iMac weird password stuff

[cheryl]

I'll go out on the limb and make the first real post on Info Mac! I have fond memories of using the old Info Mac and just had to sign up for the new one right away.

I recently bought an aluminum iMac and every time I launch Safari it asks me for my username and password. It isn't accepting it though, but then when it asks again if I don't type anything it lets Safari run anyway. It also does this at the login screen - it asks for my username and password, rejects it, but then logs me in anyway.

I'm not sure if I royally screwed something up here?

[Turboladdade]

You've probably corrupted either your Keychain or your Administrator account password (I assume this is the admin account we're talking about?)

Try this (you will lose any saved passwords in any program):

• Boot from your Mac OS X restore DVD by inserting it into your iMac, restarting and holding down "C" until it boots.
• Select the language you want to work in (I presume english) and then, when the menus appear at the top, select Reset Password from the Installer menu.
• Select your iMac's hard drive, then select your username from the pop-up menu.
• Enter your new password information, then quit the Reset Password utility, and restart your computer.
• After booting, log in (it should work correctly now) and choose Home from the Go menu.
• Open the Library folder.
• Drag the Keychains folder to the trash and empty it.

You have to do delete your Keychains when you reset your admin password because it will no longer be associated with the new password - deleting the Keychains forces Mac OS X to create you a new set. Once you do all those steps, all of your password issues should be solved.

For good measure, open up Applications -> Utilities -> Disk Utility, select your disk, and run "Repair Disk Permissions" and lets us know how it turns out or if there are any other problems.

[cheryl]

Thank you that seems to have done the trick. It seems I've lost all my passwords in Safari.

How would something like that happen?