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## 4.11.2 Fixing the root password

If you forget your root password, no problem. Just boot the boot/root disk, mount your root filesystem on `/mnt`, and blank out the password field for `root` in `/mnt/etc/passwd`, as so:

`root::0:0:root:/:/bin/sh`

Now `root` has no password; when you reboot from the hard drive you should be able to login as `root` and reset the password using `passwd`.

Aren't you glad you learned how to use `vi`? On your boot/root disk, other editors such as Emacs probably aren't available, but `vi` should be.

Next: 4.11.3 Fixing trashed filesystems Up: 4.11 What To Do Previous: 4.11.1 Recovering using a