Hi,

I was given an old toshiba laptop by a friend, who has no idea what the password is or was. Is there a way in Linux Ultimate Mint Live V1.5 for a 32bit, to completely bypass an old unknown password and to create an entirely new one?

Hi
Do you need to preserve anything on the laptop? If not, just wipe and do a clean install.
If you do need the files, do this: https://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/1355

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I'm assuming the laptop is running Linux Ultimate Mint Live V1.5.

Assuming that, you can do this:
https://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/339

EDIT:

As izoudavy said, if you don't need to preserve anything on the laptop, you may as well just reinstall and start fresh.

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I appreciate the responses. I have looked at both places you've both directed me to....and I can not locate the kernel..??

I don't know what the user name or password ever was. On install, it never asked me for it, then when I go and try to use it, it keeps asking me for the old user and password?

could it be as easy as that?

You can try booting it into single user mode where you'll be able to reset the root account password.

Hold down "Shift" as as it boots and you should see the GRUB menu appear (eventually)

In the terminal-esque display the grub provides youyou should see something like...

Press 'e' to edit
Modify the middle line by appending 'single' to it i.e.
Press Ctrl + x or F10 to reboot with these kernel options.
Change the password. Reboot. Repeat the process again only this time remove the word 'single' from the middle line (it may not be there on reboot but better to check). Reboot one more time to check the changes remain persistant and...

Welcome to Linux!!!
Post any questions you have along the way, we're happy to help

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from a website called surge force or something like that...

I am still having trouble, do I hit enter after I type e for edit?
then, do I just arrow up to the ro quiet splash part, put a space and then type single?
Or do I have to type the whole second line over?

I'm still not seeing how this works? What about the username? what is the kernel?

and then reboot...

when it finally came up again, it asks for a user name?
do you guys think I should do a new install off one of the suggested sites one of your guys mentioned? media slacker?

what exactly is it refering to when it mentions the kernel?

I suppose I've gone to the well a few times too many? sorry to be such a uneducated pest, I'm really trying....

The Linux Kernel. A glob of compiled C++ code that translates everything else in the operating system into machine readable instruction sets or data.
If you don't need any data on the laptop, that would be an excellent idea.
You're fine, it's just getting late on the East Coast of the US where a lot of us live. notKlatuu is in New Zealand, so he probably had to go to work.
The people who have been helping you are pretty well known on this board, they're very nice folks, just sleepy most likely, so no worries.

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I would recommend getting a bootable image of Mint from https://distrowatch.com/, then simply booting off of it and following the prompts; it should be relatively straightforward.

Don't bother trying to fix-up the old install; it's not worth it.

If you need to ask more qns, please use normal font, not bold.
Also, use code tags https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...do=bbcode#code when posting code / data / error msgs etc.
Its vitally important to post them exactly, even if you have to type them in by hand; please do not just 'describe' them - minute details can be crucial.

HTH & Welcome to LQ

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Thank you, I'm going to go ahead and try that, talk to you guys later! Thanks for all of your answers, I truly appreciated each one.

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hello guys, it's newbie again...

I did a fresh install, but am still being asked for a user name and I assume a password too...

Is there a standard override or standard bypass I can enter, to keep moving forward?