how to make a new user account on the macbook pro

another private user account with all or most off the privilages allowed in the admin user account

Go to your Apple menu (top left in your screen) then click System Preferences from the drop down menu.

Select: Users & Groups

Then click the lock icon to make changes. You will be prompted for your admin password.

Now click + to create a new user account.

Click the pop up menu next to: New Account

Select Administrator / (Sharing Only is available from that same pop up menu also)

As admin, you need to go to system prefereneces and accounts and add a user, but when you go through the user setup, you must select either admin or standard for the type of user. You are better off normally logging in as a standard user, only switch to admin when you need those privileges. When you want to install software, as a standard user you will be asked for the admin name and password so you don't need to log out and login.

You can setup all the accounts you want...even a second admin account that you may want to use regularly. However, it is much safer to use a standard account because admin has so much power and can mess things up if not careful. When you download and install software you have to provide the admin credentials, and then the software is available to everyone. Files you can make available between multiple users by turning on file sharing and assigning the users you want to share files to the same group...then give full prermissions to that group so all can read and write and execute. That can all be handled through the systems preferences users and groups dialogue.

Mac OS X has a great deal of power in setting files/file systems for private and shared use. If you are using Lion, guessing that from your 2011 MBP hardware, there are some very good references that will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about the system:

Mac OS X Lion: the Missing Manual by David Pogue is my favorite...formidable book but huge amount of information.

MacBook Pro Portable Genius is excellent with a lot of graphics on using the MBP.

You're welcome, and good luck with your studies.

For daily work it is much safer that the user have a standard account. Anytime you need to do something that requires admin privileges a window will pop-up and you just type in the admin name and password and then have admin privileges.

Macs have a handy program called Migration Assistant to help you transfer material from any computer to your Mac:

Migration Assistant Information

Hi Ralph, you seem to make things very clear for non-geeks, much appreciated.

Cleaning up and updating my old MacBookPro 3,1 since I can't afford a new laptop yet (and totally spoiled by my Mac Pro). I did a clean install of Snow Leopard and am now installing programs and setting preferences.

I made an Admin account and a Standard user account, which I will plan to use all the time.

Then I was installing programs in Admin and setting preferences in Standard user. But then good old Microsoft revealed a glitch to me. When I installed Office 2011 for Mac in Admin, I ended up with a fully operational program in Admin. and an inferior version of Word in Standard user.

So, I think the way to do it, is to always be in Standard user even when installing programs and then just to put in Admin password when prompted. Would you please confirm this is correct way to install programs.

That being the case, I will do the same for Cs5 and Lr3. And guess on single hard drive laptop that I should

just put catalogue in default location in standard user when I install and then copy regularly to external hard drives.

But, for good old Microsoft, should I uninstall Office 2011 for Mac from my Admin account (thus deleting across the board I assume) and then reinstall in Standard User (hoping Microsoft doesn't then say I exceeded

users)?

Thanks for any input!

Hi wannabe...it is always best to post a new thread since this one is so old and marked closed...doesn't get attention except it popped up in my discussions list since I was a participant...that aside:

I prefer to install applications from my standard account and then invoke admin privledges...didn't follow my own advice when I installed Office '011 and paid the price...had to drag and drop each component of the Office suite to the dock from the Applications folder instead of all magically appearing on there. I have not experienced any loss in functionality of the components, i.e., Word, Excel, PowerPoint, due to the original installation as admin and then drag-and-drop as myself. Not sure just why that happened to you, must be an MSO thing. Did you do a drag-and-drop to your dock or something else? That could be where you are having a problem.

Uninstall? I would be really, really cautious about doing that...MS products from my experience are super sensitive to the number of installations, and the first one you did may be registered on the MS servers and may block you from reinstalling...you might want to contact MS customer support on that and be absolutely sure before proceeding in that direction.

One thing you can do is go back and login as admin, go to Applications, and open the properties on each MSO component, and if you see restricted priviledges for standard users, or groups other than the admin group, may also be listed as "owner" change the permissions to be the same as admin. You have to be the owner to do that, that is, admin. That will unlock any limitations you, as yourself, will see.

Hopefully this all makes sense, if not, as you proceed stop and ask questions...far better to ask along the way than have to go back and make changes 🙂

Ralph

Hi Ralph:

Thanks for the speedy reply!! Even if this thread is closed, I think I'll stay here, since our previous messages are here.

I now got what appears to be a fully functioning Word by mucking about wasting time in Admin and then logging on in Standard account, trashing the alias Word icon which I put in my dock and dragging another alias from Word in applications.

But here is the weird history of what I did originally:

1. Installed MSO 2011 for Mac from original CD (but not Powerpoint or Outlook, as I never use them but maybe that was a bad idea as updates seem to be for the whole suite and I now can see Outlook and Powerpoint items in Applications although not the full components).

2. Did not configure or set any preferences

3. Ran Ms AutoUpdate - my memory is that it only offered me the MS Service Pack 14.1.0,

so I ran that install (but confused because I have 14.2.3 on my MacPro and I couldn't get AutoUpdate to offer that) so

4. Went to MSO for Mac website, found 14.2.3, downloaded it; but before installing, read in the Software License Agreement that it is a supplement for Microsoft Office for Mac 2011, Service Pack 2 software, and that you may not use the supplement if you do not have a license for the software (which I interpreted to be Service Pack 2) so I went OMG do I have to download Service Pack 2 before I can install 14.2.3?! So I stopped installation.

5. Logged out of Admin. Logged into Standard. Dragged Word icon to dock, got abreviated menu, gave up and went to bed.

Today, I did as mentioned above, and logged into Standard account, trashed old Alias in dock, put new one on

dock from Applications and got Word back.

Then I went to Update and today it came up with 2 offerings: 2.2.8 (small file) and the aforementioned

14.2.3, so I hit download, and am now at the same Software License Agreement, saying what is in #4

above but I think it's just semantics since AutoUpdate didn't offer Service Pack 2, I think it means you

can update to 14.2.3 as long as you have a license for MSO 2011 (not Service Pack 2 as I think I am

misinterpreting). I'm about to hit the continue button, but thought I would run it by you first. Just wish MS would speak plain English.

I am wanting to install Photoshop Cs5 and Lr3 already!

So I will install them from Standard user as you suggest and save myself this headache.

And guess on my single hard drive laptop that I should just put the Lightroom catalogue in default location in standard user (user/pictures/Lightroom/ lrcat and lrdata) when I install and then copy regularly to external hard drives.

Thanks

I created a second admin account on my mac but now the touch pad isn't working properly on the second account. I can move the cursor around but I can click on anything to open things or navigate around. Any suggestions or help would be appreciated.