[mattmilam]

I took over a new g5 running osx 10.3.9. I can't remove the previous owners name from the userlist. how do i delete an administrator and change a new user to an administrator? this persons name is still showing up on the network and i want to remove it. i do not want to reformat.

i have the passwords but i can't seem to make her not the administrator. I've changed the username and password but the short name is grayed out and i can't change it.


thanks for your help. anyone with insight can email me @ [email protected].

[gururafiki]

Originally Posted by mattmilam

I took over a new g5 running osx 10.3.9. I can't remove the previous owners name from the userlist. how do i delete an administrator and change a new user to an administrator? this persons name is still showing up on the network and i want to remove it. i do not want to reformat.

i have the passwords but i can't seem to make her not the administrator. I've changed the username and password but the short name is grayed out and i can't change it.


thanks for your help. anyone with insight can email me @ [email protected].

Good question. My buddy sent in his Powerbook for a new logic board, and when it came back, the username was changed from his name to "apple". We cannot figure out how to change it either. FYI, posting your email on the forums is a good way to get SPAM.

[Randman]

If your headline was more informative, you might get a better response.

My question is why don't you want to to a clean install and get rid of any detritus left by a previous user? Or upgrade to Tiger and you can change the admin that way.

[Maflynn]

Originally Posted by mattmilam

i have the passwords but i can't seem to make her not the administrator. I've changed the username and password but the short name is grayed out and i can't change it.

While its possible to change the short name, Apple does not make it easy. You need to manually make changes. I'd recommend creating a new account.

As the other poster mentioned reformatting is the best and safest way to ensure that no garbage from the prior owner is hanging around. I'm anal, and I'd like to make sure that the system is sparking fresh before I get my grubby little hands on it.

Mike

[chris v]

Perhaps you cannot delete the only Administrator account? This could be a safeguard. Try first creating a new admin account, logging out of the old one, then in to the new one and see if then you are able to delete the old account in the accouts Preference Pane.