If the mentioned method does not work you can always try to start another os without password and then access the harddrive.
I would recommend knopix. You can download it on www.linuxiso.org. Get knopix, burn it onto a cd, start the laptop with it. The nice thing is knopix is directly started from the cd without realy installing it. So you don't change/ destroy you son's os but can get you information. > -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- > Von: MAL [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Gesendet: Mittwoch, 26. Februar 2003 14:12 > An: Counter Fraud-Group (Malcolm Gardner) > Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Betreff: Re: [gentoo-user] Accessing a Gentoo machine > > > Counter Fraud-Group (Malcolm Gardner) wrote: > > I don't if any one can help me. My late son has gentoo on both his > > laptop and pc. I do not know any of the passwords but I > need to be able > > to log on to they system to access critical information > relating to our > > business. Can anyone advise me how I may be able to get > into the system? > > > > I am getting pretty desperate > > If the machine uses grub, try pressing 'e' when the machine > gives a list > of operating systems to boot, (at startup, right after the > BIOS screen). > This will let you edit the boot command. > > select the line that reads: > kernel blah blah > > and press 'e' again - this should let you edit this line. > > Add a space and 'single' to the end of the line, then press enter and > then 'b'. > > This /should/ boot the machine into single user mode, bypassing any > passwords. > > Of course his machine could be using lilo as the bootloader, > (unlikely), > or grub could be passworded, or indeed there could be additional > security measures on the boot procedure, but the above should > work for a > generic gentoo install. > > Regards, > MAL > > > -- > [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list > > -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list