Another password nightmare

[rodneyjm]

Ok I have a few Apple Power Mac's G4's giving to me from a company that went out of business. And this is a common problem when I boot them up it ask for a user name and password. Of course I don't know any of this information as well as to what Mac OS is running on these systems.

I have tried the command S (thing) and typing sh /etc/rs and nothing happends. It does go to the other screen with white letters but when I type what people have said it doesn't do anything. I wanna find a place to download the Mac OS X install to make a boot cd. But of course I can't open the CD Rom with out being able to boot the system up and to make matters worse the stupid CD Rom doesn't have that little hole to open the cd door.

So what can I do? I really don't wanna spend any money on these system and really don't wanna throw them out. - ??

Thanks

 

[skaheadpunk]

I really think you need to buy a copy of OS X, (maybe 10.3 or 10.4?) for each machine, or a family pack. Downloading the OS violates the EULA.

You should be able to put the disk in as you start it up, then restart holding the C key, which should boot from the disk. On the menu bar at the top you should be able to access Disk Utility and erase the HDD, then reinstall the OS and have a fresh start.

If you can't get the disk tray to open there is actually a manual eject, you need to gently open the flap and look for the little hole-type button, and press that firmly with a straightened paperclip or something similar.