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I have an old gateway420gr that I was hoping to use as my computer crashed. I been unable to get past authenticity issues as I don't know the original owners passwd. I can't access the internet via a wired connection. I have tried to access the Grub via recovery mode to attempt to change the user passwd but to only get " Manipulation Token error" message. While waiting for someones response to this question, I will try to read other comments! also, is there a way to get a live bootable dvd? William

william
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    And for reasons why this may be a bad idea: http://askubuntu.com/questions/381786/how-can-i-get-past-the-authentication-code-stuff-if-i-bought-from-a-used-compute – Takkat Dec 27 '13 at 22:00

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If you have a internet connection somewhere, you can download a Ubuntu ISO file from here and burn it either to a DVD or a USB stick. Both Windows and Ubuntu come along with a tool for this, but for creating a stick, I'd rather use UNetBootin.

If this old PC is unable to boot from USB stick (doesn't have USB Legacy Emulation and won't offer USB sticks in boot menu), Get PLOP Boot Manager and burn it to a CD.

When you got the live medium, boot it ("Try Ubuntu") and open a terminal using Ctrl+Alt+T Now use the following commands:

# List partitions to find the correct one
sudo fdisk -l
# Memorize the name of the partiton with "Linux" type and "boot" flag
# Create mount directory (replace the hdd by anything you want)
sudo mkdir /mnt/hdd
# Mount partition into this directory (replace XY by memorized partition file name)
sudo mount /dev/sdXY /media/hdd
# Open root shell of the installed system
sudo chroot /media/sdXY
# Change password of user and drop back to live system shell
passwd username
exit

If there's no way you can create the live medium, ask a friend to help you out...

s3lph
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