My stolen laptop sold on ebay now possible civil dispute? Please help!

bod1467

Do you have contact details for the other person? (So you can ask her for the password). If not, can the police contact her and ask?

If you can't get the password then you'll likely have to factory-reset the machine (I assume Apple devices can have this done to them) in which case all data on it will be lost. This will be an incentive for her to let you have the password if she is reticent. (Assuming she wants the data back).

adz2010

bod1467 wrote: »

Do you have contact details for the other person? (So you can ask her for the password). If not, can the police contact her and ask?

If you can't get the password then you'll likely have to factory-reset the machine (I assume Apple devices can have this done to them) in which case all data on it will be lost. This will be an incentive for her to let you have the password if she is reticent. (Assuming she wants the data back).

I do have her contact details. I have informed the police and they have sent her email asking for her password.

It has only been 24 hours so I am prepeared to wait a bit longer.

halibut2209

The police send an email asking for a password?

bod1467

halibut2209 wrote: »

The police send an email asking for a password?

:rotfl:

My thought exactly. I wonder how quickly that email will get deleted?

(Unless of course she already knows the email address and has had previous email exchanges).

Mista_C

You can reset a Mac password by doing this...

http://gigaom.com/2008/06/22/reset-os-x-password-without-an-os-x-cd/

1. Reboot
2. Hold apple + s down after you hear the chime.
3. When you get text prompt enter in these terminal commands to create a brand new admin account (hitting return after each line):
   • mount -uw /
   • rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
   • shutdown -h now
4. After rebooting you should have a brand new admin account. When you login as the new admin you can simply delete the old one and you’re good to go again!

In your case switch step 4 out for changing the password on the inaccessible account.

adz2010

bod1467 wrote: »

:rotfl:

My thought exactly. I wonder how quickly that email will get deleted?

(Unless of course she already knows the email address and has had previous email exchanges).

lol she has had previous emails from the police.

adz2010

Mista_C wrote: »

You can reset a Mac password by doing this...

http://gigaom.com/2008/06/22/reset-os-x-password-without-an-os-x-cd/

In your case switch step 4 out for changing the password on the inaccessible account.

Thanks for this.

pinkshoes

If you haven't received a password within 7 days, then I'd just reset it, and screw her files! She had long enough to send the password to get them back!

MamaMoo_2

pinkshoes wrote: »

If you haven't received a password within 7 days, then I'd just reset it, and screw her files! She had long enough to send the password to get them back!

Although it may be worth bearing in mind that she may no longer have a computer at home if the MacBook was her only computer.

adz2010

Well I have logged in and there are no files on the laptop. She probably backed them up before she handed it over to the police. Plus she only had it for a while.