Hopefully simple install question

[colodane]

I want to upgrade my iMac (mid 2011) from Lion to El Capitan. Since this is the first time I have ever upgraded with OS-X, I downloaded Apple's instructions for how to do it. To initiate the installation the instructions say: "To continue, you must enter your username and password." Later it says: "the Mac will restart and you'll need to log in with your username and password."

My question is that I don't know what they mean by "username". I know the system password I use when making OS-X changes and I also know my Apple ID email address and password. I use these often. But in the 4.5 years I've had this Mac I don't recall entering a "username".

I am the only user and the admin, so did not set it up with multiple accounts. That is, when I turn it on I do not need to "log in". I see no record of writing anything down for a user name when I set up the iMac initially, and I'm pretty careful about doing things like that.

My fear is that I will get to this point in the install and not be able to continue and then be locked out of my computer entirely.

Is there any way I can determine what the "username" is if it exists? Any other tips or ideas? Thanks!

 

[Alrescha]

It's the name that shows up on your home folder in Finder. Alternatively, you can go to System Preferences/Users & Groups, control-click on your name and choose Advanced Options and look under "Account name".

A.

n.b.: In most places, your name will work fine. Just in case you should know the 'shortname' or account name that you see in System Preferences.

 

[KALLT]

You probably do not need to know your username at that point either, just the password. OS X will only ask you for the username if there are multiple accounts present or you specifically set up your preferences so that you need to enter the username too.

 

[DeltaMac]

"username" is the name of your admin user account. It would also be the name on your user folder (the Home holder)
And would be the same that you use for making any changes to your system.

 

[colodane]

Thanks to both of you for the quick responses.

My first name is shown in Finder for the home folder, so I'm guessing that is what I'm after. I tried to find the account name via System Preferences / users & Groups but could not get anything to happen with a control-click on my name and cannot seem to get to the advanced options that apparently contains the account name. Any other ideas for getting there?

In any event, I feel more comfortable now that I won't be getting locked out. Thanks again for the answers!

 

[Alrescha]

cannot seem to get to the advanced options that apparently contains the account name

You may have to click the lock in the lower right-hand corner of the Users & Groups pane and authenticate before you can view the advanced options.

A.

 

[DeltaMac]

Your account name is listed in Users & Groups, under Current User. If you only have the one account, it would be the only name listed.
That name is called the Full Name for your account. You also have a short name, which is the same as the name of your user folder.
You may additionally have a "Guest User" account, which you can choose to ignore, unless you have the guest user enabled.
You can get to the Advanced settings (although you should be careful about any changes that you make to Advanced settings) by clicking the padlock in the lower left corner of the Users & Groups pref pane.

 

[Weaselboy]

I tried to find the account name via System Preferences / users & Groups but could not get anything to happen with a control-click on my name and cannot seem to get to the advanced options that apparently contains the account name. Any other ideas for getting there?

It sounds like the pref pane is locked. Click the lock in my screenshot then control click will show you advanced options for your username including the account name.

 

[CoastalOR]

My first name is shown in Finder for the home folder, so I'm guessing that is what I'm after. I tried to find the account name via System Preferences / users & Groups but could not get anything to happen with a control-click on my name and cannot seem to get to the advanced options that apparently contains the account name. Any other ideas for getting there?
In any event, I feel more comfortable now that I won't be getting locked out. Thanks again for the answers!

You have to unlock the pref pane (padlock icon in the lower left and enter the admin password), then control+click the name in the under "Current User" for the Advance Options bubble to pop up. BTW, when you click the padlock icon the window that opens to enter you Admin password will also show your Username.

 

[colodane]

Thanks everyone. Yes, clicking the lock allowed me to get to the advanced options that shows my "short" account name as well as the longer name. I wrote them both down and will keep them with my iMac info so I don't get confused again in the future.

Thanks again for all the very prompt and useful assistance!

 

[dianeoforegon]

Before you update, make a clone backup. In case something goes wrong you can easily revert. You'll need an external drive.

