[jam8]

Hi there everyone,

i just bought my first mac, a used ibook g4. It's really a pleasure. I bought it because i'm a musician and Apple is known in the musical community as the only way to go for recording, producing, etc. So i figured, i'd get an ibook to learn the ropes, and then get a powerbook in a year or so after i'm very comfortable with OS X and garageband, logic express.

It came today, and all is wonderful. However, the previous owner's name is everywhere. for example, on garageband, "save to billy's harddrive" is what i'm prompted.

how do i let the computer know that now, it's Matt's harddrive?

This was just one example...i want OS X to whollistically recognize me as the sole owner and user.

Please help me make this used mac My mac! Thank you all very much!!

[budster101]

Zero out the hard drive.
Reinstall the OS.

Done.

[jam8]

I could do that, but then i'd have to reinstall a whole lot of applications. I'd prefer not to do all of that, but if it's my only option, i may be forced to.

Are there any other possiblities?

[budster101]

Archive and Install. It's in the options tab when you go and reinstall the OS.
The only way to wipe off the previous owner completely is to do a wipe and install. Zero out the HD, and then reinstall the OS.

It's what they previous owner should have done for you...

[CaptainHaddock]

These steps can take care of most of the personalization:

1. In Preferences -> Accounts, change the name and other details on the admin account to suit you. Alternatively, make a new admin account for yourself and delete the old one (be warned that this will remove that other user's files).

2. In Preferences -> Sharing, change the name of your computer.

[TETENAL]

For a used Mac I would really suggest you format the hard disk and install the operating system and every application freshly. It'll take an hour maybe, but after that the Mac is completely "yours" and if the previous owner had messed with the system in some ways you don't know it might save you from obscure problems later.

[icibaqu]

hey lazy! yeah you...over there. the lazy one!

if you got the mac to learn the ropes, then why not start from the first knot. do as the ones above me are saying and wipe the HD and reinstall ALL the software. you'll then be able to 1) choose options on seperate software, 2) see how easy it is to install software on a mac, 3) lean a little about how things are configured and 4) have a great feeling of accomplishment and new begginings at having this little ibook that says to you...i'm yours, baby....

[jam8]

Sorry if this is a silly question, but how do I reformat the harddrive?

Captain Haddock, i've changed the name of the admin, but the "short name" underneith is that of the previous owner and is locked such that i cannot change it. This is very strange. Does anyone know what is going on?

[TETENAL]

Originally Posted by jam8

Sorry if this is a silly question, but how do I reformat the harddrive?

The Mac should have come with the software restore CD. You insert this CD and boot from it (hold down the C key while booting to boot from CD or use the system installer on the software CD to initiate CD booting). When booting from CD you will be in the system installer. At the beginning somewhere there is an options button and you can select to erase (format) the destination disk before installing. Select this option and the disk will be formatted before the system will be installed. You can also customize the installation there. You can save a lot of disk space by not installing languages you will never use and by not installing printer drivers of printers you don't own (always though install the GIMP printer drivers – these are very small and have simple drivers for all models just in case). You might also be able to install the bundled software (iLife etc.) directly from there, or it might be on a separate installation package in the software restore CD which you need to install afterwards. You will figure that out.

It's not that difficult as it sounds now and it is really worth doing it for a used Mac.

[CaptainHaddock]

Jam8, in that case I suggest just making a second admin account and logging into that from now on.

[olePigeon]

I'm guessing you're new to the Mac platform?

In that case, I would suggest just reformatting the HDD and reinstalling the OS. Most of the apps you listed (such as Garageband) will be installed with the OS by default (though you can opt out.)

Don't fret over installing applications. This isn't like Windows. Most of the time to install an application, you just drag the app into your Applications folder. It's that simple.

For more complicated apps that install system components and the like, the installation is extremely straight forward. Most of the time it's about 3 clicks and you're done.

I don't think it'd take more than 30 minutes to get the OS installed on there, then depending on how many Apps you have, maybe an hour or so until completely finished.

To reformat the HDD, just stick in you System Disk. Boot from the CD (hold down the "C" key on your keyboard right after the chime or restart of the computer, and hold it until you see a spinning wheel or Apple logo)

After the installer is loaded, click through until you get to the HDD selection. It'll put a big green arrow (or possibly orange if it can't install) over the HDD you're going to install on. Click the "Options" button. There will now be a list of options to do before you install.

Ther's an option to reformat before installing. Use that one.

It'll run all by itself, no user intervention is need like Windows. When it first starts it'll put up a dialog and a progress bar saying it's verfying your install disk. You can go ahead and cancel that if you want, save about 10 minutes on the install process. No just go grab a drink, take a jog, watch some TV, whatever.

oP

[chris v]

Originally Posted by jam8

Sorry if this is a silly question, but how do I reformat the harddrive?

Captain Haddock, i've changed the name of the admin, but the "short name" underneith is that of the previous owner and is locked such that i cannot change it. This is very strange. Does anyone know what is going on?

All the calls for re-formatting are a bit drastic.

1. you can change the computer's name in the Sharing Preference pane.

2. You can easily change the name of the hard drive by selecting it, then clicking once on the text of its name, and waiting a sec for it to become hilighted, then typing in the new name.

3. In the accounts pref pane, create a new Admin user, with the name you'd like. Move any files you'd want to keep from the old admin account, (you can do this by moving them to shared first) log into the new admin account, grab the files, launch the Accounts pref pane, and delete the old admin account.