[SOLVED] MacOS High Sierra Update Added User Password

[Appletax]

A client who has a 2010 iMac had me repair her failed update to HS that left the computer booting to a black screen. I did a fresh install of HS and used her time machine backup to reinstall her apps and data.

Yesterday she updated the OS and now it requires a password for her to login even though she never had a user password set. It's supposed to automatically log her in and get straight to the desktop.

What to do? She has her time machine backup so I could put 10.2x Sierra on it.

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[Krynn72]

You can't do a fresh install of High Sierra without setting a password. I think you're just forgetting what you used. Try your usual generic passwords that you use for temporary things (like "password" or "password123" etc).

 

[Archon Prime]

what @Krynn72 said. it has you set a new password from a fresh install of macOS. if it's a no go, you'll have to re-install from scratch again lol

 

[Appletax]

When I did the clean install I used the time machine backup during the setup process so it transferred over her account information.

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[Archon Prime]

So basically what happened was that auto-login was turned off when the restore was done and it will be using her original password that she had for the admin login (her main account). She would have had to have something to unlock admin-level changes, etc.

 

[Appletax]

So basically what happened was that auto-login was turned off when the restore was done and it will be using her original password that she had for the admin login (her main account). She would have had to have something to unlock admin-level changes, etc. Sounds like a guessing game at this point.

It was on after installing so the HD update she installed must have forced her to use a password.

Is it easy to remove an administrator password?

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[Archon Prime]

Could also try recovery mode > Terminal in disk utility > resetpassword
window will appear, select the volume, then her user. change it from there. It will screw up the keychain password but you can always make a new one of those.

Or WORST case...single user mode....eeesh

 

[Markverhyden]

Did she just try hitting <cr> with a blank password field?

 

[NviGate Systems]

If she had no password (which was possible) if you simply hit enter it should login.

Even if the password is blank it still prompts you.

 

[Krynn72]

If she had no password (which was possible)

Even if you upgrade from Mavericks (which I believe was the last OSX that allowed you to skip password during setup) wouldn't the new OSX install require a password be made? Every OSX/MacOS version in the past several years has required a password, and I'm pretty sure you can't easily get around it.

But I may be wrong in that upgrades don't require you to make a password. I haven't done many of them from older OSes.

 

[NviGate Systems]

If they never had a password and used Time Machine, the preferences from the old install would be carried over and override the password requirement.

You can still go into preferences and set a blank password. It asks if you are sure. When I setup a Mac, I use "1" as the password then change it after to null/blank.

 

[Appletax]

If she had no password (which was possible) if you simply hit enter it should login.

Even if the password is blank it still prompts you.

This was what I did and it worked.

If they never had a password and used Time Machine, the preferences from the old install would be carried over and override the password requirement.

You can still go into preferences and set a blank password. It asks if you are sure. When I setup a Mac, I use "1" as the password then change it after to null/blank.

She says when she first set it up it did not force her to enter in a password.

I created a password for her and setup auto login (was disabled).

Done. Works.