How to delete current owner/admin account and create a new owner/admin acct

I am the owner and only user of my G5. I've owned it since 2007 when it was new.

I need to delete my current account and establish a new owner/admin account. When completed the new owner/admin account should be the only account on the machine.

Can anyone offer some help.

Thanks

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Jan 30, 2010 11:20 AM

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12 replies

Jan 30, 2010 11:31 AM in response to Yankeerebel

do you need to keep any data from your current admin account? if not it's very simple. go to system preferences->accounts. unlock the lock at the bottom and use the + button to create a new admin account. then log out of the current account and log into the new account. go to system preferences->accounts there and delete the old account along with its home folder using the minus button.

Feb 2, 2010 1:22 PM in response to Yankeerebel

Are you having some sort of problem with your original account that has you wanting to move to a new one? If so, you need to be careful about making a new account and moving your data to it - you might move the problem right along with the data.

If you can post more details about why you want to change accounts we might have some more helpful suggestions.

Feb 2, 2010 1:52 PM in response to Yankeerebel

Here's the deal..
I own a software titled "Kinemac". It's a 3D animation software which creates QT movies to import into Final Cut Pro. I've had the software since last April and about a month ago, all of a sudden, the program would no longer open. I contacted Kinemac's Support. They said my computer had apparently been "banned" by the software. (Maybe it saw the computer as trying to pirate the program.?????)
I tried downloading a new copy of the software, reinstalled, entered serial#, etc. and still would not open. There was no crash. It just would not open.

Kinemac said its only way to correct the problem was to enter into a screen share with iChat. I tried for 20 minutes with them to establish screen share with no luck. We could "chat" but not screen share. So, I came to the Apple Discussions pages on iChat and spent about an hour with a Discussions' User on iChat with NO luck there either. I gave up on iChat. Not certain I wanted someone unknown on a screen share anyway.

Which brings us to this point. Kinemac says I can also add a new Admin Acct. Delete the current Admin and then rename the new user with the old user's name. I frankly don't want to mess around doing that but apparently there's alternative for Kinemac. So that's why I'm seeking info on how to do it. I really like the software and want to rectify the situation.

Hope this explains the situation. Thanks.

Feb 2, 2010 2:33 PM in response to Yankeerebel

Yes. I've tried to launch it a few weeks ago when I set up a new user with admin privs but it wouldn't launch. I think the key is to delete the orig. user (my current acct.) and establish the new user as main user.

I've noticed in the "Accts." section of sys. prefs. that when you enter a new user with admin privs, you can right-click on either admin acct and a menu comes up. My current acct. shows a number "501" while the newly-created acct shows "502". The Kinemac people alluded to changing that # for the new user to "501"...

That's the best I can tell you....Thanks

Feb 2, 2010 5:09 PM in response to Yankeerebel

What a disaster. If I could help it I wouldn't touch this software with a ten foot pole.

But I don't know if abandoning the software is a solution for you - it looks like you have invested quite a bit of money in it and I don't know if there's an alternative that will do the job for you.

Having to go through this account deletion thing sounds like quite an ordeal for what sounds like it should be quite a simple thing to fix. I'd get back on the phone with the Kinemac support and see if there's anything else that can be done. Complain to their supervisors or to upper management if you can't get anywhere with the guy who answers the phone.

Feb 12, 2010 8:52 AM in response to What would magnum do?

Hi Bryan,

The problem which required me to use the screen sharing has been resolved in another manner, however, I never resolved the issue with screen share. I'll take a pop at your suggestion to see what the status is.

When I was testing back in January, I did hardwire straight to the DSL modem to try and bypass any router issues. Having given up on ever making iChat share a screen, I reconnected my computer to the Apple Airport Extreme wireless router. I'm hardwired into the router. I only use the wireless feature of the router when I use my laptop.

Thanks,

Tony

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How to delete current owner/admin account and create a new owner/admin acct

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