Master Password HELP!

Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
Hi, people,



I am frustrated. I had set up a Master Password recently on my new MacBook Pro, and of course written it down safely, so that in case if I forget it (and I did) I can look it up.



Now this password does not work, and the help question does not correlate my current written password. I tried so many times to type possible passwords answering the question, but it's not working



Now, I know many of you will advice me to remember this as a lesson and reinstull my system... I still want to try though.



One thing that is acting strange is that when I try typing other password answering the help question in the "Change Master Password" section, it says "You entered your master password incorrectly", however, if I type the password that I wrote down, it says "You did not enter your master password".



Maybe this is a hint?



Please advise me something on that.



Thank you

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    When you say "Master Password" do you mean an Administrator pass, a FileVault Master Pass, or a firmware pass to prevent people from booting off other disks?
  • Reply 2 of 9
    lundylundy Posts: 4,466member
    Yeah. What he said.
  • Reply 3 of 9
    Quote:

    Originally posted by VanDeWaals

    When you say "Master Password" do you mean an Administrator pass, a FileVault Master Pass, or a firmware pass to prevent people from booting off other disks?





    Well, sorry for my unawareness, but I really don't know the difference between the 3... or at list the last two. The thing is that I am new to Macs, and also not an ace in computers overall, but have some (tiny) idea about how things work.



    I am the only person using this laptop, and therefore I am the administrator. I have only two passwords set currently: one password asked for when I log in, download applications, etc., and another called Master Password (System Preferences -> Security). In "Security" section it warns me that if I forget Master Password I will loose all my data. I decided to set Master Password for a better protection of my stuff just in case, and wrote in down. Now it appears that the password I wrote down is not working. I am terrified!
  • Reply 4 of 9
    vandewaalsvandewaals Posts: 450member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ruscat13

    Well, sorry for my unawareness, but I really don't know the difference between the 3... or at list the last two. The thing is that I am new to Macs, and also not an ace in computers overall, but have some (tiny) idea about how things work.



    I am the only person using this laptop, and therefore I am the administrator. I have only two passwords set currently: one password asked for when I log in, download applications, etc., and another called Master Password (System Preferences -> Security). In "Security" section it warns me that if I forget Master Password I will loose all my data. I decided to set Master Password for a better protection of my stuff just in case, and wrote in down. Now it appears that the password I wrote down is not working. I am terrified!




    This would be the Master Password for FileVault then. Do you have FileVault turned on? What it does is encrypt your whole home directory as a sparse disk image, and then mounts it automatically when you log in. The password that is used to encrypt it is the same as the one you are using to log in and do admin stuff (your account has admin privilages as you said). Now, if you do NOT have FileVault enabled, it really makes no difference. All the Master pass allows if for you to recover the data if you forget your account pass. If you DO forget the account pass, and this Master one is not working, then yes you would be hosed in that case.
  • Reply 5 of 9
    Quote:

    Originally posted by VanDeWaals

    This would be the Master Password for FileVault then. Do you have FileVault turned on? What it does is encrypt your whole home directory as a sparse disk image, and then mounts it automatically when you log in. The password that is used to encrypt it is the same as the one you are using to log in and do admin stuff (your account has admin privilages as you said). Now, if you do NOT have FileVault enabled, it really makes no difference. All the Master pass allows if for you to recover the data if you forget your account pass. If you DO forget the account pass, and this Master one is not working, then yes you would be hosed in that case.



    I do have my FileVault turned on, and when I tried to turn it off the other day, that's when I figured I didn't know the right Master Password. I do know my account pass though. I am totally fine now and have access to everything I need on my laptop, but I'm scared that I may have some problems early or later on if I don't remember my Master Password. Do you think I should back up all my data and reinstull everything because I don't have too much stuff on my computer yet as I bought it 3 weeks ago?



    And thanks, I appreciate your help.
  • Reply 6 of 9
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ruscat13

    I do have my FileVault turned on, and when I tried to turn it off the other day, that's when I figured I didn't know the right Master Password. I do know my account pass though. I am totally fine now and have access to everything I need on my laptop, but I'm scared that I may have some problems early or later on if I don't remember my Master Password. Do you think I should back up all my data and reinstull everything because I don't have too much stuff on my computer yet as I bought it 3 weeks ago?



    And thanks, I appreciate your help.




    If you're scared that you might forget the account pass, then yes, I would say go ahead and wipe it and reinstall after backing up. And this time pick something you can remember more easily!
  • Reply 7 of 9
    chris vchris v Posts: 460member
    Isn't there an option to reset the master password somewhere on the install disk?
  • Reply 8 of 9
    lundylundy Posts: 4,466member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by chris v

    Isn't there an option to reset the master password somewhere on the install disk?



    Nope.
  • Reply 9 of 9
    vandewaalsvandewaals Posts: 450member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by lundy

    Nope.



    True. The install disk only allows you to reset an account password (which is why you want to slap a password on the computer's firmware to prevent someone from doing so).
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