[Jeff1954]

It's not exactly new though so I doubt Apple will help us. I bought it off of e-bay only used a few times. And rightly so it was, a great deal, lucky for me, to get it for my daughter at Xmas. Personally I'm a windows guy, been using it for several years, and IBM since back in the dos days. So windows and dos are a piece of cake for me. I know nearly nothing about MAC, especially file names. If windows I know well enough to find a PWL file and kill it.

Anyways the first problem she encountered is, unable to get out the first original name of the owner or who ever this stranger is. The seller gave us his password but little did he know somebody else made themselves in windows terminology what I'd call the 'administrator'. Not exactly the whole name but it will not change the nick name. In MAC it is apparently much different. We got rid of the sellers name and information in the MAC, but there's another name buried deep within it and it only shows as a nick name. . The problem is, if the Mac crashes for any reason, the system reverts to this persons 'Administrator's Nick name's desk top. Obviously this nick name is in control. Although she's the administrator she can't change the Nick name to her own. We have hunted high and low trying to get this persons name out of it, but alas, there's no way... This is the first problem we encountered. But really it was not such a big deal, later it turns out, it has become a bigger, correlated problem.

My daughter had a G3 that died. But the hard drive was still good, and she needed her home work off of it. So I bought a hard drive case with dual USB plugs so she could plug in the old harddrive and copy the info. Two problems with it. First, was when we realized we did something wrong. Accordingly the hard drive was so-post to run with one plug, but it did not. So we had to get an USB extension because the New 15" has usb plugs on each side verses one.

The thing is, not long after we tried to run the drive on one plug, the MAC crashed, for the first time ever. It did not crash as we were trying to plug it in, it crashed hours later. But it did not just crash, it reverted back to the 'administrators nick name' desktop, even though she changed every thing about the administrator. Except, that stupid nick name, there's no way to do this. . Nothing in the help files at all, nothing on Mac's web site i can find, nothing nowhere, so I'm asking ya'll. The seller we bought it from didn't want it because he knew nothing about MAC and it had been a gift. A friend of his showed him how to use it, but still he sold it off, so the seller is no help with this administers name. I don't know what or why this problem occurred, the crash, but it seemed just fine for a while, that is, until my daughter plugged in only one USB again. Mistakenly. She plugged in one at a time and I'd say that's what made it crash after a while. I'd say that if you are going to plug one in you'd best turn it off and then run it. Because this caused this crash again, restarting and reverting to the first desktop. Again not at the same time but hours later. It is somehow correlated because the crashing only happened on the two times this was tried.

But now things have gotten worse these days, a few months later. Now it's just crashing and reverting unexpectedly, she looses her work when it does. Adobe Illustrator Just crashes, give a message and closes, with no warning nor saving. Once an a while internet explorer just crashes too.

There's one other factor that might have something to do with the programming. Me. After I tried plugging in the hard drive the first time with only one plug and it didn't work. Later I learned that the USB plug did not have enough power. But after this first time I installed the program that came with the drive. Even though this program was not needed, accordingly for the new MACs. Maybe that program messed up something?

We've thought two possible solutions for this. One just format the hard drive and start the whole computer anew, that'll get rid of that administrator and fix a possible program fault. However she took it too a computer place and asked them to format it. They said they needed a Key code or password, they didn't make a lot of sense about it, to do this. They are not a MAC place, and we have no Mac place here. I am like' what Key code what? are they talking about and why couldn't they format? ? we have all of the original disks and original labels, everything they come with except the box. Am I missing something here? aren't the codes if any on the disks? on one of the stickers on a disk or package? Or is there some special code that the owner never gets? What is up with this first name and no way to change it. I mean nothing I've hunted every where and there's no information about it.

Secondly now on of the USB plugs is not working. I know this sounds like a hardware problem but I am inclined to research the probable software first.

Please help, my daughter has already waited $150 on the creeps who call themselves computer experts, WHO DID NOTHING TYVM, and otherwise she just can't afford the time or money to send it off to MAC.
Thanks.

[cambro]

Well....

The first thing you should have done (and should still do now) is a clean system install. This will remove any other users etc. and will give you the chance to configure the system for yourself.

To do this, you must boot off the system DVD that came with the powerbook (or, if it didn't come with these, you need to buy 10.3).

Do this, report back.

[Jeff1954]

Yes I tried to get her to do this, believe me, but she's afraid she will lose all of her current installed, Some just copies from school, programs and other valuable files. Is it safe?

And how come those guys that got the $150 didn't or obviously wouldn't do this as well?

