first thing to do is boot from the installer CD (doesn't have to be
the one for the current version just has to be an OSX boot CD
compatible with your mac) after it finishes booting and gets to the
start of the installer go to the menu item and select
"Reset Password"
if this stil fails to allow you to admin then in the system
preferences users panel are there any accounts showing as "admin"?
if they show as "managed" or "standard" then a software update has
failed to return admin rights to users. (it temporarily removes admin
rights to stop users installing or doing other system modifications
while an apple system updater installer is running)
to fix this boot in to single user mode ad delete the file that tells
the mac at each boot that original setup has been done (forcing it to
ask you to set up a new admin account)
Restart the machine holding down Command-S
at the command line
mount -uw /
/bin/rm /private/var/db/.AppleSetupDone
reboot
----------------------
after it has rebooted you will be in the initial setup process as if
it was a new mac (don't worry all your users and data are still there)
create a new admin account with a different name to any you have
used.... then once you've finished the setup go in to the system
preferences and use this new account to reset the passwords and change
the type of account for any users you need......
... this also shows you why a combination of encryption and physical
security is the only real security for data... (and yes there are
ways of getting the equivalent effect in Windows and Linux with about
as much (little) time and effort)
On 10/08/2009, at 8:29 PM, Ronda Brown wrote:
On 09/08/2009, at 11:07 PM, Warwick Smith wrote:
Hi WAMUGers
Does anyone have a 'quick fix' for lost administrator privileges.
My personal PowerBook G4 (Mac OS X 10.5) now asks me for an
administrator name and password three times before I can use system
preferences, and no longer accepts my user name and password for
any changes.
When reviewing my system account, the administrator checkbox
("Allow user to administer computer") is greyed out, and no longer
ticked.
If I can avoid a complete reformat and reinstall, I'd prefer it, as
I'm uncertain whether even that is possible without the
administrator access being available.
Are there easier options?
In hope ...
Hello Warwick,
In System Preferences > Accounts is the lock "locked", if it is the
"Allow user to administer this computer" is unable to be ticked.
Click on the lock, then type in your password, then you should be
able to "tick" - "Allow user to administer this computer".
Then click the Lock to prevent further changes
Then "Log Out" and then "Log In" again.
Cheers,
Ronni
17" MacBook Pro Intel Core 2 Duo
2.4 GHz / 4GB / 800MHz / 500GB
OS X 10.5.8
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Mark Secker (Ba. Bus. IS/IP, ECU)
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