5 eMacs - all locked with admin passwords

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Hey everyone, my name is Ken and I seem to be having a major problem with my eMac. I recently purchased 5 eMacs from a school district, they were all locked with admin passwords, but I figured out how to reboot them with new admin accounts. Now (before as well) I can't do certain things. It seems like bits and pieces of the system's file are gone. I can't open or change any systems prefs, can't even change my desktop wallpaper. The computer won't recognize certain applications, or files. Does anyone know what I can do without installing a new OS on this eMac? I don't have the original install discs and I would rather not spend the money to buy any. Please help if you know how. Thanks a bunch in advance.

Ken
 
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Your Mac's Specs
2019 iMac 27"; 2020 M1 MacBook Air; macOS up-to-date... always.
When you are logged in, are you logged in as regular user or one with administrative privileges? The behavior you are describing sounds to me like a regular user with severe restrictions, or even a guest account.

The most radical thing you could try is deleting the folder /Library and delete all users. On rebooting, OS X will re-create /Library with new default preferences and prompt you to create an admin user. Obviously, you have to be logged in as an admin user to be able to do any of this, or you can enable root and do it easily while logged in as root (not recommended for novices!!!). Whatever you do, DO NOT TOUCH the folder /System and any of its subfolders. This tip relies on that being intact and untampered with. As it is, I can't say it hasn't been already.
 
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Your Mac's Specs
12" Apple PowerBook G4 (1.5GHz)
So you have five Macs, and no OS?

Clean some up, sell them, and buy a Family Pack.

Trust me, one Mac with a good OS install is better than five Macs with nothing.
 

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