Seemed like the solution to me in the beginning but she insists she's to scared she'll loose important stuff. Just recently she's become a designer for a clothing company and she's been working her tail off, in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, she's scared.

Originally posted by cambro:
Well....

The first thing you should have done (and should still do now) is a clean system install. This will remove any other users etc. and will give you the chance to configure the system for yourself.

To do this, you must boot off the system DVD that came with the powerbook (or, if it didn't come with these, you need to buy 10.3).

Do this, report back.

[osxisfun]

have her copy all her school files to a cd-r .

insert a blank cd-r into the powerbook
wait for it to mount
it will appear on the desktop.
drag up to 650 megs of her files to the cd-r
click on disc and look for burn icon
press burn icon to burn the cd-r

do it again for back up and securty

mount the cd-r and test your files


then reformat with the system discs

[Jeff1954]

O.K. I get it, it's not so complicated, I would have done it, but as some may know us Dads we are the stupid ones, ha, ha..

But riddle me this if you will, cause if this is all correct, those computer folks she took it to, to solve her problem and charged her $150 bucks, telling her she needed a special code or password to do it. If it is all so simple, no special codes, passwords, although there are stickers with numbers on her original disks and she has a complete set. They told her if she found the special codes, passwords, they would finish the job. But what you'll are saying is; they had no idea of what they were taking about, and I need to give them a piece of my mind, get her stolen money back.

Yes/No? Is there a code, like windows installation. If so wouldn't it be on one of the stickers on her factory disks? Or they are full of it, don't know beans from a MAC and windows. Should not play with electronics' computers they have no knowledge about!! Especially Do not charge people an outragious amount for doing nothing.

Originally posted by osxisfun:
have her copy all her school files to a cd-r .

insert a blank cd-r into the powerbook
wait for it to mount
it will appear on the desktop.
drag up to 650 megs of her files to the cd-r
click on disc and look for burn icon
press burn icon to burn the cd-r

do it again for back up and securty

mount the cd-r and test your files


then reformat with the system discs

[osxisfun]

no codes. but a password. when you create a new user (which owner of the orig pb did) he made a password.

that, is what they are talking about.

long story short. those guys are not the brightest tech guys in the world.

there is NO windows like activation code on the 10.3 disc. if you have all the 10.3 system discs then you have all you need.

sorry your about your experience with those tech guys.

[Jeff1954]

Thanks, osxisfun

That's what I figured, besides there's an identification code on the bottom of it, like it says in the help files.

But thanks again, So's now maybe my; "You don't know what you are talking about!" Daughter, has somebody besides stupid ol'me to reference, LOL.

[osxisfun]

no probs.

good luck.

[historylme]

Try to get you money back.

Those guys were horrible!

[macdaemon]

About key code, what they maybe ment:
1. Open Firmware password, but they were able to reset it.
2. Could be just a an admin password to run installer.
3. Maybe they just asked her for a new admin password.
But I guess they were not able to deal with Firmware password.

More info on Open Firmware password:

The Open Firmware Password application allows you to enable security features in Open Firmware. You can use it to prevent others from starting your computer using a CD or other disk with an operating system on it. You can use Firmware password protection to enhance access security to your computer.

When you set a Firmware password, it prevents others from starting up the computer from a volume other than the one you have chosen as the startup disk (chosen in the Startup Disk preference panel within the System Preferences.) Once security is enabled, you cannot startup from other devices such as an external FireWire disk, a CD-ROM drive, or another partition or disk inside the computer.

More additional info on how to setup and reset Open Firmware password: http://www.securemac.com/openfirmwar...protection.php

[Jeff1954]

Humm, this is interesting.

Let me see if I understand this correctly

The firmware password is just like an IBM (type) Bios system Password?
But, as this might be the problem we are experiencing, Mac's firmware password goes the extra distance. Whereas an IBM bios password is limited to within the bios system, intended to protect or limit John doe user from changing the bios system, in most cases John Doe, will mess up their bios system, possibly corrupt hardware running conditions. However Mac's firmware password, this password crosses over to the computers software and protects the operating system and effects all start up conditions?

Presumably, this is why although she has been able to change all of the systems preferences/passwords, including becoming the systems administrator, except, the administrator's nick name.

This systems refusal to allow a nick name change is in essence protecting the initial firmware password?

The firmware password becomes the default desk top as well?
This is some weird stuff for me, a windows user.

[osxisfun]

Originally posted by Jeff1954:
Humm, this is interesting.

Let me see if I understand this correctly

The firmware password is just like an IBM (type) Bios system Password?
.

Yes. But i can't believe someone sold that to you with an open firmware password enabled.

that's like selling you a used car without the keys.