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From: Buzz on 30 Aug 2005 14:07
My nine-year-old son tricked his mother into entering the administrator
password and proceeded to change the administrator account to his
account. He has been banned from using the computer.

Short of beating it out of him (which is certainly appealing), how do I
recover an administrator password?

I have tried booting from CD, but I apparently don't have the right CD.
Which one do I use? Is there an other approach?

eMac 1.25Ghz
OS X 10.3.9
From: Dave Balderstone on 30 Aug 2005 14:14
In article <xI6dnY3g173vPYneRVn-qg(a)adelphia.com>, Buzz <buzz(a)buzz.inv>
wrote:

> I have tried booting from CD, but I apparently don't have the right CD.
> Which one do I use? Is there an other approach?
>
> eMac 1.25Ghz
> OS X 10.3.9

Boot from the install CD that came with the eMac, or in the package if
you bought 10.3 separately.

Then select "Reset Password" from the menu (the wording may not be
identical... I'd have to boot from the CD to check).

djb

--
Life. Nature's way of keeping meat fresh. -- Dr. Who
From: Buzz on 30 Aug 2005 14:54
Dave Balderstone wrote:

> In article <xI6dnY3g173vPYneRVn-qg(a)adelphia.com>, Buzz <buzz(a)buzz.inv>
> wrote:
>
>
>>I have tried booting from CD, but I apparently don't have the right CD.
>>Which one do I use? Is there an other approach?
>>
>>eMac 1.25Ghz
>>OS X 10.3.9
>
>
> Boot from the install CD that came with the eMac, or in the package if
> you bought 10.3 separately.
>
> Then select "Reset Password" from the menu (the wording may not be
> identical... I'd have to boot from the CD to check).
>
> djb
>

I have done both of those, but I did not see an option to reset the
password. Can anyone tell me specifically where to find that?
From: Dave Balderstone on 30 Aug 2005 15:09
In article <GaKdnWkaOr_sNoneRVn-jg(a)adelphia.com>, Buzz <buzz(a)buzz.inv>
wrote:

> I have done both of those, but I did not see an option to reset the
> password. Can anyone tell me specifically where to find that?

See <http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106156>

"Resetting the original administrator account password

Follow these steps to reset a password when there is only one
administrator account on the computer, or if the original administrator
account (of several) needs a password reset. "Original" administrator
account refers to the one that was created immediately after installing
Mac OS X. If the original administrator password is known, the original
administrator user may reset the passwords of other administrator
accounts using the steps described above.

1. Start up from a Mac OS X Install CD (one whose version is closest
the the version of Mac OS X installed). You should first disable Open
Firmware password protection, if it is enabled. Hold the C key as the
computer starts.
2. Choose Reset Password from the Installer menu (or Utilities menu
in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger). Tip: If you don't see this menu or menu
choice, you're probably not started from the CD yet.
3. Select your Mac OS X hard disk volume.
4. Set the user name of your original administrator account.
Important: Do not select "System Administrator (root)". This is
actually a reference to the root user. Do not confuse it with a normal
administrator account.
5. Enter a new password.
6. Click Save."

--
Life. Nature's way of keeping meat fresh. -- Dr. Who
From: Carl Witthoft on 30 Aug 2005 17:34
In article <300820051309013036%dave(a)N_O_T_T_H_I_S.balderstone.ca>,
Dave Balderstone <dave(a)N_O_T_T_H_I_S.balderstone.ca> wrote:

> In article <GaKdnWkaOr_sNoneRVn-jg(a)adelphia.com>, Buzz <buzz(a)buzz.inv>
> wrote:
>
> > I have done both of those, but I did not see an option to reset the
> > password. Can anyone tell me specifically where to find that?
>
> See <http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106156>
>
> "Resetting the original administrator account password
>
> Follow these steps to reset a password when there is only one
> administrator account on the computer, or if the original administrator
> account (of several) needs a password reset. "Original" administrator
> account refers to the one that was created immediately after installing
> Mac OS X. If the original administrator password is known, the original
> administrator user may reset the passwords of other administrator
> accounts using the steps described above.
>
> 1. Start up from a Mac OS X Install CD (one whose version is closest
> the the version of Mac OS X installed). You should first disable Open
> Firmware password protection, if it is enabled. Hold the C key as the
> computer starts.
> 2. Choose Reset Password from the Installer menu (or Utilities menu
> in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger). Tip: If you don't see this menu or menu
> choice, you're probably not started from the CD yet.
> 3. Select your Mac OS X hard disk volume.
> 4. Set the user name of your original administrator account.
> Important: Do not select "System Administrator (root)". This is
> actually a reference to the root user. Do not confuse it with a normal
> administrator account.
> 5. Enter a new password.
> 6. Click Save."

And as these instructions suggest, if you have another account with
admin privileges, all you need to do is log on, open Accounts preference
panel, select the "bad" account, select "edit user" and type in the new
password.
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