Change administrator name

how can i change my administrator name on my macbook 10.4.11 tiger.
thanks barbara

Try this.
Open your system preferences/Accounts pane, and add a new account. Make sure to select the block to allow this new account user to administer the computer. When the new account is created - log out of your current admin user, and choose your new user from the list. Enter your new password there, and you will login to your new user account. Go in to that same system preferences/Accounts pane, and click on the old account, and click the minus at the bottom of the accounts window to delete the old account.
Basically you are creating a new admin acount & deleting the old admin account; not changing it.
 Cheers, Tom

Similar Messages

  • Changing administrator name and password

    I need to make several changes to my computer. However, I don't know/remember the administrator name and password to my computer and I am the administrator! It's been a long time since I set up my laptop (I bought it and set it up on 12/31/07). It's a black MacBook, OS 10.5 aka Leopard.
    What do I do?
    I ask that you be as specific as possible when suggesting a solution.

    I don't think you want to change the administrator name. It's also impossible to forget it. It's the name in Finder right under Places, assuming you are the administrator.
    What you want to do is reset the admin password which you can to by using the Leopard DVD that came with your computer.
    Boot into the DVD and hold down the "C" key with DVD inserted. After language screen, menu top left under Utilities you will find the proper item. Just follow the instructions.
    Message was edited by: nerowolfe

  • Change administrator name without starting over.

    Hope someone can tell me how to change the administrator name and or delete the one that's in there that was cemented in the system when I got the computer and replace it with my name, without re-formating the drive and starting over. It's a G4 tower with 10.4.11. I have tried everything I can think of....
    Thanks! you Mac guru guys. I know someone knows how to do this...
    Bud

    I found a way to do this but it might be scary for a newbie. Open the accounts in system preferences and create a sub account with the name you want to use as the new administrator. Next check the new user to allow to administer the account and remove the check mark in the original administrator. Now open the library folder on the hard drive and find the preferences folder. Trash the com.apple.preferences.accounts.plist and reboot. The new name you created and authorized will now be the administrator. The original administrator will be deleted.
    The kicker is you will not be able to ever change the account settings. The accounts button will disappear in the system preferences. Also you may loose contact with some software as the system partially reverts back to default. DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK and don't do it without backing up important files first externally and also be sure you have the install disks for your software if you need to reinstall something. It worked for me but so far I have only done it once. I did loose Safari bookmarks and some other minor things, had to re-do mail preferences but it kept Adobe stuff ect. Lost MS Office. Had to re-install that. The original items are still on the computer somewhere but.....

  • Changing Administrator name (different than question below)

    I adopted my friend's iMac, and I'd like to change the Administrator name. I went to Accounts, and put in the password, but wasn't sure if I should just change it there, where it says Name, or not. I don't want to cause any serious problems that will log me out or something, so I thought I'd ask first.
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    Michael answers your question. But I recommend wiping the hard drive and reinstalling the OS and all applications from the original install discs. With a used Mac there's no way of knowing what haxies, security holes, or other junk you don't know about might have been left on it by a previous owner. Even a friend you trust could have inadvertently opened up security holes that neither of you are aware of. Wiping and reinstalling is just good security practice and it will also allow you to set what ever admin and other user account names and passwords you want.

  • How to change administrator name and password?

    I have macbook pro laptop which my father bought in china. App Store ask for a administrator name and password when i install anysoftware or updates.
    Please help me how to solve this problem.

    It would appear that your User Account is not an administrative account.
    Can you log out, and see what other accounts are availalbe to chose from?

  • Changing Administrator Name

    I've just started my new job as a designer and I have taken over someone elses job. They have given me their Admin login details and I have changed the Account name and password to my own but I can't actually change the Short Name - its just faded out and wont let me select it.
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    Hi Agent_Trig! And Welcome To Discussions!
    It can be accomplished, but be very careful, there are dire consequences if done incorrectly!
    Apple's Method How to change user short name or home directory name
    And the Easy Way Change ShortName.
    Said Consequences:
    Return to Default Desktop, Apparent "Loss" of Home Directory
    My home folder and desktop are different than before
    Recover from renaming your Home folder, authored by Dr Smoke
    You could also just create a new Admin User, transfer the files, and then delete the old account.
    Good Luck!
    ali b

  • How to change the administrator name

    I have tried to change the administrator name on a Macbook pro that I recently sold. I used the following:
    Rebooted and held the command and s button, pressed enter and ended up with the following at the prompt: bash-3.2#.
    I was trying to get to the root directory in order to continue with:
    mount uw /
    rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
    shutdown -h now
    I saw a video that said this would allow the new user to start fresh and type in his information however the
    bash-3.2# does not allow me to

    When you reinstall the OSX, you can change not only the password but the administrator as well.
    Ciao.

