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Question

Am searching for the advice about "tricking your computer"

Jul 8, 2014 10:31AM PDT

Greetings:

Back in December '13 I asked what to do when you install an upgrade disk that you discover is locked. I wanted to know if it was possible to go back. I was referred me to a post where someone gave instructions on "tricking" your computer into thinking it was new, fresh out of the box. At the same time, the old data and files would be untouched. It involved writing code--and it worked. There were a lot of people responding and thanking the writer for this "miraculous" advice--including me. Now I can't find that file (I printed the instructions out) nor can I find my response. If I could, I would be able to locate the original instructions. Can anyone help?

Discussion is locked

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Answer
I know you posted in the Classic section but,
Jul 8, 2014 9:57PM PDT

I'm not sure that you are actually referring to the "Classic" (System 9.x running under OS X) or
whether you are referring to System 9.x running on its own.

I suspect that what you are asking is related to OS X and not to Classic. If this is the case, then take a look at this that I found on-line:

Reboot
Hold apple + s down after you hear the chime.
When you get text prompt enter in these terminal commands to create a brand new admin account (hitting return after each line):
mount -uw /
rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
shutdown -h now
After rebooting you should have a brand new admin account. When you login as the new admin you can simply delete the old one and you're good to go again!

Is that what you meant?

BTW, upgrade discs are usually CD/DVD which are always locked to Read Only


P

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I'll give this a try!
Jul 10, 2014 2:49AM PDT

Thanks for this information. Yes, what happened was: I installed an OSX CD into my (used) iMac running OS 9.2 and discovered that the OSX disk was somehow "locked" and I couldn't get into anything without the password. I had no way of contacting the original owner. So, after searching different sites I found directions for tricking your iMac into thinking it's new and just out of the box. It worked, and I was able to revert back to OS 9.2. Now, as I posted earlier, the computer appears to be on the way out. It's making lots of clicking sounds and yesterday it wouldn't allow me to work on a file that I'd spent a lot of time on. It claimed the file was "corrupted." I posted asking if anyone knew how I could get into that file. It's Appleworks.

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I hesitate to ask this, but,
Jul 10, 2014 8:48AM PDT

what about your backup copy of this file?

If you get the machine booted, you need to move that file off there, quickly.

The OS X CD is not locked, beyond it being on Read Only media, the system was asking for your password because it is an install disk and you need permission to install files in OS X.

You could just reset the password by booting from the OS X CD and choosing Password Reset from the Utilities menu.

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