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

Similar Messages

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!

Changed shortname and home directory name and don't know how to set it back

so i changed my short name and home directory name because i bought the macbook used and i was trying to rename it to my name.
Like all the others now the desktops back to default without any of my files/music, i know its still here its in the old account folder how do i just reverse this so i can have my desktop and everything back.
heres what it is like:
my users folder there is a home icon called "Josh" which is my name, then there is a folder icon called "nick" which is the old name and it contains all my files etc. then a shared folder icon.
what do i do?
p.s. i tried the method of adding "_new" onto the home icon called Josh and it said i couldn't change it because its part of Mac OS X or something...

if you bought a used computer the first thing you should do is reformat the hard drive and reinstall the OS. anything else is less than prudent. it will also let you name your computer and your user as you like.

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.

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.

I have to give password to file changes in my home directory

From yesterday, when I try to change files in my home directory, a dialog box pops up to ask the password.
That happens even after make the file permission to 644. I tried to change the whole /Users/myplace permisson, but it doesn't work.
The owner of the file is set as myself, but there might be something broken with this.
This actually made everything not working, dropbox takes for ever to delete a file, evernote can't even start and on and on.
I just happen to add New Person with the same user name that I use now in Sharing, but I'm not sure this is the cause of the problem.
How can I solve this issue? How can I delete/move files in home directory without giving passwords?
Thanks,
smcho

Your username is "smcho"? So your home folder is named "smcho"?
Yeah for the System Folders "Movies", "Music", "Pictures", "Library", "Public" and "Desktop" there is an ACL, so you can't rename or delte them.
It's just for your safety because these folders are used by the system and should be not renamed or removed!
Additionally you made something wrong by chmodding your home folder to 644 - or as it showing here to 730!?!
Normally the user home folder and the included folders should be at 700 and the Public folder at 755. Additionally the folders have an acl for "everyone deny delete". so something get messed up!

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 / 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.

I am trying to change the liferay home directory

I followed the installation document for our version of Studio (version 3.0) which says to edit the portal-ext.properties file in the WEB_INF/classes directory of the endeca-portal.3.0.x.war. This doesn't seem to work though. If I add the liferay.home={path} in my standard portal-ext.properties file from the current liferay.home and then cut-n-paste the entire into the endeca-portal.3.0.x.war file, it will start writing the files into the new home directory but I really don't want to have all that stuff in there if I don't have to. Has anyone else tried to change the liferay.home path?
Thanks,
Sandy

For Studio installed using Weblogic, you need to copy porta-ext.properties to:
$WEBLOGIC_HOME/user_projects/domains/endeca_studio_domain/eid/studio/
Remember that you need to restart Studio Weblogic domain after any change on the properties file.

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.
Why reward points?(Quoted from Discussions Terms of Use.)
The reward system helps to increase community participation. When a community member gives you (or another member) a reward for providing helpful advice or a solution to their question, your accumulated points will increase your status level within the community.
Members may reward you with 5 points if they deem that your reply is helpful and 10 points if you post a solution to their issue. Likewise, when you mark a reply as Helpful or Solved in your own created topic, you will be awarding the respondent with the same point values.

Change uid and home directory locations? - no more netinfo manager?

greetings,
just setting up my new MBpro with 10.5... i've discovered netinfo manager is no longer here... searched the discussion forum and have learned a little. i looked into the "directory utility", but don't see how to use it for configuring local user info... (seems to be primarily focused on network services, such as ldap)...
i keep 2 accounts on my computer - personal account for home use and work account for when i need to use my laptop for work. for my work account i need to set my UID to match that of our servers (suns)... i nfs mount suns, and access servers, etc. without the same UID, i don't have access to my network files when locally mounted... also i keep my home directories on a second partition and need to change the location of the home directory... all of these were relatively straight forward in netinfo manager.... but i have no idea where to access the configuration info that was in netinfo manager...
is there some kind of additional software i have to install?
i'd appreciate any suggestions-
thanks-

great! thanks!!
ps - besides the fact that i can get my own unique environments and keep my work life separate from my personal live on my home computer by making separate accounts, the 2nd account always gives me a way to test things and change things for an account without being logged into it... even if i didn't want to make a user account for my job on my personal computer, i'd still keep an alternate account for testing things and as a backdoor to fix problem in my primary account... i've always loved unix since i first started using it in 85... an i'm SO glad that apple made the switch to unix, albeit a little later than was good for them. i think it is undeniably better for the users, the administrators, and even apple... the mac is quite a joy to use these days, IMHO... (-;

Changing Short name & home directory?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for