Used macbook pro now mine. How can I change name, admin, etc without losing apps and programs?

Question

Used macbook pro now mine. How can I change name, admin, etc without losing apps and programs?

Hello.

My father bought a Macbook Pro 15' retina 8Gb ram 256Gb SSD about 2 months ago.

He set it up, bought many apps and programs but eventually got bored of it and gave it to me.

He is not a Mac enthusiast and thought he should give it a try but he didn't stick to it.

I'm not a Mac enthusiast either, but a good notebook is an ok present so I took it.

I installed some programs and stuff, tried to learn how it works (I have no idea, I was always using windows), and I think I like it.

However, the MacBook has my father's name, my father is the admin, and all the apps programs etc the he and I bought and installed are in his account.

I have his password though. That's how I've been using it the whole time.

How can I change the MacBook to make it "my own"?

I have an apple ID cause I have an iPhone etc but I'm sure just changing that under the admin page won't be enough.

Will I lose the apps my father bought?

Will I have to reinstall all the programs that I installed while I was using the MacBook? For example will photoshop and capture nx be deleted as if I was formatting a pc and I will have to install them again?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

PS. MacBook is now running Mavericks OS X 10.9.4 and I want to upgrade.

But first I want to make myself the "owner" to start getting things in the right order.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mavericks (10.9.4)

Posted on Oct 6, 2014 3:20 PM

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Answer 1

dominic23

Level 10

84,018 points

Oct 6, 2014 3:26 PM in response to lunatic_on_the_grass

Giving away / Selling your Mac / Resetting the computer to the factory condition

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5189

http://www.thesafemac.com/how-to-prepare-your-mac-for-sale/

lunatic_on_the_grass wrote:

Will I lose the apps my father bought?

Will I have to reinstall all the programs that I installed while I was using the MacBook? For example will photoshop and capture nx be deleted as if I was formatting a pc and I will have to install them again?

Yes and yes.

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Answer 2

Kappy

Level 10

362,007 points

Oct 6, 2014 3:29 PM in response to lunatic_on_the_grass

You are probably not going to like what you have to do. To begin with make a backup of the computer.

What to do before selling or giving away your Mac

This will get you started. You may not be selling the computer, but your father has "sold" it to you. These instructions are what he should have done before giving it to you.

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Answer 3

Oct 7, 2014 3:30 AM in response to Kappy

Thank you both very much.

I read the articles you linked and the ones that are referenced in there.

Sorry if I sound stupid but I am really not familiar with these proccesses.

From what I understand what you are suggesting is to backup the MacBook. Something similar to what we do to the iPhone right?

But!

1. My father has already taken in a usb stick his music, photos, whatever he had in there that he wanted.

2. All the apps that he has downloaded are not gonna be "saved", backup or no backup, and I will not be able to use them with my account as you say.

3. The programms I have installed already exist in external HDDs, and those that I downloaded with the MacBook I can transfer them manually in an external HDD.

4. Some pictures and documents I have in the MacBook again I can manually transfer to an external HDD.

So there will be nothing left (correct me if I'm wrong) to be lost when I do the "restore" kind of thing to get the MacBook to format.

I don't see a reason to create a complete backup of the current situation of the MacBook since:

a) What the backup will contain will be totally useless to me as far as I understand (and to my father as well, he is not gonna buy a macbook again)

b) The things that I want the MacBook to have after the restore/format/making it mine process, I will have to transfer them and install them again no matter what.

I am saying that, because I find it a lot simpler to manually transfer these files rather than using the Time Machine thing which seems very complex to me. At least at this point.

Would something like that work?

And if so, after that, I continue with the restore kind of thing? (more or less the same philosophy as with the iPhone iPad?)

Again sorry for the trouble. I'm just trying to figure it out.

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Answer 4

Kappy

Level 10

362,007 points

Oct 7, 2014 9:28 AM in response to lunatic_on_the_grass

If there is nothing to keep on the hard drive, then you need not make a backup. Follow the instructions in the link to completely reset the computer to its original "new" state. From that point on you use your Apple ID with everything from the App Store that you purchase. OS X will be tied to your Apple ID for future updates.

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Answer 5

Oct 7, 2014 12:11 PM in response to Kappy

Yes i don't think there is anything I want to keep from the hard drive.

As far as I have understood the finder and how the computer functions that is.

Thank you very much for the help.

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