My iMac, running OS 10.3, is demanding an administrator password -
even though I have always left it blank, to the best of my knowledge
(it's a home computer, so it's not sabotage). How can I reset it, or
find out the current password?

Thanks,
Steven

In article <3e343dca.0312150900.62df09d@posting.google.com> , Steve
Homer <secretariat73******.com> wrote:

> My iMac, running OS 10.3, is demanding an administrator password -
> even though I have always left it blank, to the best of my knowledge
> (it's a home computer, so it's not sabotage). How can I reset it, or
> find out the current password?

If you leave the password space blank, you can't proceed? Leaving it
blank should work.

If it doesn't, then boot from the OS X CD and reset the password.

Cathy

--
"there's a dance or two in the old dame yet." - mehitabel

C.Stevenson, M.D.
cats1921@sonic.net

Hopefully when you set up your Admin you put a password hint in there. If
you fail the password three times that hint comes up and you get another
chance to enter the correct password. I don't think you can run X without an
Admin and a password.


Kind Regards,
Nathaniel
--
flikWORLD Design
reply to: nat at flikworld(dot)com


in article 151220030951117309%cats1921@sonic.net, Cathy Stevenson at
cats1921@sonic.net wrote on 12/15/03 9:50 AM:

> In article <3e343dca.0312150900.62df09d@posting.google.com> , Steve
> Homer <secretariat73******.com> wrote:
>
>> My iMac, running OS 10.3, is demanding an administrator password -
>> even though I have always left it blank, to the best of my knowledge
>> (it's a home computer, so it's not sabotage). How can I reset it, or
>> find out the current password?
>
> If you leave the password space blank, you can't proceed? Leaving it
> blank should work.
>
> If it doesn't, then boot from the OS X CD and reset the password.
>
> Cathy
>
> --
> "there's a dance or two in the old dame yet." - mehitabel
>
> C.Stevenson, M.D.
> cats1921@sonic.net

In article <3e343dca.0312150900.62df09d@posting.google.com> ,
secretariat73******.com (Steve Homer) wrote:

> My iMac, running OS 10.3, is demanding an administrator password -
> even though I have always left it blank, to the best of my knowledge
> (it's a home computer, so it's not sabotage). How can I reset it, or
> find out the current password?

Hi Steve,

Go into Keychain Access in Utilities in Applications, and choose "Change
Password for Keychain "shortname"" where "shortname" is your OS X short
name. As long as you haven't set up auto Keychain locking, you should be
able to put the new password in.

You can then reset the password by booting off the OS X install CD, and
choosing Reset Password in one of the menus there. If you don't do the
Keychain thang first, it'll keep asking for usernames and passwords for
things like e-mail as the Keychain is auto-unlocked on login by default
with the username and password used to login. If you don't change the
Keychain password before changing the account password, you won't be
able to unlock your Keychain.

Regards

Sean

PS the upshot is that you can have a different Keychain password to your
account password (to increase security of your Keychain), but that the
default behaviour is to have it the same. If you know you account
password and you change it via System Preferences, Mac OS X also changes
your Keychain password, but changing it via the install CD does not.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sean McNamara mailto:sean@macassist.com.au
MacAssist Ph: (02) 8920 0866
Authorised Apple Solutions Reseller Fax: (02) 8920 0877
ABN 95 758 412 281 Mobile: 0414 270 132