I received a donated laptop computer several months ago and have no contact
information for the gentleman who programmed it. He chose a gnome desktop for
me, because it is easy to use, and mostly, I have found it so, except for one
problem. He forgot to give me the root and admin passwords for it, and they
are required for a number of important things I need to do.
I don't know how much information you need, in order to help me, as I have no
expertise in these matters. But here is a list of the main programming on the
computer:
Debian
GNU Grub 1.98-1
Gnome 2.30.0
Iceweasel browser 3.5.9
Build identifier: Mozilla /5.0 (XII; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9.1.9) Gecko
/20100501 Iceweasel/ 3.5.9 (like Firefox/ 3.5.9)
Because I don't have the admin and root passwords, I am unable to configure
anything, which means I often cannot use the Iceweasel browser. A lot of
wireless networks are not configured for it, and I am unable to do this
procedure myself.
I also cannot install anything, including any of the updates that are
available. All installations require an admin password.
I cannot even correct the time on the computer's clock. This requires the root
password.
A friend advised replacing the entire programming. He lent me an Ubuntu disc.
But I could not get the computer to read the disc, because I did not have the
admin password. I looked at the listing of files on my computer and found that
Ubuntu is already installed, though I cannot find a way to use it.
I don't necessarily dislike the programming that I have. But I need to be able
to, at least, configure internet networks, run updates, and install things. Is
there a way to bypass the demand for the root and admin passwords?
I appreciate any assistance you can give me.
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