I have an older mac, its a g4 and I just recently hooked it back up. I've had it for a while (since 2001) so I don't remeber the password that I stored in there It's Been Tooooooo Long, anyways I want some of my project files that i have stored on there and i cant seem to get them with out logging in to user Lloyd, im geting in only on the default login and it is not allowing me to get some files that i know are there. . . . .
. . .
Anyone know of a good program to get my passwords off of the mac or something that I can browse through the files or something.. . . .
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Any information at all would be helpful thank you very much for taking the time to review my post anyway.

My only experience with MAC's is via Google.

If you were asking this question about a Windows OS I would advise reinstalling the OS.

In Windows to extract data you can slave the hard drive on another computer unless the data is encrypted.

But as I don't know MAC I will post this Google:

http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...t+password+mac

In general Lost/Forgotten Password questions are best researched by the Lost/Forgotten

Hi Jeff,
Thank you for replying, sorry, I didn't realize the Lost/Forgotten was for all OS's. Should I post there now?

I didn't really want to do a complete reinstallation because I want those projects from my earlier years just to show my progression.

Do you know if I can put the hard drive from the mac into my pc as a slave drive and browse thru the files that way without having to deal with a password?


Thank You again for your help.

How do I navigate to the Lost/Forgotten

As far as physical hard drives there should be no difference. IDE/ATA is the same in both machines.

Depending on your MAC it might be a SCSI (small format) as in a laptop. In this case you would just need an adapter.

As to translating the files I am not sure but do see this:

http://www.macwindows.com/tutfiles.html

And more generally this:

http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-...ws&sa=N&tab=gw

Sorry about Lost/Forgotten I was being facetious.

My point was that if you need to ask about password recovery it is best to look for yourself. In forums like this there is no way of discerning legitimate issues and non.

The link I posted in my first reply was a Google search for MAC Passwords and that was as far as I was going to help in that sense.

Hope this helps.

Oh. . No that was my fault. I didn't realize that. But I will check the links, well i have checked i think one , but thank you for the help in pointing me towards the sources and all. I appreciate all the help I can get.

Thank You again

This link will tell you how to change or reset a password:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106156

Welcome to D-A-L mac genius! Good to have a MAC pro looking in!


Again I know nothing of MAC's but I am surprised that they would have such an option.

Like what's the use of passwords when the manufacturer tells you how to change them?

In Windows you would need to reinstall the Operating System which I think is a good thing.

I might be confused by this:

Set the user name of your original administrator account.
Important: Do not select "System Administrator (root)". This is actually a reference to the root user. Do not confuse it with a normal administrator account.

In Windows XP for example there is a built in Administrator account which is generally not used except in case of emergency. Does this relate to the MAC (root)?

If so can the "System Administrator (root)" lock out other users from changing passwords without knowing (forgetting) them or can anybody change the password on a MAC by following these instructions?

Again begging the question: "Why have a password in the first place?"

Passwords have never been a ultra-secure way of protecting a computer. It doesn't take long for anyone (keen enough) to find out how to get into a 'password protected' system.
The advice given by apple is for the administrator to change a password for one account. However, to gain access to ALL accounts you would have to go to the root admin. This can cause all sorts of problems to the system and would probably be better to re-install (as with windows)
It doesn't take me long to find a way to get into a windows system, take a look at this link:

This is one of many available on the internet.
My advice to anyone with a computer is (whatever system they use) to encrypt sensitive files within their main HD. DO NOT RELY ON A STARTUP PASSWORD TO PROTECT YOUR COMPUTER!

Thanks again for your input. Your advice is indeed very good as to encryption etc.

Although such links as you posted do exist on the Internet we do not link to such sites from this forum nor give any advice on by-passing passwords.
Thus the link deleted and I will close this thread.

With all due respect forgetting passwords is basically inexcusable whether legitimate or not.

We hope you continue to stop by and help others with their MAC problems! Thanks!