Create a Clone backup:

A clone is an exact bootable copy of your internal drive. Unlike standard copying of all files to another drive, the clone software copies hidden files along with other in-use files that are not available when you copy over files to another drive.

Time Machine is not bootable on older versions of OS X. You could only restore from Time Machine unless you have a newer Time Machine that is now includes a recovery drive that is bootable. .

Software used to Clone:

SuperDuper! http://www.shirt-pocket.com/
CCC http://www.bombich.com/download.html

 

[Weaselboy]

Time Machine is not bootable on older versions of OS X. You could only restore from Time Machine unless you have a newer Time Machine that is now includes a recovery drive that is bootable. .

OP is on Lion and that is bootable to restore from Time Machine since 10.7.2 so should be okay.

 

[colodane]

Looks like this one is resolved - Thanks Folks!

The concern that prompted me to post the question (what "username" to use) turned out to be a non-issue. When I got to that part of the download, the username was pre-filled for me (my full name) and all I needed to do was enter my system password.

But after that, things didn't go as smoothly as I was hoping for. It was a 3.5 hour download due to my slow access speed here. Then the install took about a half hour. It all seemed to be going as expected until the very end. Then, instead of showing me some kind of "welcome to El Capitan" screen, the iMac emitted a sound that I've never heard before and can only describe as a "Bad News Bleat". Then a Lion Utilities screen came up offering some choices such as restoring from a backup, etc.

I wasn't sure what to do at this point and called the AppleCare number. Got a rep immediately and she checked several things and then suggested trying to reboot the machine with CMD-R. From there she told me to select the reinstall OS X option. That turned out to be a 6 hour download with a message something like "downloading additional content". She then set me up with an appointment for later today with the Genius Bar at the local Apple Store in case this second download didn't solve things. Kudos to AppleCare for handling this. My AppleCare had expired several months ago but there was no mention of that and they gave me excellent response and service. Actually, I had just called the AppleCare number on a whim since it was taped to my iMac and I thought it would be a quick way to get transferred to paid support.

The second download finished overnight, and this morning the remainder of the install worked! As far as I can determine, it is fully operative. But I will have somewhat of a learning curve. As you might imagine, there is quite a leap from Lion to El Capitan

So I'll cancel the Genius Bar appointment and move forward. Thanks again to all those on this forum who offered the useful assistance!
[doublepost=1452698584][/doublepost]

Looks like this one is resolved - Thanks Folks!

The concern that prompted me to post the question (what "username" to use) turned out to be a non-issue. When I got to that part of the download, the username was pre-filled for me (my full name) and all I needed to do was enter my system password.

But after that, things didn't go as smoothly as I was hoping for. It was a 3.5 hour download due to my slow access speed here. Then the install took about a half hour. It all seemed to be going as expected until the very end. Then, instead of showing me some kind of "welcome to El Capitan" screen, the iMac emitted a sound that I've never heard before and can only describe as a "Bad News Bleat". Then a Lion Utilities screen came up offering some choices such as restoring from a backup, etc.

I wasn't sure what to do at this point and called the AppleCare number. Got a rep immediately and she checked several things and then suggested trying to reboot the machine with CMD-R. From there she told me to select the reinstall OS X option. That turned out to be a 6 hour download with a message something like "downloading additional content". She then set me up with an appointment for later today with the Genius Bar at the local Apple Store in case this second download didn't solve things. Kudos to AppleCare for handling this. My AppleCare had expired several months ago but there was no mention of that and they gave me excellent response and service. Actually, I had just called the AppleCare number on a whim since it was taped to my iMac and I thought it would be a quick way to get transferred to paid support.

The second download finished overnight, and this morning the remainder of the install worked! As far as I can determine, it is fully operative. But I will have somewhat of a learning curve. As you might imagine, there is quite a leap from Lion to El Capitan

So I'll cancel the Genius Bar appointment and move forward. Thanks again to all those on this forum who offered the useful assistance!