Industry guru Dave Taylor offers free tech support on a wide variety of technical and business topics, including HTML, Apple iPhone, online advertising, Cascading Style Sheets, Web design, management, Unix, Linux, search engine optimization, online dating, Mac OS X, shell script programming and Microsoft Windows.

How can I avoid telling Apple my laptop password?

I need to send in my laptop Apple for repair. They asked for my password but I don't want to give it to them because that password is also the password for some of my file on my computer. What should I do?

Dave's Answer:

I encounter this exactly dilemma each and every time I take one of my computers in for service too, and finally realized that the solution is so easy that it's laughable I didn't think of it the very first time I encountered the situation.

The solution?

Change your password to something else before you take it in to the Apple store.

See, I told you it was easy. :-)

Here's how you do that...

Go to Apple --> System Preferences... and click on "Accounts". Here's what you'll see:

Click on "Change Password..." and:

mac system preferences accounts password

Click on the "Change Password" button and you're done.

What password to use? I suggest "macstore" or similar. Something really easy, and use it as the password hint too. When you get the computer back, simply change it back to your regular password.

Problem solved!

Help others find this article at Del.icio.us, Digg, Netscape, Reddit, and Stumble Upon

Categorized: Mac OS X Help (Article 8714)
Tagged: apple store, genuis bar, mac os x, password, security
Previous: How do I restore my Applications shortcut in Mac Finder?
Next: Is it safe to shop online?

Subscribe!

Never miss another useful Q&A article again! Subscribe to AskDaveTaylor with Google Reader.

Comments

Dave,

I fail to see how changing the password would stop Apple technicians to look into the files. Of course if don't want a random Apple technician to know your password, this is a solution. Perhaps creating a "support account" is a better option.

Zoltan

Posted by: Zoltan Blum at January 20, 2009 6:24 AM

Zoltan, the original question was about the admin password being the same as individual file passwords: by changing the admin password the individual files (presumably encrypted) are therefore safe. Make sense?

Posted by: Dave Taylor at January 21, 2009 8:40 AM

It sure does, Dave; I never encrypt/password protect individual files on my computer, hence the smug remark.
/Zoltan

Posted by: Zoltan Blum at January 21, 2009 11:32 AM

As a go forward, and to make a unique, but easily remembered password, try this.

Take your "common" password and add the first two or three characters of the file, or web domain, or whatever, to the end of the password.

Ex: [password]ask (for www.askdavetaylor.com)

If you standardize this, you have a system that is easy to use, even if you only hit the object once in a blue moon, but unique for everything you password protect.

Posted by: Chrystoph at January 22, 2009 5:37 AM

I have a lot to say, but ...

I have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but most of all I'd like to say thank you for all your efforts on this Web site by buying you a chai!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!