Mac book pro 17"

I recently won a Mac book pro 17" in an auction and it is locked, how do i bypass the lock screen so i can set it up as mine. I received no software with it.

Tell us what you mean by "It's locked". What does the screen look like when it's turned on? The reason I ask is there are several different ways that a Mac can be locked (in other words, a password is needed to log on).

Also, the year and model MacBook Pro 17" you have?

It boots to a lock screen of previous owner, on the bottom case it says model #A1229

2007 is stamped on the case

OK, you have a Mid-Late 2007 17" 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Machine. (Model A1229)

In order to reset the password on that machine (the administrator's password) you will need a boot - install DVD. Since that machine originally came pre-installed with Tiger (OS X 10.4.9) and that's a difficult DVD to find and buy, what I suggest is to order a newer DVD direct from Apple.

You can order a Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6.8) DVD direct from Apple for $20. Use that DVD to boot the machine and reset the admin password to one that you wish. At the same time, use the DVD to erase the hard drive on the machine and install Snow Leopard clean.

Thank you very much

That was UNBELIEVABLY foolish of the original owner. If you weren't a good person you could easily WRECK HIS LIFE because of that dumb mistake.

For his/her sake as well as your own, I strongly recommend using the Snow Leopard disk (when you get it) to zero out the drive (a thorough erase, one pass is sufficient) before installing Snow Leopard. Don't let that guy's poor sense of personal security get passed on.

If it boots to a screen actually showing a padlock not good news as that is firmware password protection and sometimes the very devil to remove. Was used on school, college and university computers to discourage theft. If so will not boot from the disc.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1352