OS X Password Recovery Discussion

My post on Mac OS X Password Recovery that I made almost a year ago continues to get comments today. It’s a fairly common issue. Since it has reached 126 comments (and the page is getting long), I’ve decided to close comments. You can continue discussion by leaving a comment here.

107 Responses to “OS X Password Recovery Discussion”

  1. David says:

    I tried pretty much everyhing nothing is working closest i’ve goten is trying the option to delete the applesetupdone file then doing the setup but when i did it the setup didn’t create an account and just started over, did it again and it goes in a loop…

  2. Mason says:

    I have a macbook pro and i was wondering if anyone knows hot to reset the admin. password. when i moved i missplaced my CDs and i need your help.

  3. mike says:

    i have a macbook pro mac os X 10.4.9

    i need help what code would i use to reset my user name and password?

  4. KLuM G says:

    I Just Bought a Mac Book OS X 10.4.8 off of a crackhead. Everything starts up great but it has one login name and i cant guess the password. ive been reading ur comments and ive read the directions too, but it seems like it wont work for me either. If sum1 can please help me how to work the newer version id be very greatful.

  5. SurfDog says:

    Mikez007 Thanks your help! I was able to create a new account and log on!

    Would you have any idea why i cannot configure a g5 to have interent access?

    I have a cable modem and generally when configuring a OS X mac is a snap to activate with either automatic configuration or by using network assistant. But, I’ve come to the conclusion there is a network setting created outside of my new user account prohibiting me to change or activate my new internet service. ( If i unplug the ethernet and plug it into another osx mac it works right away….

    If its a possibility, how can i over-ride the network settings so i can have internet access on it?

    Thank you,
    Patrick

  6. Wow!! It’s really work!! Thank’s for the guide Mike007!!

  7. danik says:

    hi

    i got a MAC OS X g3 10.3.3 but there is a password on it from the pearson that had it before is there anyway i can change or find out the password for the username. i have been trying for over 3 days maybe alittle less.

    thanks alot.

    can you please e-mail me at [email protected]

    thanks alot once again.

  8. willy says:

    Great!!!! IT works now i can use the macbook pro that i steal from my boss…

    NICEEEE

  9. roccodom says:

    I have reset the login pass on 1 of my g3’s using OS X using an Ibm keyboard. to get it to localhost I used control , alt and S then with my other mac g3 I am running OS X server and there is no way it wants to go into local host …It just keeps cycling through the pages until it gets back to the login password page..Is there some secret way to make a machine running OS X server to stop on local host ,so I can type in the commands to change the login password

  10. Zocky says:

    I have a macbook pro mac os X 10.4.9 and i’v tried all the methods but there not working.
    Can someone plz help me .

  11. Spencer says:

    Okay so I got to the point where I am filling everything out, I fill out the registration page and hit continue and it takes me to a white screen with a gray line across it and it doesn’t go anywhere. I can hit “Go Back” but then when I hit “Continue” to go back and try again it doesnt go anywhere….almost like it is freezing up. Please help.

    -Spence

  12. voodoo says:

    Hi Zocky,

    I have a spanking new macbook 10.4.9 and used Luti’s suggestion. It worked, that’s great and all, but like another user, it changed the permissions and kind of screwed me. be careful! :-)

  13. aeron says:

    problem. i used the cmnd lines posed by Rosa Absatz and Mikez007. however, the admin user has seemed to disappear, now the compter doesn’t get past the language selection screen. just a blue screen. what should i do? suggestions greatly appreciated.

  14. Lomoco says:

    Site URL changed for the Mac_Hack Corporation! Get info on resetting various passwords for Mac OS X. Oh and sorry elliot, but the way you suggested to change a user password doesn’t always work. However, feel free to use the way I suggested here. To find more info, visit the Mac_Hack corporation at http://www.machackcorp.com or e-mail me at [email protected] (Spam to this address will immediately void any service to the sender). However, if FileVault is on, you are pretty much out of luck unless you remember your password or a mac genius can think of something. You might also use a brute force file decryptor, but that would take awhile. For info on another method to change the password via SUM (Single user mode), visit the site.

  15. Freethinker says:

    This one work for me
    http://www.intelliot.com/blog/archives/2006/02/01/os-x-password-recovery-discussion/#comment-157747

    Just a simple matter of following the instructions on screen.

  16. Freethinker says:

    This one work for me
    http://www.intelliot.com/blog/archives/2006/02/01/os-x-password-recovery-discussion/#comment-157747

    Just a simple matter of following the instructions on screen.

    0) Restart…
    1) Hit Command-S at boot
    2) fsck -fy
    3) mount -uw /
    4) sh /etc/rc (wait a few seconds, hit enter if no prompt)
    5) passwd root
    6) reboot

  17. Deeno says:

    I did what Freethinker did on Tiger and it worked. When you boot up in single user, the banner even says that running

    sh /etc/rc

    will finish booting, but leave you in single user mode.

  18. A little kid says:

    If you have a username like John Doe, make sure you put an underscore between the two words. So it would be like this:

    passwd John_Doe

    This worked for me.

    However, after that, when I entered the password two times, I get the greeting: ‘Sorry’.

    I reset the root password but that did not seem to change anything, I still have to log in as my user and it will not let me.

  19. A little kid says:

    @ Mike007 Does that remove all the old information on your mac? ie Pictures, data, etc??

  20. Mike007 says:

    No this will only create a new administrator account for you, after you booted up you just remove the old admin user or copy the data to your account..

    Greets Mike007.

  21. nahun says:

    i have a BookG4 and everything works fine until i put SystemStarter it gets like freeze what can i do somebody help me please [email protected]

    /sbin/fsck -y
    /sbin/mount -uw /
    /usr/libexec/register_mach_bootstrap_servers /etc/mach_init.d
    cd /var/db/netinfo
    netinfod -s local
    SystemStarter
    passwd -i file -l /etc/master.passwd root
    reboot

  22. kramer5969 says:

    Please Help!!!

    I inherrited my uncles macbook when he passed. I went to boot it up and I dont know his username or password nor can I find any of the paperwork or restore disk. Is there any way around this username and password issue or did I get stuck with a pretty white paperweight?

    Please Help!!!

  23. jcardoso says:

    I tried recovering also using this method, because i wanted to erase a user account and was not able to login anymore.

    Did the proceadure of applesetupdone, but macbook hangs after filling all forms, i get a white screen with grey line on middle, and all i can do is hit return and go back to forms.

    Anyone knows how to pass this?

    thanks

  24. rookiechichi40 says:

    Here is probably a repetitive question, I bought a used apple powerbook G3 with 10.3.9 software. The guy gave me what he thought was the administrative password, well it does not work.

    I am so confused because I am a PC person, I have looked over all of the blogs and typed in everything I saw, when you are typing this commands in are they supposed to be in a straight line as such:

    Do I type it like thisz/
    /sbin/fsck -y,then hit enter?

    Or do I do it this way?

    /sbin/fsck -y/sbin/mount -uw/sbin/SystemStarter etc. etc etc.
    it does not give me any option to reset password
    I don’t want to pay 50.00 to have it done if I can do it another way

    Oh yeah i don’t have the software for it either

  25. joe says:

    password recovery.

    i have a imac os X 10.4.10, i followed your instructions till i got to part three. could not create ipc bootstrap port:com.apple.systemstarter

    could you please help me resolve this problem as you are a superstar,

    is it because hve the newer version of osX 10.4.10??
    please send me the instructions of hoe to resolve the problem.

    p.s do i need a tiger dvd

    thanks joe

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