How do I change the computer name in OS X?

retrograderetrograde
Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
Please bear with me, I am new to OS X



How do I change the owner name or computer name in Mac OS X ? Or, for that matter, the name of the home space?



Ok, say when setting up the mac I used the name "Big Kahuna". But recently I changed my name and password so that when I log in I have a different name and password. However when I did that it didn't change everything:



When I log in it still says at the top of the log in window: "Big Kahuna's Computer". When I click on the computer icon the window that open is also called "Big Kahuna's Computer". And my home folder (with the house icon) is still called "Big". And when I send instant messages using Fire they show up in the text window as written by "Big" too!



But the name which comes up for login and the password it requires is the new one I have chosen.



Ok, so can anyone tell me how to change the computer name and the home space name?

Do I need to log in as Root to do this?

Do I need to run the Setup Assistant again or will this just create another user?

Do I need to do this via the terminal?



Or am I stuck with "Big Kahuna" until I format the drive and reinstall! Thanks to all.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    whyatt thrashwhyatt thrash Posts: 421member
    Go to System preferences, look under "Internet/Network", click "file sharing". Look at the bottom for the textbox that says "computer name" and type your desired computer-name there..
  • Reply 2 of 9
    retrograderetrograde Posts: 503member
    [quote]Originally posted by Whyatt Thrash:

    <strong>Go to System preferences, look under "Internet/Network", click "file sharing". Look at the bottom for the textbox that says "computer name" and type your desired computer-name there.. </strong><hr></blockquote>



    That's great thanks!



    So, thanks to Whyatt Thrash I have fixed the computer name problem but I still can't solve the problem of changing my home folder name. I tried to just rename the folder but it told me I didn't have enough access privileges. Any thoughts on this one? Does it need to be changed elsewhere?
  • Reply 3 of 9
    retrograderetrograde Posts: 503member
    Ok, my thinking so far has been to go into the System Preferences, select the Users option and then click on "edit user" to change my details.



    The problem is that, under the identity tab in the section called "Short Name", the name given there is greyed out and it won't allow me to change it. I think this is what I need to change my home folder name. Any ideas on how to change this?
  • Reply 4 of 9
    cellscells Posts: 20member
    [quote]Originally posted by Retrograde:

    <strong>The problem is that, under the identity tab in the section called "Short Name", the name given there is greyed out and it won't allow me to change it.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Do you get MacAddict? It's on page 23 of the new issue.



    -Chris



    [ 01-19-2002: Message edited by: cElls ]</p>
  • Reply 5 of 9
    retrograderetrograde Posts: 503member
    [quote]Originally posted by cElls:

    <strong>



    Do you get MacAddict? It's on page 23 of the new issue.



    -Chris



    [ 01-19-2002: Message edited by: cElls ]</strong><hr></blockquote>



    I'm afraid I don't I am living in Britain now and finding a copy of US magazines isn't always easy.



    Is there anyway you (or anyone) could explain it to me or maybe even scan the page and send it to my email address? Thanks!



    [ 01-19-2002: Message edited by: Retrograde ]</p>
  • Reply 6 of 9
    cellscells Posts: 20member
    [quote]Originally posted by Retrograde:

    <strong>

    Is there anyway you (or anyone) could explain it to me</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Basically, what you have to do, is open NetInfo Manager (it's in your utilities folder), go to the Domain menu, then down to the Security sub-menu, and then choose Authenticate. It will ask you for the Admin password. After you are authenticated, scroll to the bottom of the middle column (starts with alaises, configs, groups) and click on users. Now your username, along with some other names, should be in the middle column. Select your name, and in the bottom pane, scroll down to where it says "name" and double-click your short name. You should be able to change your short user name and your home folder from there. Hope this helps.



    -Chris



    [ 01-19-2002: Message edited by: cElls ]</p>
  • Reply 7 of 9
    nebagakidnebagakid Posts: 2,692member
    can you change the main HD icon?
  • Reply 8 of 9
    cellscells Posts: 20member
    [quote]Originally posted by Nebagakid:

    <strong>can you change the main HD icon?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Yup. Find an application or folder with an icon you like, select it, press command i, click the icon, press command c, select your hard drive, press command i, click the icon, press command v. Sorry if my instructions are a little convoluted. It's really not that complicated.



    -Chris
  • Reply 9 of 9
    retrograderetrograde Posts: 503member
    [quote]Originally posted by cElls:

    <strong>



    Basically, what you have to do, is open NetInfo Manager (it's in your utilities folder), go to the Domain menu, then down to the Security sub-menu, and then choose Authenticate. It will ask you for the Admin password. After you are authenticated, scroll to the bottom of the middle column (starts with alaises, configs, groups) and click on users. Now your username, along with some other names, should be in the middle column. Select your name, and in the bottom pane, scroll down to where it says "name" and double-click your short name. You should be able to change your short user name and your home folder from there. Hope this helps.



    -Chris



    [ 01-19-2002: Message edited by: cElls ]</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Thanks Chris, I really do appreciate this help



    However what you suggested both worked and didn't work: It did indeed give me a new home folder with a different name and changed the name of everything else, however it didn't rename the current user folder and information but actually put that to one side and just created a new one to use when I next logged in!



    In other words, when I logged in again I logged into a generic OS X desktop with all of my settings and other documents missing because they were now in the old "Big" user folder sitting in the "Users" folder next to the newly named Home folder. So, to get everything back I had to log in as "root" to change the new username info (in NetInfo Manager) back into the old "Big" username because it wouldn't let me change back to "Big" from the new username I had created.



    Whatever the case, this didn't quite do what I wanted it to do because I would like to just rename my current user settings to a different name. Maybe this just isn't possible and I do have to go the route you mentioned, just redoing my settings from scratch and copying my documents, music, etc over and then deleting the old user folder? Any other thoughts? Thanks again!! <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />
Sign In or Register to comment.