had to reset a Mac password for the 1st time

[AllGold]

Note to self: don't change a password to something for one-time use and expect to remember it a year and a half later.

Back story is my Titanium Powerbook is a backup / extra machine. About a year and a half ago I used it tethered to a remote camera in the rafters of an arena during NCAA tournament games. It allowed me to get the photos wirelessly without having to hike up the 7.5 stories where the camera was located twice per game. I set the password to something other than my regular super-secret pw in case someone else needed to retrieve the photos.

Fast forward to yesterday when I needed the admin password. Although I'm sure I set it to something obvious and simple to share, no amount of guessing would get me in. I had to resort to the OS installation disk pw reset utility.

[kj4btkljv]

Was the machine actually up in the rafters too, or just the camera? That I would have liked to see...

Jeff

[GrumpyOldMan]

I rely on Keychain a lot for tons of websites where I have a password (mostly places I buy stuff online).

I also learned a lesson today. My laptop (new MBP) hung on me today when I was doing something strange (connected to a remote network via VPN, trying to configure a printer for them) when the "add a new printer" panel just hung on me. Eventually I couldn't do a thing, and hit the power button. When it came back up my background image appeared, but nothing else. The only account was my normal one. If I had remembered to set up a second one, I would have been able to try to login via that and check preference files, etc.

Instead, it took some Target Disk Mode work, some booting in verbose mode, and finally an Archive and Install from the Leopard install disk. First time I've ever had a problem like that in any OS X Mac, ever. I'm back now, but still worried things may not be right.

[samintx]

I have NEVER set a password on my Macs. I refuse to and all installs just fine and runs fine.

[AllGold]

Jeff, yes the computer was right next to the camera (which was mounted on a railing) on the catwalk. It was on a milk crate (taped down) so it wouldn't get kicked or stepped on and also secured with a Kensington cable lock so it couldn't fall.