Help me, please, set up a General user account in addition to the Admin account

WZZZ,

Thanks for, metaphorically, holding my hand on this one. Hard to type while holding hands though 😊

You are really kind to do this so very, very thoroughly. I feel like an idiot asking for such specific directions, but I know how easily I could screw this up - see your bold below. Ladies of a certain age should be lunching, playing bridge, and sipping tea (or whatever) and not trying to sort this stuff out...

I'm going to insert my comments within - hope this works for you - easier than any other way I could think of...Follow the blue interleaved comments, please.

WZZZ wrote:

This is really simple. (If the following appears complicated, it's only because, knowing you, I'm trying to include and anticipate every possible variable in advance. 😉)

OK this seems do-able!

We are getting confused by your introduction of the term "general" user account. The account(s) you are going to make standard will be the one(s) that you use every day, or all along. I suppose this is what you mean by "general." Making them, or it, into standard will not have any affect on the contents of the Home Folder(s).

Sorry for the confusion. Standard is a fine term too. General seemed like a neutral term that didn't mean Admin - I probably invented a term that means something else in the world you folks travel.

First, I don't know if you and your husband have separate accounts.

No, one shared account.

...If not, this will be the second account. If you already have another "independent" account not shared by you or your husband, then no need to create another new one.

Under accounts in syst prefs there is currently just the admin acccount and a "Guest Account" that was there from the start I guess (maybe it even was brought over from the G4 in Setting Up the iMac)

If it's new, give it a name, select a password and give it admin rights using the password of the admin account (soon to become standard.) If it's an already created account, but with standard privileges only, then give it admin privileges using the password from your admin (soon to become standard) account.

OK again that's clear.

One question - gulp - current admin on iMac has no password - I just hit return - is that stupid/risky or what??? MBP has a password for Admin Account.

To create the new account, unlock the padlock with the current admin password, if it is locked, and just click on the + button and fill in the required fields.

Clear

Next, take the other account... and make them, if they are not already, into standard accounts by unchecking the "Allow user to...." boxes. These are the "general, everyday" one(s) you have been using all along with your regular Home Folder(s). Don't do this until you have created the new admin account, or given an already established, "independent" one admin rights and created a password. Otherwise you will be locked out.

The part in bold (mine) and underlined (yours) is exactly what I was worried about in this whole process - getting locked out. Still, lost in previous sentence - first I make the newly created account an admin account - so for a brief time in this process there are 2 admin accounts at the same time? From now on - the account we use on a daily basis has access to everything that the former admin account had - docs, apps, photos, all those folders in the current home account? And the admin account has too?

(The reason I ask - on the MBP I had to setup a new account - called which I called "test" when we had trouble faxing and this account had NOTHING in it - no apps, no docs so that it was empty so nothing would conflict with the fax software on Tiger that was giving us trouble - AppleCare helped me set that up and I have no recollection ofhow, though I could find my notes in a folder somewhere I'm sure. But that account is not very useful for anything else...

From now on, you continue using those, now standard, accounts exactly as before, except if you need to install something, or if a password is required to perform some operation, you give the name of the new admin account and its password when prompted.

So no switching back and forth from log out of one and into another. Above someone said something about an item to select to make this happen seemlessly. I can't get there now to the previous posts to find the term (key chain?) without opening a new window and I don't want to lose all this work and it's getting late... this new Apple site doesnt have the nice save draft feature (or at least I can't find it) that the old site did

You don't worry at all about the Home Folder of the admin account, moving anything over to it or installing anything there. Anything that gets installed in the regular, general account, if it requires the admin password, gets installed there, anyway. It's sole purpose is to provide authentication when needed. (Well, maybe not its sole purpose. It can be useful when testing to see if something, some problem exists there in addition to your regular standard user.)

To reiterate-the work we do in the newly created account we use daily is real, and saved and in just one place - the "standard/general" account home folder which is (the same?) accessible one to the admin account.

Why am I having trouble with this???

The standard account(s) will not have their boxes checked for "Allow user to...."

Everything in your Home Folder (s) remains just as it was before. Nothing changes except the accounts no longer have admin privileges. That's it. The admin account will have its "Allow user to...." box checked.

And there will be 2 home folders with the same stuff in them? Confused again...

That's it. Bob's your uncle.

A few years ago a Brit couple got a flat tire at the bottom of our very long drive. I walked down to see what and the wife said - "Bob is in a tizz" Mrs H is semi-in a tizz, but I'll get through this with your help

WZZZ

I'll be doing this tomorrow with a clearer head than I have now. I think this is all clear - I've asked a lot more which hopefully you can figure out how to answer without this beginning to look like a crazy quilt.

Thanks for your help and patience with me,

Mrs H

WZZZ wrote

Summary of the "complicated" version:

I didn't finish my epic above before you wrote your summary. This really helps - but do look at my long form blue notes above. I can hear you sighing - not more...

Thanks ever so much,

Mrs H

Linc Davis wrote:

...

Each account has its own home folder. Initially, nothing will be in it except the few default files that are created automatically. The same as when you set up the Mac for the first time.

