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Powerbook protected by a password
Posted by: bibilit on 2016-11-13 03:53:42
Yesterday i was given a non working Powerbook (3400)

The power connector was faulty, and after the long process of removing the logic board, cleaning and welding back, the Powerbook came to life.

The bad news was that the hard drive was password protected by the previous owner.

looked like this one:



I tried to remove some files from the hard drive, even delete all of them in the end and copy a system and finder for a test, but this message was still there.

In the end, i swapped the hard drive with one i have in a box and the Powerbook is working ok, but how to get rid of the protection (formatting the drive ?) and where is the file generating this protection (hidden somewhere ?)

Posted by: MikeatOSX on 2016-11-13 04:16:52
I would try Silverling to format the drive and kill the password section:

http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/lacie-silverlining-pro

Posted by: techknight on 2016-11-13 11:56:50
This dialog is stored in the disk driver. You need to LLF the drive, or blow out the first group of sectors to fix this. But you will need to repartition and reformat. 

Posted by: mrpippy on 2016-11-13 12:49:43
I wrote up a how to for disabling Password Security using Norton Disk Editor:

http://bslabs.net/2016/01/30/disabling-powerbook-password-security/

Posted by: MikeatOSX on 2016-11-13 13:39:11
I wrote up a how to for disabling Password Security using Norton Disk Editor:

http://bslabs.net/2016/01/30/disabling-powerbook-password-security/
Great "how to", thank you!
Posted by: bibilit on 2016-11-14 04:06:53
I wrote up a how to for disabling Password Security using Norton Disk Editor:
yes, thanks found the information online, but had already swapped the HD.

I will try a LLF

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