Oh noes! Lost my username and password

geekusa · 01-26-2007, 11:47 PM

This is just stupid of me. I have lost my password and username, I just don't remember them. Is there a way to retrieve them. I don't remember being prompted for either of the two. Can some one please help this dumb ass noob. Thank you.

adityavpratap · 01-27-2007, 12:05 AM

Can you log in as root?

IBall · 01-27-2007, 12:06 AM

If you select "Ubuntu Recovery Mode" in the bootup menu, it will boot you to a terminal with root access without prompting for a password.

Then use the command "passwd userName" to set a new password for yourself. Obviously, userName is your username.

If you have forgotten your username as well, then "ls /home" from the terminal will tell you the user directories on your system, which will job your memory. Alternatively "tail /etc/passwd" should help.

I hope this helps
--Ian

geekusa · 01-27-2007, 12:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IBall

If you select "Ubuntu Recovery Mode" in the bootup menu, it will boot you to a terminal with root access without prompting for a password.

Then use the command "passwd userName" to set a new password for yourself. Obviously, userName is your username.

If you have forgotten your username as well, then "ls /home" from the terminal will tell you the user directories on your system, which will job your memory. Alternatively "tail /etc/passwd" should help.

I hope this helps
--Ian

Guys, thanx for the help. I found out that my username is actually OEM or oem. WTF is that? Anyway. I know my root password so. I got to log in. It says that I am a temporary user. How do I go about creating my own userName?
Once again, Thanks for your help.

Micro420 · 01-27-2007, 12:25 PM

useradd -m newusername -p yournewpassword