

Before you go thinking that Mac OS X has a severe vulnerability that makes it less secure than other operating systems, think again. Yes, it’s startling to think that anyone could theoretically walk up to your computer and gain access within minutes.

This tutorial may ruffle some feathers, but it addresses a topic that a ton of people ask about all the time. There are numerous ways to reset a password with no OS X discs. Or maybe you purchased a used Mac from someone else and they’ve got it locked down.

Boot the system from the Mac OS X installation CD and select the Reset password option from the installer screen and follow the directions.Let’s say you totally forgot the password to log on to your Mac. If you do not have an administrator password, either, you can still reset the root password.

The command we are running is passwd root which is the command to change the password for the root user. In this case, since the user account is considered an administrator, the sudo command allows you (after confirming that you are who you say you are with the user password) to run a command as if you were root. The sudo command is a helpful way to control who can do what on a system. Then you will be prompted for the new root password twice. You will be prompted for your password (the user account that you do remember). Open a terminal window and type the following: If you have the password to an account that is an administrator on the system, then it is easy to recover the password using the sudo command. Forgetting the root password on a Mac system can seem devastating, but this tech-recipe will show an easy way to recover. Most people have a hard time remembering these and will eventually forget one. Mac OS X Recover Lost Root Passwordįor the sake of security, having unique, complex passwords is recommended. Mac OS X Recover Lost Root Password 32.5.
