Administrator Account Deleted?

evancleave · Mar 13, 2011

For some unknown reason, my ADMINISTRATOR account has been deleted in my System Preferences/Accounts. (I have a standard account, but no Administrator).

I can log into my computer (including entering password), but when I attempt to install/upgrade software, it doesn't recognize my Administrator name or Password (which I've never changed).

Have I somehow deleted it?

How do I solve this?

Lifeisabeach · Mar 15, 2011

Here's a fix that has worked for others who have experienced the same problem:

Apple - Support - Discussions - Administrator? ...

Apple - Support - Discussions - Administrator? ...[/url]]
Here is the fix.....
1. Shut down the computer if it is on.
2. Press the power button to start the computer.
3. Immediately press and hold the Command (Apple) key and one of the following:
the "s" key for single-user mode.
4. Type mount -uw /
5. Type passwd
6. Enter new password (this will be for the root user account)
7. Type reboot
8. Enter Account settings and when prompted for administrator account and password, use the user name root and the password you just setup
9. Check box for you standard account to administrate box
10. If all goes well you are Admin again.

BTW... I should emphasize that, once you have restored your admin account using root, stay away from using root. Tooling around under root can be very dangerous! All normal safeguards are out the window and it's very very very easy to permanently hose your installation of OS X if you aren't careful.

Administrator Account Deleted?

evancleave

Lifeisabeach

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