Path: csiph.com!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!individual.net!not-for-mail From: Athel Cornish-Bowden Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system Subject: Re: System password Date: Sun, 29 Nov 2020 16:15:14 +0100 Lines: 35 Message-ID: References: <291120200957413493%nospam@nospam.invalid> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: individual.net YlOfI8KVuSJZUTI/J4BgTgdi+3EaR1mhT8EGrVc4j3lWDJL6aM Cancel-Lock: sha1:J8TAFhz1Ljo588nRSByUODCnJ2o= User-Agent: Unison/2.2 Xref: csiph.com comp.sys.mac.system:135471 On 2020-11-29 14:57:41 +0000, nospam said: > In article , Athel Cornish-Bowden > wrote: > >> My wife wants me to install Zoom in her computer (MacBook Air, several >> years old; OS 10.8.5). Unfortunately she doesn't have any idea what her >> system password is -- indeed, she didn't know she even had a system >> password. Is there any way to find out? With the Terminal perhaps? I >> expect Lewis will know if there is an answer -- anyone else? > > no. that would be a huge security hole. however you can reset the > password to something new. > > keep in mind that the keychain password will not be reset, which will > likely cause various problems going forward because they're now > different. > > you could just keep trying to guess what it is. At about the 15th guess (a few minutes ago) it worked! So that immediate problem is solved. > > better yet, do not use zoom at all. it's a *huge* security disaster and > its use has been banned or restricted by many, many entities, including > the united states senate, new york public schools, apple, google, nasa, > space-x, germany, singapore, taiwan and many more. That would be my choice too, but unfortunately the meeting she wants to attend is a Zoom meeting, set by the organizer with no alternative. -- Athel -- British, living in France for 34 years