# forgotten password



## mrsmiley (Jul 18, 2003)

i own an imac in which my young daughter entered a password and now she cannot remember it. Is there any way around this problem without reformatting the hard drive. Any tips will be greatly appreciated.
thanks in advance
John Vance
[email protected]


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## brianF (Dec 2, 1999)

moving to appropriate forum


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## JustMe2 (May 31, 2001)

What OS version is the Imac running?
JustMe2


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## mrsmiley (Jul 18, 2003)

I am using windows 98 second edition
thanks


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## brendandonhu (Jul 8, 2002)

Your running windows on an iMac?


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## ahhoe (Dec 31, 2001)

r u sure? your os should be OS9 by default.
check it..


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## mrsmiley (Jul 18, 2003)

Yes i'm sure that is is. The truth is that the machine belongs to a friend and when I said windows 98 I had my pc in mind.
If you have any suggestions on how to by pass the software password, I would really appreciate it. If it were only a cmos password I would have already come up with the solution
thanks
John


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## JustMe2 (May 31, 2001)

So, does it have OS 9, then?? And does your friend have the original cd's that came with the machine?
JustMe2


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## mrsmiley (Jul 18, 2003)

No, I'm afraid that he doesn't. A friend of his loaded the original software and he is having trouble getting in touch with him. I'd already considered reformatting but that as I'm sure that you know is impossible without the software. I just thought that maybe there were someway to do this without having to reformat
thanks
John


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## mrsmiley (Jul 18, 2003)

By the way, that's a lovely photo of you. Not making a pass, just making an observation *smile*
John


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## steppenwolf (Apr 9, 2003)

is this like a cmos password where you move the jumper?or take out battery for 30 minutes?


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## mrsmiley (Jul 18, 2003)

no i'm afraid not. this is a entry to os password
thanks 
John


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## JustMe2 (May 31, 2001)

Aww, Thank you John! 
The bad news is...after reading some more, and talking to some people with newer Macs, it looks like you would have to have the original cd's. See here http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=43144
The link is for OS 10.
Although...I did just find this on their OS 9 boards...
Try to remove the two Multi-User files from the Preferences folder while logged in as guest user. Then restart your iMac and the Multiple User-settings should be reset (and Multiple Users should be turned off). From here...http://discussions.info.apple.com/[email protected]@.3bc18d4c/7

At this point in time, it could be worth a shot.
Something else that just occured to me. It is a actual logon, and At Ease software isn't installed, is it???
JustMe2
p.s. I just found this...http://discussions.info.apple.com/[email protected]@.59976e49/1
Last post on the page may help you!


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## mrsmiley (Jul 18, 2003)

thanks Just, I may try the suggestions from the link you gave me
John


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