Trying to reset admin password
in [Mac Systems]
|
Prev: Used Car Sri Lanka
Next: SSH in to enable VNC
From: Kurt Ullman on 5 Aug 2010 09:59 I am trying to migrate from my kid's old Macbook to a brand new one. The old one's administative password seems to be lost to the sands of time. I tried to put her old computer's no. 1 disc into slot, but it just pops back out immediately. The one time it did decide to stay in, it never showed up on finder. I am thinking that the CD drive is toast and that I am hosed on the admin password which means I can't use migration assistant. Any other suggestions? Any suggestions on best way to try to migrate? I am thinking about probably doing a SuperDuper back-up of the old machine and transferring everything but the OS over. Is this likely to work? -- I want to find a voracious, small-minded predator and name it after the IRS. Robert Bakker, paleontologist
From: nospam on 5 Aug 2010 10:07 In article <OdWdnRrCqdoiXsfRnZ2dnUVZ_jmdnZ2d(a)earthlink.com>, Kurt Ullman <kurtullman(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > I am trying to migrate from my kid's old Macbook to a brand new one. The > old one's administative password seems to be lost to the sands of time. > I tried to put her old computer's no. 1 disc into slot, but it just pops > back out immediately. The one time it did decide to stay in, it never > showed up on finder. try an external dvd drive.
From: David Empson on 5 Aug 2010 10:09 Kurt Ullman <kurtullman(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > I am trying to migrate from my kid's old Macbook to a brand new one. The > old one's administative password seems to be lost to the sands of time. > I tried to put her old computer's no. 1 disc into slot, but it just pops > back out immediately. The one time it did decide to stay in, it never > showed up on finder. > I am thinking that the CD drive is toast and that I am hosed on the > admin password which means I can't use migration assistant. Any other > suggestions? If you are going to migrate via Firewire, you run Migration Assistant on the new Mac, and you don't need the password to the old computer. It just needs to start up in Firewire target mode. You would need the password for the old computer if you are going to migrate via Ethernet (which may be necessary with a MacBook as recent ones don't have Firewire ports), becuase you have to run Migration Assistant on the old computer as well. > Any suggestions on best way to try to migrate? I am thinking about > probably doing a SuperDuper back-up of the old machine and transferring > everything but the OS over. Is this likely to work? Yes. If you can clone the old MacBook's hard drive, connect that to the new one via USB, it can be a source of migration. (You will still need to reset the password on that account after it has been migrated, and that will lose access to anything stored in the keychain.) Other options which occur to me: (a) Clone the old MacBook's startup DVD to a USB flash drive (using another computer), and boot the old MacBook from that via the option key startup screen. (b) If you have another Mac with Firewire and an optical drive, and the old MacBook has Firewire, put the _other_ Mac in Firewire target mode, insert the old MacBook's DVD into its optical drive, and start up the old MacBook with the option key held down. Connect the Firewire cable and you should be able to select the DVD as a startup disk. (c) Pull the hard drive out of the old MacBook and install it in a USB enclosure to access on the new MacBook as a source for migration (similar to cloning). (d) There is a somewhat complex procedure to start up a Mac in single user mode and delete a specific file, to trigger the initial setup procedure when you exit from single user mode. You can use this to create a new admin account on the old MacBook, and from that account reset the password of the other account. (e) Connect an external optical drive to the old MacBook and boot its DVD from that. I'm sure there are other options. -- David Empson dempson(a)actrix.gen.nz
From: Malcolm on 5 Aug 2010 10:11 On 2010-08-05 09:59:26 -0400, Kurt Ullman said: > I am trying to migrate from my kid's old Macbook to a brand new one. The > old one's administative password seems to be lost to the sands of time. > I tried to put her old computer's no. 1 disc into slot, but it just pops > back out immediately. The one time it did decide to stay in, it never > showed up on finder. > I am thinking that the CD drive is toast and that I am hosed on the > admin password which means I can't use migration assistant. Any other > suggestions? > Any suggestions on best way to try to migrate? I am thinking about > probably doing a SuperDuper back-up of the old machine and transferring > everything but the OS over. Is this likely to work? If the MacBook has a FireWire port, you can use Migration Assistant on the new computer to get data from the old computer via Firewire Target Disk Mode.. <http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1661> This does not need any password, unless firmware password was set.
From: Kurt Ullman on 5 Aug 2010 10:17
In article <1jms5l2.isop1mag5umN%dempson(a)actrix.gen.nz>, dempson(a)actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) wrote: > Kurt Ullman <kurtullman(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > > > I am trying to migrate from my kid's old Macbook to a brand new one. The > > old one's administative password seems to be lost to the sands of time. > > I tried to put her old computer's no. 1 disc into slot, but it just pops > > back out immediately. The one time it did decide to stay in, it never > > showed up on finder. > > I am thinking that the CD drive is toast and that I am hosed on the > > admin password which means I can't use migration assistant. Any other > > suggestions? > > If you are going to migrate via Firewire, you run Migration Assistant on > the new Mac, and you don't need the password to the old computer. It > just needs to start up in Firewire target mode. Current MacBook (non-Pro) has no FireWire. The only way is through ethernet. I was sorely traumatized when I realized that (grin). > Thanks, I'll look into these. -- I want to find a voracious, small-minded predator and name it after the IRS. Robert Bakker, paleontologist |