Change Short Name

My friend gave me his old jaguar box, along with a ton of good applications (Photoshop, Illustrator, Quark XPress, GoLive, etc.). I changed all the names and such except for the short name. Now, I want to know:
1. Is it possible to change the short name?
2. Would it result in any of my applications not working, since all of them show his name under "Licensed to"?
3. Would it be better to just set up another account with my name and everything?

1. Yes. Download the utility ChangeShortName from www.versiontracker.com or www.macupdate.com. Use it to make changes to your shortname.
2. Not if you use the above utility.
3. Yes, but it's a lot easier to just change the shortname.
You can also change your long name and password using the Accounts preference pane. You can also change the Computer Name using the Sharing preference pane.
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Similar Messages

Cannot change short name of computer in Workgroup Manager

When a computer is bound to Open Directory on the client side I cannot change the short name of the computer. If the computer is added through Workgroup Manager I do not have this problem. When I try to change the name it reverts back to the old name and sometimes adds a .local at the end of it, but the new name I choose is displayed on the left side. When I log out and log back in the name on the left side reverts back to the old name.
Could it be the way I am naming the computers? I am using dept-username.location as a way to name all computers. Why does this problem only occur on computers that have been bound through the LDAPv3 service on the workstation?

I can't comment for sure on this one; but my educated guess may be that you're causing problems with your DNS (or DHCP) by specifying an extra dot in the name - Although I can't say for certain as my OD doesn't run my DNS.
Try using dept-username-location.domain.local instead of dept-username.location.domain.local.
Have you checked the console output to see if any errors are being returned?
-Kogen

Tried to change short name..and now it's weird.

I apologize if this is in the wrong area, and I hope it's not. I'm new here.
So I read on how to change the Short name, and it says I had to enable root account but because the mac Update awhile ago disabled being able to manage the enable/disable option under the disc utility, I had to use Terminal to type the "sudo passwd root. After that, I logged out of my admin account and into my root account, and I went in "users", clicked the name under the "home" icon {my short name} and changed it to something else. But it didn't really "delete" my old one. All it did when I logged back on is simply removed all the files from the "home" under Places and a new folder is created.
I don't know if it makes sense. You know the little "home" icon with your short name under it? I want to change the name for that, but changing it just creates a new folder, and now I don't know how to disable root again. Any help would be great thanks!

BabyBoss wrote:
All it did when I logged back on is simply removed all the files from the "home" under Places and a new folder is created.
Welcome to Apple's discussion groups.
If all you did was to change the name of that user in the Accounts panel, then you didn't do the whole job, as (I believe) that account's home folder would still have the old short name. I'd log into "root" again and navigate to the /Users folder. Rename the "new" folder to something else to get it out of the way, then rename the old home folder to the new short name. Now see if things are the way you want them.

Permissions messed up after changing short name

Hello all,
Following the directions provided on the support website (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106824), I successfully changed the short name of my account. I created a new user, used the root user to move the old files, and deleted the old account.
However, I've run into several permissions problems. On many files, the permissions are set to "_unknown" and do not have my name listed.
Is there any way to mass change the permissions of these files?
Thank you very much for any assistance!

Jesse M. wrote:
Here's what came back:
total 0
drwxr-xr-x 6 jessem staff - 204 Jan 25 2007 Comedy MP3
drwxrwxrwx 10 jessem staff - 340 Apr 22 17:06 GarageBand
drwxrwxrwx@ 22 jessem staff - 748 Mar 20 2007 MIDIs
d--------- 23 jessem staff - 782 Sep 16 2005 Napoleon Dynamite Sounds
drwxrwxrwx@ 24 jessem staff - 816 Sep 20 2005 Pranks
drwxr-xr-x 9 jessem staff - 306 May 30 2007 Scot Radio Show
drwxr-xr-x 23 jessem staff - 782 May 15 2005 Scot's Music
drwxrwxrwx@ 39 jessem staff - 1326 Sep 26 2005 Seinfeld sounds
drwxr-xr-x 6 jessem staff - 204 Dec 25 23:20 Sound FX
drwxr-xr-x 14 jessem staff - 476 Nov 12 02:04 Various Audio Files
drwxrwxrwx 40 jessem staff - 1360 Apr 22 21:02 iTunes
That ND Sounds folder is strange. I'm thinking about just deleting it or creating a new folder.
No need. the command we tried before didn't work on it because it wasn't owned by you. Now it is so we should be able to change permissions easily. Also, I would recommend setting rwx permissions for you and no access for anybody else on everything in your Music folder.
To do that run
*chmod -R 700 ~/Music*
You can do it for other folders like your Documents and you Desktop folders.
I checked some of the files in the folders (for example, the iTunes music folder in the iTunes folder) and it looks like I'm the owner!
yes, the command I gave you took care of that.
Anything I can do about the applications folder?
what's wrong with it?

