Ubuntu
shadow package

dad gave me laptop, before he passed away, but has system, I dont know password

Asked by zachariah Federowski

My Dad gave me his laptop before he passed away. He was running an old version of unix, not sure which version, and i am trying to update is and its asking for a password and an encrytion key. is there a way to update it without having those? and how do I do that.

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N1ck 7h0m4d4k15 (nicktux) said : 		#1

Read here on how to reset password.

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/resetpassword

You cannot see it , but you can reset and change the password.

The other and better solution would be to download a newer version of Ubuntu and install from scratch.

Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS can be found here: http://releases.ubuntu.com/precise/

Thanks

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Warren Hill (warren-hill) said : 		#2

The above instructions for resetting the password are specific to Ubuntu. You said you did not know which version of Unix it was using; if its not Ubuntu then the instructions wont work and its unlikely that anyone here will know how to reset the password. But if you can tell us which version of Linux/Unix it is we may be able do direct you to the correct forum to ask the question.

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zachariah Federowski (zfederowski) said : 		#3

I am not sure the exact version, is there a way to restore my factory settings and use windows instead. I know it does seem better but I am so confused right now its not even funny

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zachariah Federowski (zfederowski) said : 		#4

I want to restore to factory settings, is it possible to remove the unbuntu

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Warren Hill (warren-hill) said : 		#5

Sure you will need a Windows CD and a licence for it.

Put the CD in the drive and reboot. Windows may start to install. If not check the BIOS settings. There is usually a key to press at start-up to get into this. Which key depends on computer but may be displayed briefly at start-up.

Make sure its set to boot from CD and you can install anything you want. Windows will simply replace everything.

Note: You will need a legal copy of windows to do this. Alternatively you can install Linux for free.
The Ubuntu download is here: http://releases.ubuntu.com/precise/

There are other versions available though

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