... can I do whatever I do in SL on the iMac also be done in the same way in Tiger on the MBP to set up the new user account.

It's been a long time, but as I recall it was pretty much the same.

Is that why the directions I originally quoted from ds store have one go through the steps of creating a second admin account and then making the first one a general user and the new one is the new - only? - admin account now?

If I'm understanding correctly what you want to do, you should create a new, empty admin account, which you'll use only for admin tasks, and then demote your old account to non-admin status. That way, you won't have to transfer much data between accounts, which can be tricky.

Thanks Linc,

I didn't see your reply before I began replying to WZZZ above.

Your reply here and the explanation from WZZZ help clarify the process immensely.

"If I'm understanding correctly what you want to do..." What I want to do? All I want to do is what lots of folks here said is a wise thing - don't do your daily work from your admin account. It's that simple - but setting it up has seemed to be so very complicated and it shouldn't be, I know that.

Thanks for the thoughts about Tiger too.

Mrs H

WZZZ -

I think I get it! 🙂 Just a few more clarifications.

>To reiterate-the work we do in the newly created account we use daily is real, and saved and in just one place - the "standard/general" account home folder which is (the same?) accessible one to the admin account.

Why am I having trouble with this???

You don't do any work in the newly created admin account. It just sits there all by its lonesome and once in a while gives a nod to a request for an admin name and password. That's all it does.

"the newly created account we use daily" by this I meant the standard acct, not the new admin acct.

>And there will be 2 home folders with the same stuff in them? Confused again...

There will be two home folders, but, again, the new admin one will be empty. (Unless you decide to stick something in it.) Except for applications which you install exclusively in the standard account, both accounts will share those."

Now why/how would I choose to install apps exclusively inthe standard acct and how do I control this so they are in the admin acct - which is where I'm guessing (thinking? hoping I get it?) they belong? Help 😟

Am I right here - oh how I hope you'll say yes: our original acct - lets call it ORIGINAL to be clever, but not in all caps - stays as the account we work in daily, but it no longer has the admin privileges it used to. It keeps its admin status until we set up another admin acct, and it should be given a passsword even if it is just a standard acct. It keeps the name it had before, ORIGINAL, but no longer is an admin account. The second, new account we create - lets call it NEW, is set up from the start as an admin account with a password (can it be the same asthe other one?) and it just sits there. If we have to log into it we'll be told.

When I do a SuperDuper backup - and log out in order to log back in in Safe boot mode (following SD's suggestion) which acct do I log into to do a backup and will the whole iMac HD for both accts be backed up as one volume, which they are, right???

I fear I am trying your patience,

Mrs H

PS I just saw https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2685730?answerId=12769717022#12769717022 which discusses the test account as I mentioned I had set up for the MBP. Is it too late to set this up. How do I do a pristine test account since I've already changed settings but haven't installed any software except Firefox.

WZZZ-

It's really getting clear now. You are wonderful for sticking with me on this. I feel pretty confident finally.

WZZZ wrote:

1. If you want to move or first install an application to the default applications folder from the std account (not the user one, if it ever gets created or you make one yourself -- I don't have one) you will need to authenticate with the admin name and pword.

2. Yes, the std gets a pword. You have understood the correct procedure for setting this up.

3. SD will back up the entire volume, which means all users, admin and std.

4. The "pristine" test account is another matter entirely. You can use the new admin one, if it hasn't been worked in, or when you need one it's quite simple to set up another, brand new account. It can be admin.

From an earlier post of yours: "Yes, briefly, two admin accounts. Again, nothing changes in the old admin account. Use it as usual. The newly created admin account, the one used only for authentication, has an empty Home Folder. Just make sure you have set up the new admin account -- with a password -- before you turn the original admin into standard."

4. So, could we have 2 admin accounts at one time, permanently? I'm pretty sure your answer will be yes.

What about the first thing I do before anything else, is just set up a new account, call it Test and check off allow user to administer. That would be the "pristine" account I've asked about? And it would be an admin account with a password just in case I do something unbelievably stupid later on...?

I realized my question about "pristine" was moot since although I haven't installed any software, except Ff, I have used Setup Assistant and brought everything (except apps) over from theG4 so this is hardly pristine!

1. Huh? "User" account is not "standard account" it's yet another type and what I'm doing is creating a standard account and an admin account?

Default app folder - is in the home folder? and it's where apps are stored but which can only be changed by admin??

3.What about the business of logging out and logging in with shift down - SD's directions? Do this from the admin acct which I access by logging out and logging back in to admin account?

2. Hurrah!

Mrs H

mea culpa mea culpa

Too many questions, sorry. I got carried away in my enthusiasm. I know I can be overly demanding sometimes and I think I crossed the line here.

Thanks for the book recommendation. I just ordered it. I found it used, on the cheap - condition described as "Very Good." It arrives in a fortnight. Til then I'll try to refrain from asking anything further.

Thank you, really, thank you so very much for all of your help.

Your replies took a lot of time to compose and required patience with me, and I really am thankful to you for that. 😊

Mrs H