the...... “old password” <return>
    3. Type..... “new password” <return>
    4. Retype ...... “password” <return>
    Changing the password in this way has the same effect as changing through "System Preferences".
    Reset Admin Password .... using Single User Mode
    Hold down (command+S) at startup, you will be presented with a black screen containing a bunch of code... this is called....... Single-User Mode
    Type.....
    sudo passwd username <return> ... or ...
    /usr/bin/passwd username <return>
    Type your already existing ..... “old password” <return>
    Type in a new...... “password” and verify
    Type... reboot <return>
    george

  • How to reset admin password iMac

    I changed my IMac admin password and have now forgotten in and can't find my originàl discs to reset it. I understand you can reset it using apple ID but I can't work it out.  Can someone help me

    Forgot Your Account Password
    For Snow Leopard and earlier
         Mac OS X 10.6- If you forget your administrator password
    For Lion/Mountain Lion
        Boot to the Recovery HD:
    Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
         When the menubar appears select Terminal from the Utilities menu.
         Enter resetpassword at the prompt and press RETURN. Follow
         instructions in the dialog window that will appear.
         Or see Reset a Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Password and
         OS X Lion- Apple ID can be used to reset your user account password.
    If you are unable to boot from an installer DVD:
    (these will only work on Leopard or earlier)
      1. Boot to Safe Mode by restarting and after the chime press and hold down
          the COMMAND-S keys until a black screen with white type appears.
      2. At the prompt, type the following commands pressing return after each
          command line:
         /sbin/fsck -yf
         If you do not receive a "Filesystem OK" message then repeat this command
         until you do.  If after seven tries you still do not receive a "Filesystem OK"
         message, then the system is corrupted and needs to be reinstalled.
         mount -uw /
         cd /private/var/db/netinfo
         mv local.nidb local.old
         rm ../.AppleSetupDone
         shutdown -r now
    The second-to-last command above will cause OS X to think that the operating system is newly installed, and when the new owner starts up the computer it will send him/her to the startup wizard where he/she can start a new user without reinstalling.
    This last method does not actually change a password. It simply removes the user accounts and lets you create an initial admin account as if the computer were new out of the box.
    Reset Admin Password Using The Terminal
    You can reset the password by printing out (or writing down) and carefully following these steps.
    First, find the short name of the admin user on the machine. The easiest way of doing this is by looking at what the directory is called in the Users folder.
    Now, start in Single-user Mode. It should boot into a command line.
    Enter these exact lines. Press RETURN after each.
    mount -uw /
    ifconfig lo0 up
    cd /var/db/netinfo
    netinfod -s local
    Now you'll need that short name. Enter "passwd", a space, and the short name of the admin. For example, if the admin was rather prosaically called "imadmin", you would enter "passwd imadmin".
    The computer will now prompt you to change the password for "lmadmin" (or whatever the short name was). Go ahead and enter a new password.
    Now, enter:
    sync
    reboot
    and the machine will reboot. The admin password should now be changed.

  • I've had my iMac put away for about a year, now I can not remember the admin password upon startup. And I don't have the installation cd's (of course)! Is there any way to re-boot, re-do, get into my Mac to change it.  I don't remember it even w/ the hint

    I've had my iMac put away for about a year, now I can not remember the admin password upon startup. And I don't have the installation cd's (of course)! Is there any way to re-boot, re-do, get into my Mac to change it.  I don't remember it even w/ the hint

    Call Apple with the Serial and they will send you the ones that came with the Mac. Or search the Net.

  • Lost GlassFish admin password# how to reset admin password

    Hi
    i lost admin password in glassfish(     GlassFish Server Open Source Edition 3.1.1 (build 12) ) application server
    key-file stored in glassfish-3.1.1\glassfish\domains\domain1\config\admin-keyfile
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    Forgot Your Account Password
    For Lion, Mountain Lion, or Mavericks
        Boot to the Recovery HD:
    Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
         When the menubar appears select Terminal from the Utilities menu.
         Enter resetpassword at the prompt and press RETURN. Follow
         instructions in the dialog window that will appear.
         Or see:
           Reset a Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Password
           OS X Mountain Lion- Reset a login password,
           OS X Mavericks- Solve password problems,
           OS X Lion- Apple ID can be used to reset your user account password.
    For Snow Leopard and earlier with installer DVD
         Mac OS X 10.6- If you forget your administrator password,
         OS X- Changing or resetting an account password (Snow Leopard and earlier).
    For Snow Leopard and earlier without installer DVD
        How to reset your Mac OS X password without an installer disc | MacYourself
        Reset OS X Password Without an OS X CD — Tech News and Analysis
        How To Create A New Administrator Account - Hack Mac

  • Reset admin password - SJSWS 7u8

    Hi,
    I've read through the documentation and a few of the other posts about resetting the admin password in SJSWS. Plainly, it doesn't work
    [root@server bin]# ./wadm reset-admin-password --user admin --host localhost --port 8989
    Please enter admin-password>
    Please enter admin-password again>
    CLI103 Command 'reset-admin-password' failed. :: netscape.ldap.LDAPRebindI've not been able to find any matches to the 'netscape.ldap.LDAPRebind' error, and don't know why it's talking about ldap in the first place (as SJSWS isn't attached to any LDAP).
    The local machine (RHEL5.5, Linux x86_64, amd64 SJSWS install) does use LDAP for authentication, but it shouldn't be trying to touch that.
    I can't find any further log entries for the failed password change either.
    This is the administration console, with one other node hanging off of it.
    [root@server bin]# . ../lib/wsenv ; $WS_JAVA/bin/java -version
    java version "1.6.0_19"
    Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_19-b04)
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    Unfortunately you've run into a known problem - 6914493.
    Edit $(INSTALL_ROOT)/bin/wadm and add ${classpath_prefix}/ldapjdk.jar to the classpath variable and try re-running the command.

  • Resetting admin password from non-original CD

    We have a 400 Mhz Powerbook G3 running Mac OS X 10.3.3. We got it from eBay as is––no CD's, no other information. Now that I have inadvertently locked System Preferences, that is a problem because we do not know the admin password.
    I see that you can reset the password by booting up from a Mac OS install disc. My question is, would it be possible to do that using the OS X install disc for v. 10.3.7 that came with my iBook G4?

    Usually the OEM install disc that comes with a particular computer model will not work with other models. However, you can give it a try. If you can get it to boot the Powerbook, then after the installer loads select Reset Admin Password from the File menu.

  • I cannot reset admin password with disk mac os x

    holding down command  and s keys was not successful resetting admin password

    For v10.6 and earlier  >  OS X: Changing or resetting an account password

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