  • Error entering administrator name & password to make System Prefs changes

    I have been running Leopard with just fine but encountered this new problem today. I wanted to create a "Guest" account, but when I clicked on the lock in the System Preferences: Users screen to add that option, I typde in my administrator name & password and got this error:
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    It accepts my password when logging in, for keychain access, etc... But I'm not able to unlock & make changes with the same username & password. I tried logging in to make the changes in System Preferences under another user who is also an admin, but I got the same error message using that user's name & password.
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    I'm having a similar problem, since the 10.5.1 upgrade (I downloaded the 110MB version, as Apple readily admits that there are problems when using Software Update for upgrades).
    I ran Disk Utility to repair permissions on my boot drive, and it prompted me for my administrator password (something that I've only had to do since the upgrade to 10.5). This time, the user name was blank (usually it fills in the user name with the account name I'm logged in under). I entered the information, and got the error. Double checked everything, and still no luck. After a third attempt, I was told I had to wait a while before trying again.
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  • I want to change the name and password of the administrator on my macbook pro

    I want to pass on my Macbook pro to the next generation so I want some help please to change the name and the password of the administrator.

    Giving away / Selling your Mac / Resetting  the computer to the factory condition
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5189
    http://www.thesafemac.com/how-to-prepare-your-mac-for-sale/

  • My macbook wont except my administrator name even after i reset my admin pasword and keychain login password so I am unable to install or make any account changes. Suggestions anyone? I've been at this for hours now....

    My macbook wont except my administrator name even after I reset my admin pasword and keychain login password so I am unable to install or make any account changes. I can't even install any software. Suggestions anyone? I've been at this for hours now....

    Try Resetting the PRAM

  • Type an Administrator Name and Password to allow lpadmin to make changes.

    We have a lab full of PowerPC G5 Towers running 10.5 off a PowerPC G5 tower running 10.5 Server. We are using Open Directory and AFP to allow students to login to Network Accounts from Local Workstations. After Archive and Installing two of the G5 Machines and updating them, We encountered the error "Type an Administrator Name and Password to allow lpadmin to make changes." and it freezes up and doesn't allow us to enter the password or username or even move the mouse.

    To use the solution in the link above in this case, here's one way to go about things:
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    Greg

  • Changing administrator user name or short name in accounts, OS upgrade

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    Is better option to purchase Snow Leopard. I have it installed on Mac Pro at work. I like it and have not experienced any problems. Anyone experience problems with SL on this model of MBP.
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    [Adding a new user account to your computer|http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.4/en/mh168.html] You just need to make sure that the new account is set to be an administrator account. Then you log into the new account and remove the old account from there. There shouldn't be any implications to doing this but it is always a good idea to make sure you have a fully bootable (cloned) backup before doing modifications.
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    Cloning And Backup Tools
    A bootable clone is an exact copy of your drive which is capable of booting your computer. Making a copy of your computer which is capable of actually starting the computer requires special copying procedures. Some people just back up data files but if you have problems you have to reinstall all your operating system and all your applications. With a bootable clone you just start up from the backup drive and clone back everything.
    To copy files from one hard drive to another hard drive you can use:
    [CarbonCopy Cloner|http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html] (donationware)
    [SuperDuper|http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html] (shareware)
    [IBackup|http://www.grapefruit.ch/iBackup/index.html] (free)
    The Restore function of Disk Utility included in OS X. [Kappy's directions|http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=8799711#8799711]
    [Tri-Backup (commercial)|http://www.tri-edre.com/english/tribackup.html] (payware)
    [Silverkeeper|http://www.lacie.com/silverkeeper> (free) - version 2 has some issues (references: [1|http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/backup/index.html#d12jan2009],
    [2|http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/backup/index.html#d13jan2009]) and it is recommended Tiger users stick with 1.1.4.
    [Kappy's Backup Software Recommendations|http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=9065665#906 5665]
    [Overview of Mac OS X Backup Programs|http://8help.osu.edu/1247.html]

  • How can I change the administrator name?

    I'm getting ready to sell my old I-mac. How do I change the administrator name or delete it?

    Follow these instructions step by step to prepare a Mac for sale:
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  • HT3986 Using Boot Camp 4 and Windows 7.   Try to change name of the C: drive and get the dialog "You will need to provide administrative permission to change the name".  How do I change the C: drive name?

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    Forgot to specify:
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  • How do i change the administrator name and password when i forgot both of them

    how do i change the administrator name and password when i forgot both of them?

    Find the user name and then reset the password.
    Start the computer,then press and hold down command and R keys to start into recovery partition.
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    Leave the Terminal window open.
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    Enter a new password.
    Reenter the new password for the user.
    Note it down.
    Enter a hint.
    Click the "Save" button.
    Click  in the menubar and select Restart.
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