I got a computer with zorin 18.1 pre-installed. I was distracted during setup which I am realizing was a big mistake as my password will not work. I have gone through just about any mistake I can think of trying to figure out the password to change it and i can't figure it out.
I have been trying to open the grub menu to fix it and I cannot get it to open. the os has uefi so I have been spamming esc and it just brings up the like stats on the boot check or whatever. I know the timing can be difficult, but this doesn't seem right. I've tried dozens of times. I've tried left shift and tab as well just in case.
I even tried to open the EFI shell to open grub through there and I can't seem to get that to work either.
I am having an issue where sometimes I press the buttons and my computer refuses to display or stops loading I'm no sure if this is relevant, but it has been irritating.
I'm not the best at tech, and this is my first time using Linux. I am a little out of my depth. I am trying to avoid having to entirely reinstall the OS. I would have to buy flash drives and I don't know how well it would go, ect. Just a mess I would like to avoid.
As it's a fresh install just do another install
I don't think he is able to do that, he bought the computer with it prehinstalled.
@phiren I would go back to the vendor you purchased the device from and ask for help there.
Welcome to the Forum!
Can You use another Machine - from a Friend or Family - to create a Bootstick and then install Zorin again?
You can create a Zorin USB boot stick and boot from the USB stick (change the boot order in your BIOS and set the USB stick at first boot position). Select "Try Zorin" and then open the terminal.
Find your root partition
lsblk
You can also take a look at gparted and select the internal drive there to check the partition name
gparted
Look for your main drive with the root partition. It is formatted in ext4, e.g., /dev/sda2 or /dev/nvme0n1p2
Mount the root partition; replace /dev/sda2 with the name of your root partition
sudo mkdir /mnt/system
sudo mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/system
Mount required virtual filesystems for chroot
sudo mount --bind /dev /mnt/system/dev
sudo mount --bind /proc /mnt/system/proc
sudo mount --bind /sys /mnt/system/sys
sudo mount --bind /run /mnt/system/run
Enter the installed system
sudo chroot /mnt/system
Reset any user password; replace username with the name of your username, e.g. passwd phiren, and then enter the new password. Be careful what you type - you don't see it, just *`s.
If you are not sure what your username is, you can list all users of the internal drive with the command
cat /etc/passwd | grep -v "nologin\|false" | awk -F: '{print $1, $6}'
passwd username
Exit chroot
exit
Unmount everything
sudo umount /mnt/system/dev
sudo umount /mnt/system/proc
sudo umount /mnt/system/sys
sudo umount /mnt/system/run
sudo umount /mnt/system
With this method you can set a new password if you can't access the grub menu by pressing esc, tab, left shift keys. Is it easier than a reinstall of Zorin.
Here you see a screenshot of gparted to see where to click to select the internal drive. In my case, the root partition of Zorin with ext4 format was /dev/sda5.
If you are not sure, what the name is of the root partition in your case, please post a screenshot of gparted.
After all steps shutdown the computer, remove the USB stick when prompted and then boot from your internal drive with Zorin.
As a novice user, I'd go with @swarfendor437's advice and go back to the vendor you bought it from. They will have customer service and I doubt you will have been the first person to have this happen. They should be your first port of call if you can't fix it quickly yourself.
@Nourpon @Ponce-De-Leon @Forpli - the user states in his first post that he would have to buy a flash drive which he does not want to do. 
He did not install Zorin, he bought a machine with it pre-installed.
I have read that. But I would think, it would be a good Way. Yes, it would mean to buy a USB Drive. But because of the universal Value, I wouldn't see it as a big Circumstance and so I suggest it.
An Alternative to buy one would be to ask if he/she can borrow one.
The shipping costs to send in the device- or the potential cost of the repair - may be higher than the price of an 8GiB USB flash drive. Of course, if the store is nearby, it would be best to ask there.
You could also try asking a local Linux group to see if they can help you. We have groups like that in the surrounding towns. They are open meetings that you can attend anytime you have a problem with Linux.
I bought it online from goodwill and have no contact for whoever worked on it
i did end up buying the flash and getting the bootstick set up but i cannot get the device to open the boot menu
worked with a friend of a friend through it. still struggling to get the boot menu up. did a firmware reset and decided it may be that im using a wireless keyboard and the computer doesnt like it. buying a wired keyboard and trying again tomorrow
Can you see the boot options in your BIOS and set the USB drive at first position there? Also make sure that booting from USB is enabled in your BIOS. It can also help to disable secure boot.
I feel your pain. Ironically I had to use a wired keyboard once to install a GNU/Linux distro called DreamLinux on a Notebook!
Can You You get in BIOS? If yes, check there if Secure Boot and Fast Boot are disabled and if the BIOS is in UEFI Mode or Legacy.
Then check the Boot Order. When You see there the USB Stick, try to start it from there or set it on first Position and reboot again.
@Ponce-De-Leon @Forpli I have not been able to open the BIOS menu either. No menus would open while booting. Ive tried several buttons. Hoping it is a keyboared issue. Will be able to try later and will update.
Can You name Brand and Model of Your Machine?
HP Pavilion Slimline 400-034
no luck with the wired keyboard so far but i didnt have as much time as I wanted to put into it today
For HP it is either Esc or F10 key to enter the BIOS. I would keep rapidly pressing the appropriate key as you power on your machine.