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WallpaperPerson

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 4, 2008
73
0
HELP! I just bought a used iBook G4. I don't know the admin password. He says the last owner didn't tell him. I need some sort of legit program to crack the password. OS is 10.3.9. Thanks!
 
You could use the gray restore DVDs that probably didn't came with them, or get a retail version of Panther or Tiger and boot from the DVD to reset the password.

Any password cracker would need to access protected system files and folders, thus it would need the password, in my logic at least.

And as the iBook is quite slow, it would take ages to crack a password anyway, unless the original user was unoriginal in her/his password choice.
 
I just need a program that cracks passwords.

But if you guys wanna guess... the password is 7 letters and the hint is car.
EDIT:
The guessing thing is so you can help me figure out the password.
 
pantera

Model-T or Model-A haha

I like the guessing game :)

8158.jpg
 
Chances are you're not going to figure it out. Just get any OS X disc and reset the password that way. You're probably going to want to reinstall everything anyway.
 
  1. Power on or restart your Mac.
  2. At the chime (or grey screen if your chime is turned off), hold down Command+S on your keyboard to enter single-user mode.
  3. This step is optional, but it’s a good idea because it checks the consistency of the hard disk before moving on. At the prompt, type fsck -fy and press Enter/Return. Wait for the checks to complete before going to the next step.
  4. Type mount -uw / and press Enter.
  5. Type launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.DirectoryServices.plist and press Enter.
  6. Type ls /Users and press Enter. This lists all of the usernames on the computer – helpful if you don’t know or remember what these are.
  7. Type dscl . -passwd /Users/username password and replace “username” with one of the users displayed in the previous step. Replace “password” with a new password of your choice. Press Enter.
  8. Type reboot and press Enter.
 
Is it really that easy to gain access to a password protected login? If so, I really underestimated the security of my user account password...

Yes. Anyone with physical access to your machine should be assumed to be able to gain access to your data (as stored on the drive).
 
Yes. Anyone with physical access to your machine should be assumed to be able to gain access to your data (as stored on the drive).

+1 not even power on passwords are safe (at least in windows, not sure about mac os)

I just had to strip a power on password two days ago. All it takes is removing the cmos battery for a minute.
 
+1 not even power on passwords are safe (at least in windows, not sure about mac os)

I just had to strip a power on password two days ago. All it takes is removing the cmos battery for a minute.

Even if they were anyone with access to the machine could remove the drive and connect it to another machine. If you worry about your data encrypt it with a strong algorithm and long key...
 
Should we be assisting in the cracking of passwords? :confused:
OP - you bought the computer. If there is sensitive info on the computer you have no right to that. Get an OS disk and do a wipe and reinstall.
 
Get an OS disk and do a wipe and reinstall.

I think that a "wipe and reinstall" of OS X is the best thing to do anyway. Whenever I get a used computer, that's the first thing that I do. Highly recommended.

Good luck to you! Enjoy your new (used) Mac! :)
 
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