User profile for user: DMarco56
DMarco56 Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Lost Administrator

I was given a old iMac by my work they gave me the passwords and I changed the password and all worked well. Today I changed the name of the the Admin to my name, then I clicked locked the window. The the admin name disappeared the old name came back and it says STANDARD below the name. When I click back on the lock it has no admin name and no password. I seem to have no administrator on the computer anymore. It is still running and open. If I turn it off or reboot it I am concerned it will be locked and I will not be able to open the computer at all. It is a late 2013 running iOS High Sierra 10.13.6 How do I set an Administrator?

iMac

Posted on Dec 26, 2022 10:16 AM

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User profile for user: BDAqua
BDAqua
User level: Level 10
250,007 points

Posted on Dec 26, 2022 11:41 AM

Gulp...


Change the name of your macOS user account and home folder - Apple Support


See if you can create a new administrator account by restarting the Setup Assistant:

  1. Boot into Single User Mode: Start/restart your Mac. As soon as you hear the startup tone, press and hold ⌘ + S until you see a black screen with white lettering. (If you end up back on the login screen after a flash of the black screen with white lettering, enter your password and it will return to the black screen.)
  2. Check and repair the drive by typing /sbin/fsck -fy then ↩ enter - as directed by the on-screen text.
  3. Mount the drive as read-write by typing /sbin/mount -uw / then ↩ enter.
  4. Remove the Apple Setup Done file by typing rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone then ↩ enter.
  5. Reboot by typing reboot then ↩ enter.
  6. Complete the setup process, creating a new admin account.


Be very careful to notice the spaces in those Terminal Commands.


Once you've done that the computer reboots and it's like the first time you used the machine, except all your data will still be there. Your old accounts are all safe. From there you just change all other account passwords in the account preferences!!

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User profile for user: BDAqua
BDAqua
User level: Level 10
250,007 points

Dec 26, 2022 11:41 AM in response to DMarco56

Gulp...


Change the name of your macOS user account and home folder - Apple Support


See if you can create a new administrator account by restarting the Setup Assistant:

  1. Boot into Single User Mode: Start/restart your Mac. As soon as you hear the startup tone, press and hold ⌘ + S until you see a black screen with white lettering. (If you end up back on the login screen after a flash of the black screen with white lettering, enter your password and it will return to the black screen.)
  2. Check and repair the drive by typing /sbin/fsck -fy then ↩ enter - as directed by the on-screen text.
  3. Mount the drive as read-write by typing /sbin/mount -uw / then ↩ enter.
  4. Remove the Apple Setup Done file by typing rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone then ↩ enter.
  5. Reboot by typing reboot then ↩ enter.
  6. Complete the setup process, creating a new admin account.


Be very careful to notice the spaces in those Terminal Commands.


Once you've done that the computer reboots and it's like the first time you used the machine, except all your data will still be there. Your old accounts are all safe. From there you just change all other account passwords in the account preferences!!

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Lost Administrator

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