Hello people…New here. 
Well,I decided to try to learn Linux,so that I can dump windows and hopefully be a bit more secure out there. To this end,a few months ago ,I bought a second laptop specifically to put Linux on it (so that I have a ‘clean’ install).
Now…a fella that I sort of know (who used to run a small computer shop) dual booted my second laptop with Linux Mint (14 or 15 from memory) and Windows 7. The problem is that I’ve not used this laptop for so long that I’ve totally forgotten the username and password for it !! Brilliant eh ?? ;D ::)… I’ve sort of got it in my head that the password is ‘password’,believe it or not ! So…the question is: How can I get into the Linux side to even start investigating what’s what with this system,please ?? I should point out that I’ve not actually used this install,since it was put there,so the username / password is not something that I’ve devised.
I suppose that I should also say that I’m not much above novice level,especially when it comes to Linux. My first computer had XP on it (when it had just been launched),and that is the only system that I’ve ever used…
Anyone help me out here,please ??
Hmm … Your options are
a) Boot into Linux “single user mode” (aka. root shell) from the GRUB “Recovery” option … list the directories in /home (which should give you an idea of the username) … then remount the root file system read/write with:
mount -o remount,rw /
then change the password with:
passwd <username>
(obviously replace with the actual username in the above command)
which will prompt you to enter a new password twice.
once done, shut down with:
shutdown -P now
Then restart your PC and you should be able to log on with the new password you entered.
or
b) to use a Linux LiveCD/LiveUSB to copy off any files you need from the Linux partition … then remove/reinstall Linux.
–
O.K. …Thanks for that Mark…much appreciated ! 
. By the way,which version of Linux is it that can be made to emulate XP,please ?? That’s what I want to try to do… (I thought that it was Mint 14/15).
Depends what you mean by “emulate” ?
If you mean “look like” … maybe you’re talking about Zorin OS which has a “look changer” application.
Though Mint’s layout is similar to Windows too.
but if you mean “run Windows applications” … they’re all pretty much the same … some Windows applications can be made to run (to differing degrees of success) in WINE on any Linux distro, and they’ll prettyh much all be able to runn Windows in a virtual machine such as Virtualbox, VMware, or KVM.