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The administrator account on my iMac has been changed to standard account somehow. How do I change it back to Admin. without any admin account to put password in with..?

I have an iMac 21.5 Intel based comp. running Lion 10.7.3

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.3), need admin. account.

Posted on Mar 30, 2012 4:54 PM

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Posted on Mar 30, 2012 5:01 PM

These should help:


Forgot Mac Password? How to Reset Your Mac Password (with or without CD)


Change the Admin Password with Mac OS X Single User Mode


Of course for Lion where these talke about installation dvd's you would use the recovery partition.

16 replies

Mar 30, 2012 5:15 PM in response to X423424X

No didn't forget Mac password.I reset my user password, but i don't have admin. rights to change anything. I didn't want to change my apple i.d. cause of conveinence, but now doesn't seem a big deal.Thank you for the HELP X423424X Really appreciate it.Change Admin Password with Mac OS X Single User Mode should do the trick... Thank You Thank You..!!!!

Mar 30, 2012 5:27 PM in response to NuTT-E.com LBC

Changing the password in single-user mode won't fix that.


Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:


Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)


In the Finder, select Go Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.


If you’re running Mac OS X 10.7 or later, open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the page that opens.


Drag or copy — do not type — the following line into the Terminal window, then press return:


dscl . -read /groups/admin GroupMembership


Post any lines of output that appear below what you entered — the text, please, not a screenshot.

Mar 30, 2012 6:12 PM in response to NuTT-E.com LBC

Somehow you managed to demote the only admin account, despite the safeguards in place to prevent it. I don't remember ever seeing that before. I'd be curious to know how you did it, and why.


Option 1


If you've enabled root logins, log in as root and promote the other user to an admin.


Option 2


Boot from your recovery partition (command-R at startup) and restore your system from the last Time Machine snapshot taken before the damage was done, if you know when that was.


Option 3


Back up all data, then boot in single-user mode. When the text stops scrolling, follow the prompts to make the boot volume writable. Then enter the following command:


ls /var/db/.AppleSetupDone


You should get the following line of output below what you entered:


/var/db/.AppleSetupDone


If you do, then very carefully enter the following command:


rm !$


Now you should get no output. Then enter


reboot


The system will boot into the Setup Assistant, as if you were setting it up for the first time. Create a user with the same name as the old admin user. Log in and test. I'm not sure what will happen to your other user accounts, if any. You may need to recreate them.

Mar 30, 2012 7:20 PM in response to Linc Davis

Linc Davis, I provided an accurate and honest reply to your question of how and why I demoted the only Admin. account on my iMac despite the safeguards put in place to prevent this from happening. As I tried to send the reply I kept getting the red flag ** some of the content you are sending is prohibited. The only thing I can think is I mentioned a couple company names ,that helped discribe the issue, is what rendered the red flag. I would be more than happy to send you the written response through some other means if it is o.k. with you.


Thank you very much for the help

Mar 30, 2012 8:10 PM in response to Linc Davis

O.K. thank you for looking out for me. Basically my O.C.D. got the better of me while using Daisy Disk purchased from the app. store. I went into hidden files that were share folders.The problem most likely came from a private hidden folder that I knew better than to touch.

Linc your a Brilliant and kind person. You make this world a better by providing a selfless,educating service.

Thank You.

Sep 22, 2012 2:30 AM in response to NuTT-E.com LBC

Thanks for the support

Mac air 1.1 Lion 10.5.8

Command V not effective

Command S not effective cannot open in SUM

Command R dose not read the back up disc

any suggestions on using terminal to access the relevant file?

Anny suggestions warmly accepted.....

I backed up or thought I backed all to an external HD which was formatted and cleaned with zero passes

Then re loaded my original Lion discs and re booted my system and loaded updates then this occured.

I did this cause I lost audio should have left it as it was!!!


Message was edited by: john ap jones

Aug 1, 2015 11:23 AM in response to Linc Davis

Wow, I know this is an older post, but I think I did the same thing. It was more stupid on my part, here's what I did:

- logged into single user mode (I thought I had applejack on the laptop, but didn't). I think I was looking at root# (or #root, can't remember)

- thought I could get out of it by typing restart but that didn't work

- pressed/held i/o button to restart and whamo, a whole new look different dock icons, background screen, and I find that there's now a new home user.

- trying to restore the original home user, but the settings/prefs for that user aren't configuring. iPhoto won't launch (locked or in locked location); can't set desktop screen (I can pull up the photos, but nothing changes when selected)

- and if I restart, I have to start all over changing these steps that I previously took.


How bad did I cluster**k this?

this is a 2011 MacBook running 10.6

The administrator account on my iMac has been changed to standard account somehow. How do I change it back to Admin. without any admin account to put password in with..?

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