I finally decided to see what all the hoopla was about, so I did a
little Googling
myself. The horrendous 40 step process for changing the admin name on
a Mac turns out to be an Apple support document with instructions for
changing
the admin name, and even with this method you could have problems. A
significant point was that they thought that you really shouldn't do it.
If you insist on doing it though, there is an app called
ChangeShortName at
<http://www.danfrakes.com/> that purports to automate the procedure
and avoid
some of the problems with the Apple support method (read the app page
for some
more info on the things that can go wrong with Apple's method). I'd
like to point out
that the author of this application himself says that you really
shouldn't change the
admin short name, but that his app is the best way if you insist on
doing it. I looked for
user comments at various places, and they all seem to say that
ChangeShortName
works with only minor issues (on the order of iPhoto not being able
to find its
library at first, for example). If you do use ChangeShortName, be
sure to do as the
author says and completely read the documentation first.
Regarding the comment,
That's a given, but I keep coming upon issues on the Mac that are
nothing
but hoop jumping, compared to administering a PC. Change the admin
name on
a PC? That takes seconds.
This actually reflects how very shallow windows security measures are,
doesn't it? As has been pointed out many times before, Window's
security
is a tacked-on afterthought, while the security of unix-based systems is
woven throughout the OS. Do a little googling on how a Windows admin
name
is used by the OS versus the way account short names are used in OS X.
On FriOct 12, 2007, at 4:13 PM, COMPUTERGUYS-L automatic digest
system wrote:
Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2007 14:27:18 -0400
From: Jeff Wright <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: MacIgnorance [Was: Grabbing domain names of well-known
persons?
IMVHO, complaining that a Mac does not work exactly like a PC is a
silly
exercise.
That's a given, but I keep coming upon issues on the Mac that are
nothing
but hoop jumping, compared to administering a PC. Change the admin
name on
a PC? That takes seconds.
That is why those of us who know what we are doing use a widely-
available
script. The general rule is to Google first, bitch later.
I did google it, which is what got me to the 40 steps. I have to
run a
script? E*N*T*E*R*T....
This is off by default. You need to check a box in the "Security"
preference panel. Then set one of the hot corners to start the screen
saver.
I did see that, but that seems too prone to accidental execution.
Give me a
keyboard shortcut any day; much reduced chance of accidents.
P.S. If you open system preferences and use the Spotlight field, the
Mac
will guide you to the command you need. Nothing like this is
available
on
Windows.
Haven't seen that yet.
************************************************************************
* ==> QUICK LIST-COMMAND REFERENCE - Put the following commands in <==
* ==> the body of an email & send 'em to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <==
* Join the list: SUBSCRIBE COMPUTERGUYS-L Your Name
* Too much mail? Try Daily Digests command: SET COMPUTERGUYS-L DIGEST
* Tired of the List? Unsubscribe command: SIGNOFF COMPUTERGUYS-L
* New address? From OLD address send: CHANGE COMPUTERGUYS-L YourNewAddress
* Need more help? Send mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
************************************************************************
* List archive at www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
* RSS at www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml
* Messages bearing the header "X-No-Archive: yes" will not be archived
************************************************************************
