i bought this iBook G4 off a friend and i was only able to change the name and pass on the account part and was not able to change the short name... it a chicks name so i dont want that to show on there,, does anybody know how to change that ??? thanks
I'm not sure how to change the short-name, but one way around it would be to create a second Administrator account using your name, and delete the old one.
I'm not sure how to change the short-name, but one way around it would be to create a second Administrator account using your name, and delete the old one.
Hi ozzman, changing the short name is possible but is not recommended unless you know what you are doing. Doing it the wrong way can cause all sorts of problems. A way round it would be to do as CC says, or reload the OS from the disks that (hopefully) you got with your iBook.
As the others have suggested, it's not as easy as it may sound. Apple has posted instructions in
Knowledge Base Article #106824. Be prepared, there are forty steps and three notes at the end. You really should have a complete backup before you attempt to change the short name, just in case.
That has to be the most painful technique for someone who is not tech savvy, not that I am saying anyone here couldn't do it. If worst comes to worse, back up the hard drive and perform and Erase and Install. After watching my dad fool around with his Macintosh II (We still have the Apple II), I learned that is best for most people to just leave it alone. Erase and Install is the quickest and easiest way to change the short name, but it can also be the biggest pain.
I agree. I would not suggest anything like that without recommending a complete backup. It would be easier to erase and install and just start from scratch if you didn't have any important files to save. But, Apple puts those instructions out, so they must have some confidence that the average user can follow them successfully. At least Ozzman came here to ask first. It's better than just changing the name of your home folder yourself and then discovering that all your files were "gone".
Just a general reply this, but I had to click on 'Reply' to someone's post...
It strikes me as very strange that something with such devastating consequences is even provided as an option in Finder. How many posts have there been saying "Help, all my settings/docs/music have gone!" or similar, and the poster having to be walked through the remedial steps? What useful purpose can there be to being able to rename the 'short name', and therefore the 'Home' folder, with a control-click?
Dr Smoke has a 'Recovering from Re-naming you Home folder', and presumably there is a Knowledge base # for it too. Surely the simplest thing to do would be, in a future SW Update, to remove that Finder option entirely. If it's necessary for some diagnostic purposes to rename, then let there be a more arcane way of doing it, surely.
Just my humble opinion, of course...
& yes Jon, my reply to Ozzman was curt, unhelpful and non instructive. I apologise for that. It was late & I'd been up since 5am. I should have left well alone if I wasn't prepared to more helpful.
"...& yes Jon, my reply to Ozzman was curt, unhelpful and non instructive. I apologise for that. It was late & I'd been up since 5am. I should have left well alone if I wasn't prepared to more helpful.
Whoops, that bit was supposed to be for
This thread, and shouldn't say ozzman but boater4life. Ho hum.
Well I did say I'd had a late night... :-D
ibook G4: 768mb, iMac 17" G4:768mb (10.3.9) Mac OS X (10.4.4) Belkin Wireless F5D7632
