# reformating old g3 imac



## turtleturd (Sep 26, 2006)

Hello everyone, I picked up a g3 mac a couple a weeks ago from a thrift store for $20.00. I brought it home and it was password protected. I tried reformating it by holding the c key and it won't work. Is there another way to format it? Thanks for all your help.


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## dracken (Apr 24, 2007)

turtleturd said:


> Hello everyone, I picked up a g3 mac a couple a weeks ago from a thrift store for $20.00. I brought it home and it was password protected. I tried reformating it by holding the c key and it won't work. Is there another way to format it? Thanks for all your help.


When you say it is password protected, what kind of password is it? Is it just an operating system password or an open firmware password when you first turn the computer on?


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## turtleturd (Sep 26, 2006)

dracken said:


> When you say it is password protected, what kind of password is it? Is it just an operating system password or an open firmware password when you first turn the computer on?


It's a password to login to the programs.


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## Headrush (Feb 9, 2005)

I don't know about versions prior to 10.4, but when you boot of the DVD in 10.4 there is a menu option to reset the password.


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## JackAndCoke (Apr 26, 2007)

If you can't boot off the disc then try holding down the option key when rebooting. That will pull up your available boot discs and you should be able to choose the cd from there.

Here's a link with a bunch of commands you can try:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75459


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## turtleturd (Sep 26, 2006)

So I tried holding the option key and found out that it doesn't read the cd,but when I tried it on my girlfriends computer it detected the cd right away. Why does it do that? Thanks.


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## ThreeDee912 (Feb 11, 2006)

Older Macs don't have the 'option-key' boot feature. In older Macs, you hold down C to boot from a disc on older Macs.

C doesn't erase anything, it just boots from the disk.


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## turtleturd (Sep 26, 2006)

ThreeDee912 said:


> Older Macs don't have the 'option-key' boot feature. In older Macs, you hold down C to boot from a disc on older Macs.
> 
> C doesn't erase anything, it just boots from the disk.


Yeah I tried holding down c but it wouldn't detect the cd. I also tried using my sisters I book restore cd to see if it can read it by using the option key and holding c and it detected the cd,but it doesn't want to detect the other cd. I also tried it on my sisters computer to see if it was the cd but it detected it right away.


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## Headrush (Feb 9, 2005)

What format CD/DVD are you trying to boot? (Copy or original?)

Some older G3/G4 machines have optical drives that have trouble with certain types and speeds of optical media.


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## Stinker (Aug 7, 2006)

Some older Macs need the original style CD that came with the computer. Do you have one?
If you do you should be able to erase the passwords once you boot from the CD.


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## dadsgravy (Feb 20, 2007)

Well, if you still haven't reset the password you can do it with out the install cd. Here is a link, scroll down the page a bit:

http://www.askdavetaylor.com/how_do_i_reset_my_mac_os_x_admin_root_password.html

You can try a google search. That is how I found this. It can be done with out the install disc. Your just going to have to dig a little to find out how.


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## turtleturd (Sep 26, 2006)

I've been trying that and still haven't had any luck.


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