password problem with system 10.3!

[cee]

and i don't know if i'm posting in here the way i'm supposed to or not...

i have somehow managed to put a password on my computer that won't allow me to upgrade or download and install software. WHERE do i go on this very VERY different-thinking system software to REMOVE FOREVER this password?

it is holding up production. :) anyone who can help me out here, i'd appreciate it.

thanks!
c

[OSX79newbie]

Hello,

Follow the link below and you will need to follow the instructions under "Resetting the Administrator Password."

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

:D

[kc0arf]

Hello Cee,

In a private email, you told me that you were working with OS X 10.3, meaning Panther. You also mentioned to me that you were using OS 9, and are struggling with OS X.

OS X is a mature, modern operating system that makes users accountable for their actions. Gone are the days of "one user fits all" computing that OS 9, your Apple II, and your Windows 95, 3.1 and Commie 64 all did. Today, we login: XP, OS X, Win 2000, and Linux.

That said, I am confused where you exactly installed a password. You had to setup a username / password combination to log into OS X, and that did not just magically happen -- when running the installer, you (or the person who built it) assigned a password to the computer. So I am wondering if by chance you did something to your keychain, or perhaps installed a program that you have to login to, or maybe you are referring to a dialup internet connection that you have to assign a username password too.

Now, it is possible that you at one time had the computer setup to automatically log you in. Under OS X 10.3 (panther), there is a Security control panel that has a check box to allow the computer to automatically login. When in this mode, OS X gives itself the proper username / password combination... the authentication engines are still in place. // Sidenote: Win XP / 2000 also has this "feature" //

The first thing that you should do is slow down, and describe for us what you changed. When was the last time the computer worked properly for you? Did you install anything new onto the computer? Do you remember what program you were in?

Take care, and let us know.

Christian

[cee]

Hello Cee,

In a private email, you told me that you were working with OS X 10.3, meaning Panther. You also mentioned to me that you were using OS 9, and are struggling with OS X.

OS X is a mature, modern operating system that makes users accountable for their actions. Gone are the days of "one user fits all" computing that OS 9, your Apple II, and your Windows 95, 3.1 and Commie 64 all did. Today, we login: XP, OS X, Win 2000, and Linux.

That said, I am confused where you exactly installed a password. You had to setup a username / password combination to log into OS X, and that did not just magically happen -- when running the installer, you (or the person who built it) assigned a password to the computer. So I am wondering if by chance you did something to your keychain, or perhaps installed a program that you have to login to, or maybe you are referring to a dialup internet connection that you have to assign a username password too.

Now, it is possible that you at one time had the computer setup to automatically log you in. Under OS X 10.3 (panther), there is a Security control panel that has a check box to allow the computer to automatically login. When in this mode, OS X gives itself the proper username / password combination... the authentication engines are still in place. // Sidenote: Win XP / 2000 also has this "feature" //

The first thing that you should do is slow down, and describe for us what you changed. When was the last time the computer worked properly for you? Did you install anything new onto the computer? Do you remember what program you were in?

Take care, and let us know.

Christian

hey, christian. when i set up the g4, i was in a hurry (i work on a g4 with system 9 at work, so this one at home is for freelance, learning, etc...)

i had used my real name, evidently, as my password without knowing that it would be like all the passwords used for EVERYTHING internet, which is what i see as the biggest change in computerland now.

i found a company that has techs who are apple certified, and for a fee, much like i would once call my local apple dealer (who closed a few years ago, so i'm having to wing it like it or not), he has been able to go in and i now have the same password here as i do on everything else.

i am slowly getting used to 10.3. It has been very very different. My son has a pc, so after 20 years of macintosh, i'm starting to learn alittle bit more about "the other side." all puns intended, in my case. :)

right now, i'm examining what firewalls to install. i just read that 10.3 has a firewall built in. checking in to a software called brick house to make it easier.

being accountable for one's actions! OH NO! i spent 20 years being accountable for mine and several other people's! it gave me wrinkles, panic attacks, and nightmares.

i'll hire somebody. and before i hire or buy, i'll ask around to find out what other people have experienced first. kind of like a survey.

btw, something else i have noticed (not that america is now checking everyone's armpits, fingerprints, and shoe soles just to leave the country), is that the entire internet is also paranoid. more than ever. very sad.

the way i look at it christian, since i doubt anyone has been victimized by internet fraud more than my kids and me, if i can continue to try to trust, then i still think trust is the best way to go.

thanks for your help. you sound like a nice, knowledgeable person. my first mac was an apple plus. i was working for the newhouse papers and it was brought in as a toy. i fell in love with it and have more or less taught myself most of what i know ever since. except for the occasion NYT seminar, which gave me techno-headaches due to the massive download of their gurus in a day (HA! those are some seriously brilliant brain surgeons they have on staff) i poke buttons familiar to me until i hit the brick wall. then i hunt down somebody who might know. like you. i've worked on mac11, se, 7500, 8500, 6100, 7100, imac g3 and now the g4s. own five computers now. at one time, i owned 11 and a small business... due to the internet, and people who came from there, i no longer do.

if you know of the best software for a firewall, i'd appreciate your advice. i want my daughter protected from hackers and the type of people who might try to bring her harm.

i know ALL ABOUT people who should be held accountable for their actions. and all about why a person should be paranoid about accessibility or meeting a stranger. and i am tired of being harrassed by stalkers. firewall time for 3 good, American children.

thanks for any help and you take care,
cee

[kc0arf]

Hello,

I think I will write a tutorial on firewalls too. May need a couple days to get it out though.

Christian