Member Avatar for sam11

Could I find a kind and knowledgeable person to help with my problem.

I have just purchased a used Mac meaning I don't have administrative power of my computer and the guy who sold it doesn't know the password.

How can I erase this guys administrative control and make me the one and only administrator if I don't know his password.

I've tried to change it within the command line but I do not have a username and root #.

These problems probably seem very simple but are causing me to lose my mind. If anyone knows the problem and wants to prevent a person from going insane...

Please help..

Thanks..

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by kc0arf

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Member Avatar for yellow

Boot from the Installer CD/DVD and reset the admin password.

Member Avatar for kc0arf

Hello,

I did not see this one at first, because it is in the discussion and not the support forum. Moving it there....

I agree with yellow, but would take his advice further.... rebuild the laptop from the ground up. You do not know if any software there is stolen, or if there are any viruses around, or if the hard drive has any old accounts on it, and perhaps personal data.

I would format the drive cold, and re-install from scratch. Apply all updates. Install all proper software. And welcome to your new Mac.

Christian

(P.S) I do this with all new hardware, both Mac and Windoze / Linux. Even if I buy them new. This way, I know how they are setup.

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