Mac OS Admin Password Lost

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dnb4life

312 posts

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#20420 25-Mar-2008 22:25

Hi, I was wondering if anyone knows what the default administrator password is for Mac OS 9.0?

My mum recently inherited an old Mac (one of the ones with the swivel screen coming off the computer) and I've been trying to set up a new internet connection for her on it and i need the administrative password in order to change some settings. The old owner was a novice computer user at best and never changed anything that would require the password so i expect it is whatever default password is inputted when it was originally setup by Magnum Mac.

I read the help and it says you can use the Mac OS CD to reset the password but i can't find it at the moment.

Any help is much appreciated. cheers

tonyhughes

Hawkes Bay
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#118656 25-Mar-2008 22:32

Googling the problem leads me to believe that the CD is required for this task.

munchkin

939 posts

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#118798 26-Mar-2008 16:27

Does the system have OS X installed too, or is it OS 9 only? (I'm just wondering because the G4 imac shipped with OS X as the default OS)

What you need to do is access the hard drive and remove 'Multi User Prefs' from inside ./System Folder/Preferences/ - if You have OS X installed on the machine, you can do it from there.

If you don't have the Mac OS 9 or X install Discs, you can try Ubuntu 6.06 (the latest version for the Power PC architecture) which will (with a little bit of work), write to HFS+ (Mac format) drives; You can get it here.

For information on how to get it to write to HFS+ disks, click here.

I wouldn't recommend setting up the internet in Mac OS 9 unless you really have no other choice, it has been superceded by the far superior and easier to use, OS X.

If you do continue to set up the internet in OS 9, have a look at iCab as a browser - I think it is the last 'Classic' browser still in development.

dnb4life

312 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#118805 26-Mar-2008 16:36

i'm pretty sure it's just OS 9 but i'll have to check that. i'm a PC user myself so am quite unfamiliar with macs. i know it's gone in for repairs and fixing before at Magnummac so they may have installed updates and stuff. the original owner recently passed away so it may take me awhile to track down the install CDs. does it cost to upgrade to OS X if you are an OS 9 user? i'm also not sure if upgrading OS or trying a different browser will make this particular mac run much better as it is a pretty low-grade system. pretty sure its like 1.4ghz and 256mb ram or similar. takes yonks to do anything but still looks too nice to throw away with the swivel screen so my mums gona use it as a spare computer just for surfing.

munchkin

939 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#118815 26-Mar-2008 17:09

Mac Tracker says that some G4 imacs shipped with OS 9 as the default OS, in which case you'll have to hunt down a copy of Tiger if you want to upgrade to OS X (as they don't support the latest revision). I think you'll have OS X installed as AFAIK, OS 9 doesn't require a password to change settings, but I could be mistaken.

If you don't want to upgrade to OS X, but you still want to use it you'll need to find an OS 9 CD to reset the password, or use Ubuntu which requires more work, but will get it going now. If you want to upgrade it to OS X later, and it can be upgraded to Leopard (minimum of 867MHz + 512MB of RAM) then it costs $199 from the Apple Store.

Try holding down CMD (the clover-leaf or apple-logo key) + X to see if you can boot into OS X when you start the machine up.

To determine which OS you have, which screen do you see when you turn the computer on: