Let's try one more time to reset the password, but slightly differently this time
Turn ON your netbook, and as soon as your BIOS POST screen disappears, press the SHIFT key and hold it, until you are presented with the GRUB menu .. SIMILAR to this:
(you won't have long to hit the shift key, and the timing can be a little awkward, so it may even be easier to hit AND HOLD the Shift key DURING the BIOS POST .. ie. immediately after turning on your PC)
(http://linuxforums.org.uk/MGalleryItem.php?id=1361)
Select the 'default' kernel (usually the top one), and rather than pressing enter, press E to edit.
You will be presented with a screen SIMILAR to this:
(http://linuxforums.org.uk/MGalleryItem.php?id=1152)
Press DOWN ARROW until you get to the line that starts with:
linux /boot
and press the END key to position the cursor at the end of the that line... it *usually* ends with “quiet splash”.
enter a space, then init=/bin/bash
so the line now ends with quiet splash init=/bin/bash
Now hit Ctrl+X to boot.
You should now end up at a # prompt.
Now run:
mount -o rw,remount /and hit enter
then run:
ls /home(for clarity that;s LS /HOME but it MUST be all lower case)
That should return the username
then run:
passwd username(replacing username with the username you found earlier)
You should be prompted to "Enter new UNIX password" .. enter your new password (remembering nothing will be echoed to screen not even ******, but it IS going in) and hit enter.
You'll be prompted to "Re-enter new UNIX password .. enter if again, and hit enter
You should be informed that the password was successfully changed.
Now hit Ctrl+Alt+Del to reboot.
then use the username you discovered and the password you just set to login
If anything doesn't work as I explained it, STOP and yell me where you got to, and what the error is
Copy that password file somewhere safe because we'll be erasing thhe USB stick
What's in this post is all done on the Windows PC...
Once you've got the Peppermint 5 32bit ISO image downloaded somewhere on the Windows PC .. download Universal USB Installer (version 1.9.5.5 or higher) from here:
http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/ (http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/)
(Click the blue Download UUI button to download it)
Start Universal USB Installer, and at ..
Step 1 .. In the drop down list, select PeppermintOS (may just be listed as "Peppermint")
Step 2 .. point it at the Peppermint-5-20140623-i386.iso (http://peppermintos.com/iso/Peppermint-5-20140623-i386.iso) image you downloaded earlier.
Step 3 .. Choose your (already plugged in >= 1GB) USB stick .. probably best to let it format it too, so backup its contents first.
Step 4 .. (if available) Set the slider to the largest persistence file it will allow you.. so you can save changes. (if you want to test drive it first)
Heres a pic of the Universal USB Installer interface
(http://linuxforums.org.uk/MGalleryItem.php?id=1510)
Click Create .. and wait till it's done .. it will take a while, and *may* appear to have stopped .. but just wait till it says it's "Done" .. as in the following pic
Pic of Universal USB Installer .. Installing to USB Stick
(http://linuxforums.org.uk/MGalleryItem.php?id=1509)
Once the LiveUSB has been created, click Close
Let me know when you've done that, or if you have any problems/questions