[wobl]

I have a used G3 IMAC running OS 10.1.5. My problem is that I don't have the Administrator Password for this computer and can't change the System Preferences or even save files to the hard disk, which is locked.

What can I do to reset the Administator password? I also don't have the OS 10.1.5 Installer CD, so I can't use that.

Someone told me that if take out the lithium battery from my IMAC and then reinstall it, I can reset the password this way. Is this true?

Any suggestions would be very appreciated.

[proton]

You need your Mac OS X install CDs to reset the password.

Boot from the Mac OS X install CD and the password reset utility is available in the menus (it's in a different menu in different versions of OS X).

You'll have to see if you can find your OS X install CDs, or maybe try an Apple Store near you (although they'll probably want proof of ownership to do it).

- proton

[tooki]

Pulling out the battery does nothing. Pulling out the RAM can be used to disable the Open Firmware password, but that's entirely different.

If you know the proper commands (I don't off the top of my head, but you could google them), you can do it using the Single User mode -- boot while holding Command-S, and you'll go into text mode, as root. Then you can type the magic incantations to change the password.

tooki

[piracy]

One thing you could do is:

1. Boot the computer (I'm assuming it boots to the Finder).

2. Go into System Preferences -> and go to the Accounts pane

3. Create a new account, and allow it to administer the computer. You are allowed to do this by default.

4. Log out, and log in as the "new" admin user. Go back into System Preferences -> Accounts and reset the password on your original user to something you know.

5. Log out, and log back in as your original admin user. Delete the other account you created,.

6. Install something newer than 10.1.x immediately

(And no, to anyone who happens to be reading this: being allowed to create an admin user by default in the Finder on OS X is NOT a "security risk", as there are about 45,000,000 ways to prevent this behavior. It's just the *default* behavior.)

[Geobunny]

Failing that, try the following:

Boot into single user mode by holding command-s from when you hear the chime to when you get white text on a black screen.
Type

Code:
/sbin/mount -uw /

Delete the old NetInfo database by typing this:

Code:
cd /var/db/netinfo
rm -r local.nib
exit

When you type 'exit' above, your computer will continue to startup, and you'll be taken through the initial user setup procedure as if it were a fresh install of OS X.

This is proly only to be used as a last resort, but it will work.

[Edit: Added some 'code' tags to make it more readable]

[CharlesS]

Geobunny, 'local.nib' in your example should be 'local.nidb'. You also need to delete the '.AppleSetupDone' file or all you'll end up with is a non-bootable system (IIRC).

My version:

1. Start the computer up with the Command and S keys down

2. Enter these commands:

Code:
fsck
mount -uw /
cd /var/db
rm .AppleSetupDone 
cd netinfo
rm -r local.nidb
reboot

[Geobunny]

Thanks, CharlesS. I guess my memory isn't as good as I thought it was!

[ashtoash]

I can just yank the ram to get around open firmware password? damn security.

Originally posted by tooki:
Pulling out the battery does nothing. Pulling out the RAM can be used to disable the Open Firmware password, but that's entirely different.

If you know the proper commands (I don't off the top of my head, but you could google them), you can do it using the Single User mode -- boot while holding Command-S, and you'll go into text mode, as root. Then you can type the magic incantations to change the password.

tooki

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by ashtoash:
I can just yank the ram to get around open firmware password? damn security.

If they have physical access to your machine, you don't have any security. Anyone could just yank out the hard drive and put it in another machine.

[Athens]

just reboot with the panther cd and select lost password from the menu.