RebeccaS Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 I have brought home my aunt's iMac because she passed the other day. We can not find a password to long on. What can we do to find out if she had any important documents on it? And if we can't get on to the machine, what should I do? I'm assuming a trip to the Apple Store in next. Thank you. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 You are out of luck. The CIA can’t get into Apple’s products. Apple takes passwords very seriously and a trip to the Apple store is in your future, though there is probably nothing that they can do. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 I did find this, so there is hope: https://support.apple.com/en-in/HT202860 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 People are creatures of habit. Try “password” for the password. Was she an avid sports fan? Did her team win the championship? What year? Stuff like that. Pet’s names, hobbies, kid’s names are all fair game. Substitute $ for S. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebeccaS Posted January 24, 2018 Author Share Posted January 24, 2018 (edited) Brian, Thank you for your advice. She was fluent in 2 languages and conversant 2 others . It could be anything! LOL We have now found what appears to be some notes with passwords, but not what accounts they go to. It feels like the biggest crap shoot ever. I will take a look at the article you linked and eventually report back! Thank you so much. Edited January 24, 2018 by RebeccaS 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 Do you have access to her phone? Some people, like myself, use a password manager on my phone, so you may not need a bunch of passwords, just one to unlock everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebeccaS Posted January 29, 2018 Author Share Posted January 29, 2018 Brain, I found out today that my aunt has her iPhone. I'll be able to get it later in the week and check. But I'm going to be that she had a password on it as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebeccaS Posted February 10, 2018 Author Share Posted February 10, 2018 I finally have some things resolved with the iMac. I decided to just turn the thing on for the giggles of it. I has listened to another aunt who had the iphone that did have a password. So I have found out that I can't upgrade the processor (I3 intel processor) but I can upgrade the ram and the hard drive to a 250GB SSD, which they said would speed it up. It seems fine now, but I haven't attempted to put Photoshop on it. I'm not sure what I will do yet, but it is nice to know I have options. Thanks Brian! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted February 12, 2018 Share Posted February 12, 2018 I wouldn't bother with it. i3 CPU and a 250GB SSD Drive...no performance there for Photoshop. 250GB is microscopic by today's standards and you will blow through that SSD drive very quickly. Just take a look at all the threads with people that have run out of space with a 250GB main drive. It really sounds like she bought the low-end 21.5" iMac, which sounds like a deal...and if all you are doing is wasting time on Facebook, buying stuff on Amazon, e-mail and general web browsing, etc. it's fine. It's just when you start with photo-editing do things change. I never-ever-ever recommend a current 21.5" iMac. Apple wants you to "Go Big or Go Home." The 21.5" iMacs aren't easily up-gradable, and have been crippled by Apple in terms of performance with the components. Slow Motherboard, lack of real CPU Power, Slow HD, Slow / Under-powered Video Card, etc. etc. Even if you purchased the upper end 21.5" model for $1499, by the time you upgrade the RAM, you are $100 shy of the stock 27" iMac, which has a faster motherboard, faster hard drive, better video, see where I'm going here? Seriously, I would not invest a dime in that iMac. It's great for general browsing and managing a iTunes Library, not doing anything fancy in Photoshop. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebeccaS Posted February 12, 2018 Author Share Posted February 12, 2018 Got it. I was really disappointed to find out that I could not upgrade it to an i5 processor or higher. The company I spoke with had said that if I moved the ram up to 16GB and did the SSD upgrade, it would make it faster, but I always thought that the processor was the important part of that equation as well. They would charge $700 to do all that they recommended and with your recommendation, I'll keep my money!!!!!!! Thank you Brian!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted February 14, 2018 Share Posted February 14, 2018 Yes, more RAM and a SSD drive would make things faster, but you really need a 1TB HD to make it worthwhile. You’d end up spending close to $1000 when it was all said and done with a 1TB HD in the equation. I agree. Save your money. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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