If I buy a Mac OS X CD from eBay...

[Arcadio]

Part of my job involves reseting passwords on apple computers. The problem is that most people lose the Mac OS X cd. Can I buy the CD on eBay and reset the password on any apple computer with that CD?

 

[Tyranicus]

You would need to get a retail Leopard disc for this purpose. The discs that come with a Mac are tied to that particular computer, and Leopard is the only retail release that will work for Intel Macs.

 

[Arcadio]

So with the Leopard disc I will be able to reset passwords on any Mac computer?

 

[Tyranicus]

Any OS X box with a DVD drive.

 

[ViRGE]

Actually it's a bit more complicated than that. For systems released with new hardware after Leopard, the original Leopard disc may not be able to boot those systems to reset the password.

Wouldn't booting in to single user mode allow you to change the password and avoid the hassle of using a disc?

 

[Injury]

Originally posted by: ViRGE
Wouldn't booting in to single user mode allow you to change the password and avoid the hassle of using a disc?

Yes, although some websites tell you a really "messy" way to do it and a "clean" way to do it.

A lot of sites suggest you essentially reset a variable that tells the OS that it is the first boot and that it should set up the admin account like OS X doesn't have one yet. I've used this before and I always seem to get some sort of error after doing it this way (ie: keychain errors).

The best way I've seen is to manually create an account and add it to the list of admins, but I can't find the link. Will keep looking for it, but maybe someone knows it.

 

[Arcadio]

Originally posted by: Injury

Originally posted by: ViRGE
Wouldn't booting in to single user mode allow you to change the password and avoid the hassle of using a disc?

Yes, although some websites tell you a really "messy" way to do it and a "clean" way to do it.

A lot of sites suggest you essentially reset a variable that tells the OS that it is the first boot and that it should set up the admin account like OS X doesn't have one yet. I've used this before and I always seem to get some sort of error after doing it this way (ie: keychain errors).

The best way I've seen is to manually create an account and add it to the list of admins, but I can't find the link. Will keep looking for it, but maybe someone knows it.

THanks. Reps. It would be great if there was a way to create an admin account without having to reformat the whole hard drive..

 

[QurazyQuisp]

Originally posted by: Arcadio

Originally posted by: Injury

Originally posted by: ViRGE
Wouldn't booting in to single user mode allow you to change the password and avoid the hassle of using a disc?

Yes, although some websites tell you a really "messy" way to do it and a "clean" way to do it.

A lot of sites suggest you essentially reset a variable that tells the OS that it is the first boot and that it should set up the admin account like OS X doesn't have one yet. I've used this before and I always seem to get some sort of error after doing it this way (ie: keychain errors).

The best way I've seen is to manually create an account and add it to the list of admins, but I can't find the link. Will keep looking for it, but maybe someone knows it.

THanks. Reps. It would be great if there was a way to create an admin account without having to reformat the whole hard drive..

http://theappleblog.com/2008/0...rd-without-an-os-x-cd/

There also is a way to reset the admin password while in darwin, however I have not used it in the past 2-3 years, and I'm not sure if it still works.

EDIT: Looks like you can: http://www.tuaw.com/2007/07/17...our-mac-os-x-password/