Changing short name in Advance Option in Account in Sistem preferences

What's happens if I change my short name in Advance option in the account menù? Apple put a warning in this page. I would like to change my short name and so the cartel where alla the files go.
Thanks in advance for answering.
Aldo

You mean the Username. Not much there. That's not the short name. It takes quite a bit to change a short name, and it is seriously dangerous.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106824
http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/macgems/2004/12/changeshortname/index.php

Changing 'short name' in Admin account?

I'm using a computer at work that was previously used and administered by a former employee who has since left the company. I need everything to maintain exactly the same settings since I need to work on this computer in the same fashion as the former user. I was provided with the old password and I've changed the account (the only one on the machine) to now have my user ID and password etc. but the 'short name' is still this other person's name. I don't see any way to change this short of creating a new admin account and then deleting the old one, but then I loose all the settings, prefs etc. from the existing account which I really can't do since I need all of those settings to get my work done on this machine.
Is there any work-around that I can use to modify the short name in the existing admin account, or alternately is there a way to duplicate an entire account with it's settings intact so that I can rename it with my own user name, short name and password?
Thanks a lot for any help you can provide!
Sherill
Dual 1.8 Ghz PowerPC G5 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Hi, 3Sherill3. This may help:
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/16620

Changing Short name & home directory?

So...somebody on the forum gave the suggestion to someone in another thread, of changing their short name in the system preferences...they neglected to mention that this is a big no-no & that everything would be wiped out. I, not understanding/knowing what this would do, changed it...& of course, was baffled when I restarted & everything had reverted back to the setting the previous owner has. I went back into the preferences & changed the short name BACK to the other person's name...but kept the home directory as my name.
Questions are: Is there a way to change the short name without losing my settings, or shoudl I just leave as is?
&...has simply changing the home directory name to mine from his in the system preferences, going to effect anything or do any damage? If so, is there some other way I should go about changing it? I just hate going to the folder & seeing the old owner's name.

Use this:
http://homepage.mac.com/frakes/ChangeShortName.html

Changing short name- misplaced original account information

I was attempting to change the short name on my user account with two methods- the terminal command (didn't prompt me for my password after changing the name) and the root account option. When I try to log back into my old user account it takes it back to the bare start up-when you start a new account I assume because I didn't reset the home folder. I seem to have misplaced the file that kept all the orgininal account information. I can search in the root account to access all the files, but I don't know how I can set up my original user account. In essence I want to compile all of the searchable data that I have in the root account back into one file that will allow me to set up my original account, but with a new user name.

Hi, 3Sherill3. This may help:
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/16620

Changing short name - cannot enable root user??

Hi I encountered a problem trying to enable the root user in order to follow the steps to change my short name. As I follow the steps into opening Directory Utility and entering my administrator account name and password. Here's where I'm stuck at, there is no "Edit" button asking me to enable the root user. Anyone have any idea what I should do now?

ow88 wrote:
Alright I have no idea why I can't edit my own post, but anyways..
You only have about 10 minutes to edit.
did a little research, turns out it gets more complicating than that. It messes up your files, locks you out, and you lose being your own adminstrator? But since I have nothing saved, this doesn't affect me right?
In Directory Utility.app (in utilities) unlock the lock, lower left by clicking on it. Then in the menu, top left on your screen, under Edit, click Enable Root user and proceed.
You can also enable the root in a terminal by entering
sudo passwd root
and first entering your regular admin password and then selecting a root password, which should not be the same as your admin password for obvious reasons.
After that you are on your own, but I suggest first backing the OS up since there might be unexpected consequences from changing the short name. Even if you have nothing saved, you might find that the OS gets hosed for some reason and you have to do a complete reinstall. Using a TM or clone backup makes this a trivial thing to do. Otherwise, it's starting from scratch and updating everything all over again.

