Unlocking a mac osx after purchase from a school.

[lxc90]

Hi Everyone. Really need some quick help here. My mother works for a school district which provides laptop computers. They recently rolled over to newer computers and my mother purchased the old one from the school. Most everything works normally, although there are quite a few things(system preference e.t.c..) which require a admin name & password. It has been impossible for me to acquire these from the school and I am looking for a way to override these. I read on a forum to reinstall the hard drive from an operting cd. I have no cds whatsoever with the computer. Would love any suggestions on how to override thise system admin & password problem.

[sgould]

If you can't get the passwords from the school, I think you have to use an install CD.

What system is the laptop running? If it's an older system 10.3 or 10.4 (Panther & Tiger), there are cheap retail discs available on the web. But beware the grey discs being sold. These are the ones that came in the box with somebody's new computer and will only work on that model. You need the black retail discs to be sure things will work.

Alternatively, if the laptop is new enough, you may be able to install the latest Leopard system (10.5).

[Satcomer]

Did you look down the forum list at [HOWTO] Fix User lost Administrator privileges thread too?

[jbarley]

One of the problems with a question of this nature, is that this is the exact same situation a person would find themselves in if they had a "stolen" computer and needed to override the admin passwords.
The information the OP posted is very sketchy at best, especially the part about buying a system and it came with "no" install CDs, which is highly unlikely if the transaction is legal.

jb.

[nixgeek]

Originally Posted by jbarley

One of the problems with a question of this nature, is that this is the exact same situation a person would find themselves in if they had a "stolen" computer and needed to override the admin passwords.
The information the OP posted is very sketchy at best, especially the part about buying a system and it came with "no" install CDs, which is highly unlikely if the transaction is legal.

jb.

True, but there have been many times where a school or business will sell the older hardware without the software. This happens quite often (check out the 68KMLA forums on some of the conquests and you'll see what I mean). Sometimes it's because they don't realize that the software would be needed with the hardware....they're just trying to get rid of the old stuff as it is.

[fryke]

1.) Questions do not belong in the HOWTO & FAQs forum, answers and guides do.
2.) You'll need the original installation disks. They belong to the computer.