what to do if lost password

[Michael Havens]

I haven't changed anything yet but in my trial run on the computer I do not
want to change anything on it asked me for the new password.
 These are the instructions I followed:

Just use GRUB to boot into single user mode / recovery mode.

(1) At grub boot screen (after restart)
(2) Select the kernel
(3) Press the e key to edit the entry
(4) Select line starting with the word kernel or linux
(6) Append the letter S (or word Single) to the end of the (kernel) line
Append init=/bin/sh to the kernel command line
cntrl-X
 then mount the root filesystem (if it isn't already done for you) and run
passwd to reset the root password or passwd user to reset user's password.


:-)~MIKE~(-:

On Wed, May 27, 2015 at 8:06 AM, Stephen Partington <cryptworks at gmail.com>
wrote:

> This works great on Linux based systems. But on something running Linux
> you will need to hash the registry and reset the password. There is a tool
> to do this if there are any local users present. (does not work on active
> directory accounts).
> On May 27, 2015 7:17 AM, "Michael Havens" <bmike1 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I got a friend upon whose computer (old XP) I installed Linux. She called
>> me last night  because she forgot the password. Well, I asked the Florida
>> user group about what to do and this is what they had to say:
>>
>>
>> Just use GRUB to boot into single user mode / recovery mode.
>>
>> Append *init=/bin/sh* to the kernel command line, then mount the root
>> filesystem (if it isn't already done for you) and run *passwd *to reset
>> the root password or *password user *to reset user's password.
>>
>>
>>
>> http://www.debuntu.org/how-to-recover-root-password-under-linux-with-single-user-mode/
>> I'd bring a CD containing System Rescue CD just in case.
>>
>> http://www.sysresccd.org/SystemRescueCd_Homepage
>>
>> By the way, you can bust back into borked VMs with System Rescue CD ISO
>> files, too.
>>
>> By the way, if you use System Rescue CD, do something like this,
>> assuming her / is the mountpoint for /dev/sda1:
>>
>> mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
>> chroot /mnt/ bash
>> cd /etc
>> vi passwd
>>
>> Now delete the x between the first and second colons, for both user
>> root and her ordinary username, then quit vi
>>
>> exit
>> umount /mnt
>> reboot
>>
>> Now, when asked for her password, leave it blank and she'll get in.
>> Then she can change her password as desired. Same thing's true the
>> first time she logs in as root.
>>
>> If she's not trustworthy enough to leave with blank passwords, you
>> could probably use the passwd program after the chroot to change the
>> passwords.
>> :-)~MIKE~(-:
>>
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