I found that even when I change my root password, with the passwd utility that the original password still exsists. I tried to remove any password for root completely by editing the /etc/passwd file. After editing this file I found that I still had a problem. I tried rebooting the system even after I edited the /etc/passwd file, and the system still accepted the original root password created during the installation process.
I can not reproduce thsi rpoblem on any of the test machines around here. Even more, it sounds like some sort of operator error, or something that can not possibly happen...