I need some help with my Admin account

kanekane
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
I just bought a used Powerbook and on it there was an installed version of Mac OS X. Now I would like to change the shortname of the Admin account but I just don't know how. The name I can change just fine but the shortname (just below the name setting) is greyed out. What can be done?



[Insert Star Wars line to attract sympathy and compassion from fellow AI members]:



"Help us Obi Wan Kenobi, you're our only hope..."

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    murbotmurbot Posts: 5,262member
    Personally, I'd wipe the drive and reinstall everything... just to be safe. That's what I did with mine.



    Supper time though dude, maybe someone else will hop in and help.
  • Reply 2 of 7
    kanekane Posts: 392member
    Thank you! Maybe I should. Does "format c:" work in the terminal?
  • Reply 3 of 7
    alcimedesalcimedes Posts: 5,486member
    changing the short name isn't easy, but check on version tracker. there might be something there that can help.
  • Reply 4 of 7
    kanekane Posts: 392member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by alcimedes

    changing the short name isn't easy, but check on version tracker. there might be something there that can help.



    Thank you I will!!
  • Reply 5 of 7
    thuh freakthuh freak Posts: 2,664member
    (note: the following is dangerous. and i'm doing it from memory, not with osx in front of me. be careful.) here's what you do. first, quit everything you have open, and save any documents you may have. open up netinfo (in /applications/utilities). unlock it, and navigate to /users. locate your account. look through the properties for your shortname, and change it. also, look for any other properties that mention your old short name (and be sure that they all now refer to your exact same new shortname; one extra i can think of is home path; make note of all the properties you've changed [in case something goes wrong, so you can reverse it]). Be wary now, because your in dangerous territory. if you have gone this far, make sure to finish up. close netinfo, and answer affirmatively when asked to save. open up terminal.app, and type this:

    cd /Users

    su

    mv [old short name] [new short name]



    make sure to replace the brackets and phrase with the proper words. example, my old short name is thuhfreak, and my new will be thuh. i type in:

    cd /Users

    su

    mv thuhfreak thuh



    After hitting enter for the second line, you will be prompted to type in your password. don't worry if anyone is watching over your shoulder, because the password will not be echoed (no stars, or any kind of recognition will be given that you've typed anything, until you hit enter, when the password is verified). you are now done with the hard work (wasn't that easy, despite its danger?). for it to take full effect you may have to logout, and/or restart (i think just logging out and back in will work, but you might as well restart just to be safe). i don't suggest dawdling after the terminal part. i'm not sure if applications lookup your home or shortname constantly from netinfo, or only on login or only at certain other arbitrary times. logging out should jostle them into place (and restarting certainly will).



    if something goes horribly awry: go back into terminal and repeat all the lines, but reverse the old and new short names (mv thuh thuhfreak). then go into netinfo, and reverse all the properties referring to your new shortname back to the old (making sure to save after doin the netinfo step). quit everything and restart to reverse back to normal.
  • Reply 6 of 7
    dmband0026dmband0026 Posts: 2,345member
    Instead of going through all that ^^ I would just do a clean install. Seems easier and a lot more safe.
  • Reply 7 of 7
    thuh freakthuh freak Posts: 2,664member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by DMBand0026

    Instead of going through all that ^^ I would just do a clean install. Seems easier and a lot more safe.



    yea, it is a lot more safe to do a clean install. also, before you clean install, you can nix the drive, which'll get rid of any muck you may not find in the course of normal work. but i like to live dangerously. and the netinfo way is probably a lot quicker than a full install.
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