Cousin's iBook

RedXIV

Hey all,

My cousin is offering me her iBook if i can get the photos off it because she can't remember the admin password. I've managed to set up several admin accounts on it but i can't figure out what to do from there, i'm not familiar with mac's enough to understand alot of it. I have system preferences open and i can see all the users but when i try to change a password it says the "keychain passwork cannot be changed to the new password. And then it says something along the lines of "the user can change their Keychain password in the Keychain Access application in the Utilites folder" which i can't find?!?!

Please Help me!!!!!

440Hz

RedXIV wrote: »

Keychain password in the Keychain Access application in the Utilites folder" which i can't find?!?!

Go to the Utilities folder from the Finder menu (click on the desktop). Order the list alphabetically and you will find the Keychain Access application.

RedXIV

My apologies, i found the keychain after all but i still can't change the admin password from another admin account. is there any way that from one admin account i can change the admin password of another admin account? I'm sorry for being a pain, i don't understand mac's much yet.

I'm running OS X 10.3.9 if that helps?

Chardee MacDennis

RedXIV wrote: »

My apologies, i found the keychain after all but i still can't change the admin password from another admin account. is there any way that from one admin account i can change the admin password of another admin account?

no, otherwise it would not be very secure. i would say have a look around the net for a hack but i doubt you will find one.

muggyog

Will she give the iBook to us if we answer your question?;)

Im a bit unclear if her account was the original admin account or why(how) you are creating other admin accounts. I am assuming that you cant get to her music is because as she is the owner you need her password to look in her user account (normal).

Do you have the OS install CD? If you do boot from it (keep 'C' key pressed on boot) and in the dropdown menu at the top of screen beside the apple icon there is an option to change the password of any account on the Mac.

Type 17

I'm not sure if it works in 10.3.9 (it does in 10.4.x and 10.5.x), but you can boot from the Mac OS X CD and then use the Password Utility on the disc to reset the admin password (not sure if this will unlock the keychain, but will allow you to log in to her account and to copy off the photos that she wants).

To boot from the CD, hold down the C key as you restart with the CD in the drive...

RedXIV

Yeah, I had a look around and everywhere seems to want the boot up disk which she wisely decided she didn't need after she got the thing.

Im a bit unclear if her account was the original admin account or why(how) you are creating other admin accounts

I found a couple of lines of code online that when you hold the apple key and S button at startup, you type into the Single User Mode to make the computer think it hasn't been fully set up or registered yet. This allowed me to set up a second admin account but i had hoped that with this option i'd be able to access the OTHER admin account

Breezer

RedXIV wrote: »

is there any way that from one admin account i can change the admin password of another admin account? I'm sorry for being a pain, i don't understand mac's much yet.

I'm running OS X 10.3.9 if that helps?

I just tried this in Tiger (version 10.4) and it worked fine. Have you tried following these instructions (the ones at the very top)? Doesn't seem to matter whether or not her account was the original Admin account as long as you're logging in from another admin account (maybe Panther works differently though).

The Keychain password shouldn't affect being able to get photos etc. off it unless she had them encrypted. Once you've changed her account's password (not the Keychain password, ignore that warning), click on the Apple menu in the top left and click 'Log Out.' Then when the list of users appears, click on her account, enter the password you just created and you should be able to access all her photos and things.

Chardee MacDennis

Microsoft wrote:

If you are not the only administrator on your computer, ask one of the other administrators on your computer to reset your password. To do this, follow these steps:Back to the top
For Mac OS X 10.3.x

1.Log on with an administrator account.
2.On the Apple menu, click System Preferences.
3.On the View menu, click Accounts.
4.If it is required, click to unlock the lock icon, type the authentication information, and then click OK.
5.Select the username whose password you want to change.
6.Type a new password in both the Password and Verify boxes.
7.Quit System Preferences.
8.Click OK when you receive the following message:The Keychain password for this user cannot be changed to the new account password.

or

http://emperor.tidbits.com/webx?50@@.3cb3cd5e wrote:

Here's how to reset your OS X password without an OS X CD. You need to enter terminal and create a new admin account:

1. Reboot

2. Hold apple + s down after you hear the chime.

3. When you get text prompt enter in these terminal commands to create a brand new admin account (hitting return after each line):

* mount -uw /

* rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone

* shutdown -h now

4. After rebooting you should have a brand new admin account.

5. Change the password on your old account while logged in as your new Admin account, then log back in as yourself and delete your new Admin account."

RedXIV

We're all good! sorted, done and happy!

To anyone who has contributed, i owe ya a drink i practically live in the woolshed on parnell street in dublin, if ya see me, remind me

Thanks again guys!