Please help this stupid newbie....

[volntitan]

OK...I new it wouldn't take me long to be stupid. Little info first. My dad bought a 1.8 G5 iMac a couple of weeks ago. I set it up for him, put his name and password in, etc. Well, can't teach an old dog a new trick, so he couldn't get it and I ended up buying it from him, since I am sooooo much smarter computer wise than he is. SO, I then proceed to change the password, add Tiger, Microsoft Office, Ipod music, etc., basically making it my own, EXCEPT for the fact that when you went to users, the "house" icon still had his name. So last night in my infinite wisdom, I right clicked the icon and changed the "house" icon to my name. BRILLIANT! Now, my desktop changed, iTunes doesn't see my music etc. Why? Because I still have the original icon with my father's name and now a folder with everything that used to be under the original "house" icon, with my name on it and the programs don't know where to find it.

Any easy solution to get back to where I was before this bonehead "renaming" idea? Since the computer is brand new, should I just take it back to the factory settings and to square one?

Any, ANY help would be great.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Set up a new admin user with your name. Move the things you want from your fathers home folder (and the one you renamed, which might need to be renamed to something neutral first). Then delete the old user account.

 

[Gee]

Set up a new admin user with your name. Move the things you want from your fathers home folder (and the one you renamed, which might need to be renamed to something neutral first). Then delete the old user account.

I renamed my home folder once and had the same problems. To 'rescue' the situation, first rename the home folder back to what it was originally called - all your stuff should reappear as normal. Then follow the instructions provided by the guy above to create a new user, move stuff over, and delete the old one.

 

[JonMaker]

make backups of data.

reformat and reinstall Tiger and apps.

restore backups where you want them.

good as new.

anything else would just confuse.

 

[volntitan]

OK...stupid question. How do you "reformat" a Mac? I just want to be sure I do it the best (and easiest) way.

 

[ChrisBrightwell]

OK...I new it wouldn't take me long to be stupid.

You renamed your home directory and literally moved the location of *all* your files in that directory.

The home directory reflects your user's "short name" as soon in the system preferences pane. If you want to avoid reformatting the thing, do this:

1. Set the name of that directory BACK to what it was. This will fix a lot of things.

2. Check this out: http://homepage.mac.com/frakes/MOSXPT/content/shortusername.html

If you want to do a format and re-install, there's a checkbox to do that in the OS X installer. You have to dig around for it, but it's called "Erase and Install." More info @ http://www.apple.com/macosx/upgrade/

 

[anonymous161]

Back up what you want to keep, then just use the either restore discs that came with the Mac or the Tiger disc. Once you're running the install discs, select the erase and install option. That should clean everything up good as new.

Edit: Just follow ChrisBrightwell's instructions above.

 

[auxplage]

I did this before as well. All you have to do is change the name back on the home directory, log out, then log back in. It is that simple.

 

[ChrisBrightwell]

I did this before as well. All you have to do is change the name back on the home directory, log out, then log back in. It is that simple.

That will fix what he's broken. It won't solve the problem that he was trying to solve in the first place.

 

[wdlove]

OK...stupid question. How do you "reformat" a Mac? I just want to be sure I do it the best (and easiest) way.

Since the computer is new. Just backup your important files. You can use the Tiger CD to reformat the HD. Essentially doing a clean install. Then you can do it all from scratch.

 

[volntitan]

OK...so I am trying to erase and install using Tiger disk. I double click "install Tiger". It says it needs to restart. I click restart. Then during boot up, it ejects the disk and just boots up as normal. So I try the install disks that come with the computer and same thing happens.

Help! What am I doing wrong?

 

[wordmunger]

Hold down the "C" when you restart (and make sure the CD/DVD is in the computer) and it will boot from the CD/DVD.

 

[volntitan]

In your opinion, would it be better to use the Tiger upgrade disk or the 3 install disks that came with the iMac?

 

[wordmunger]

In your opinion, would it be better to use the Tiger upgrade disk or the 3 install disks that came with the iMac?

The install disks are Panther? Then use the Tiger disk.

 

[volntitan]

Yes...the install disks are panther. What about all the preinstalled software that came on it. Will I be able to easily retrieve it from the install disks if I use the Tiger to erase/install?

 

[wdlove]

Yes...the install disks are panther. What about all the preinstalled software that came on it. Will I be able to easily retrieve it from the install disks if I use the Tiger to erase/install?

You can go back to the install CD and just select what you want to install. Did they also include any separate software CD's, the preinstalled software?

 

[volntitan]

OK...Holding down the "c" button didn't work. It still kicks out the Tiger disk...any thoughts?

 

[spinne1]

Is your Tiger disk an actual OS install disk? If so, it will boot from it. If not, it won't. You mention it being an "upgrade" disk. What exactly is that in this case? (I run Panther so I don't know all the ways Apple has distributed Tiger, especially with new computers). You may need to contact Apple to get a bootable DVD disk of Tiger (if you don't have one).

Regardless, I don't see why you need to reinstall the operating system when the above solutions will work without having to do so. Resetting everything is actually a major pain in the butt IF you have done much on the computer. If not, it is no big deal.