Changing short name / user name in the Finder

I just set up a new mac, and inadvertently let it default my admin account short name to
myname1 (based on my .mac ID)
Can I change it to :
Myname
I've had a rummage and saw about the advanced options in the Account preferences, and created :
Myname
as an alias, but even after restarting its showing up as
myname1
in the finder.
Any suggestions?
Cheers.
Message was edited by: Iain MacDonald1

Iain MacDonald1 wrote:
Hmm. Might it be easier/safer to create a new account and copy everything across?
If you just created the new OS, then you really don't have anything to lose. Change it just for the learning experience and if it does not work, you can reinstall.
Copying everything to a new account won't work.
There is a way to create a new account and transfer the old account files over to the new account, but again, it's not trivial.

Permission denied after changing short name

i have tried searching for answers but still no luck. im kinda scared mdealing with the terminal but have tried a few but to no avail. i hope somebody helps me with step by step solution as im not really well versed with mac yet. thank you.

That's one thing you should never do without asking first.
The short name is what your data permissions are linked to - change it without the proper procedure and you get the situation you find yourself in now.
As you're on Tiger, it's not a simple fix either.
Try this article from the X-Lab for recovery.
Then, if you really must change the name follow;
The right way (scroll down to 'OS X 10.4.11 and earlier')
Note that this requires enabling and logging in as Root. If you choose to do this, be very careful to do only what the instructions say. You can wreak untold damage to your system if you get curious and start poking around.

Changing Short Name

Is there a way to change the short name on your Mac without reformatting the computer?

Karen is absolutely correct. You cannot change a short name in Tiger. I copy and pasted this from my Tiger Help Viewer:
"You can't change the short name for a user account after the account has been created. If you need to change the short name, you must delete the account and create a new user account with a new short name."
The app she suggested at Version Tracker should do the trick and I am grateful that she had that information as I wasn't aware it was available!
Carolyn

Changed short name, browser download broken

I meticulously followed the steps from apple to change a users short name / home folder.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106824
I thought all was working quite well, including update of keychain and running "chown" in terminal... BUT all downloads through firefox and safari are being sent to OLD users desktop (users/olduser/desktop) which I do not have permissions to access. As a temporary workaround I've changed permissions on OLD users desktop which allows downloads to complete.
How can I change the downloads to go to (users/newuser/desktop)?
I know what you're thinking... I've tried to change the preferences in Firefox (and Safari) to change the download location, but it still goes to olduser/desktop. (It appears to drop a temporary file there first with temporary filename which does not match the download filename. Then, at some point it corrects the filename to match.)
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
*Next time I will have to use "ChangeShortName." I just found out about that handy utility today.
intel iMac Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Update:
I've also followed some tips from the firefox website. I tried typing "about:config" into the browser, and resetting all the preferences related to downloads (browser.download.etc...) Still no luck, though. Everything downloads to "olduser/desktop" Can anyone help?
Thanks!

Changing "Short Name" in System Preferences?

I want to change the name that appears by the house icon in the finder windows. I opened system preferences, accounts, and noticed that it's the same as the short name, which is grayed out. How do I change it? I unlocked the lock, but it's still grayed out.
Thanks!

Did either of you try this process and did it work ok? I am considering doing it and would just like reassurance that it is a good process, as I read in this link that it is incomplete: http://homepage.mac.com/frakes/MOSXPT/content/shortusername.html

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

I just inherited an older MacBook Pro. (15-inch, 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo, OSX 10.4.11).
I was able to change most account info, however former user's short name still appears as the short name in adm account and in the home page sidebar. How can I change this? (I understand there is a third party utility -- Change Short Name -- that claims to easily do this, but I'm reluctant to use any third party app if there is a Apple-endorsed way to accomplish the task.)
Do I need to set up a new administrator account on the computer in order to delete his info?
Also, eventually, I need to delete a lot of programs and files from computer. Bloated. My first thought is to simply do a clean reinstall since there's really nothing on the computer that I need. (However the original install discs were lost in a move, and I'll need to contact Apple for replacement.) I've read post advising against this approach because of the number of updates needed and due to uncited problems. Has anyone experienced any problems with this approach on this model -- before I purchase old install discs.
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.
Thanks in advance for the help.

[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.
As mentioned before, ideally you should just wipe wipe the drive and start afresh. This ensures any corrupt files, or hidden files, are removed. However, you will need the installer disc to do this. Since you no longer have the Tiger one it might be worth just going for Snow Leopard. However, one advantage to getting replacement original discs from Apple is they contain special software for diagnosing problems on your specific model computer that isn't in a retail set of discs.
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]

Change Short Name

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