Changing Home Name

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First off, made the upgrade to Leopard today (via Erase An Install) and I'm loving it. However, during the installation I think I did something that I shouldn't have.

When setting it up, they asked to enter an Apple ID that you would normally use for things like iTunes, etc. So I naturally entered my iTunes account and e-mail address information thinking that's what they meant and now my e-mail address is what is listed next to my home icon on Finder. Is there a way to change this, as I would much prefer my name there, instead? Thanks!
 
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First off, made the upgrade to Leopard today (via Erase An Install) and I'm loving it. However, during the installation I think I did something that I shouldn't have.

When setting it up, they asked to enter an Apple ID that you would normally use for things like iTunes, etc. So I naturally entered my iTunes account and e-mail address information thinking that's what they meant and now my e-mail address is what is listed next to my home icon on Finder. Is there a way to change this, as I would much prefer my name there, instead? Thanks!

You have a choice of two places to change this:
System Prefs ~> Sharing​
If the Padlock in the bottom left hand corner is locked, click on it and enter the Admin Password to unlock it. Otherwise just highlight the Computer Name: and change it to what you want it to show.

System Prefs ~> Accounts ~> YourAccount ~> Name:
You will be prompted to enter your Password to change the name.

So the first choice requires an Admin Password to make the change and the second choice requires your Account Password. It's up to you what method you choose and the end result is pretty much the same.
 
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You'll need to create a new user account, move all of your stuffs (ie. docs, pics, tunes, prefs), and then delete your old account and login as the new one. Viola!

There's another way, but I assure you its really technical.
 
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Thanks, guys. The thing is when I try that, it actually shows my name and the settings are correct there.

However, it's only when I click on Finder that I see my e-mail address next to the house on the left and on top. For some reason, I can't get that to change. There has to be something I'm missing here.
 
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Whatever you do don't change your "Home" directory name, which is the one next to the icon of a House or *Home*... you need to really do your research first before attempting to change this .... that's your Short User Name and to change this can cause untold chaos if you are not careful ....

I too was unhappy with my full name being seen as the name of my computer so I just changed it using the above methods .... my short user name (next to the house) is unchanged and I don't really care about that.

Are you able to change your Computers Name to something else using one of my methods?

Mac OS X 10.3, 10.4 or later: Return to default desktop, apparent "loss" of home directory

I realise this info relates to Panther & Tiger but I'm sure it'll be the same in Leopard.



.
 
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Spawn__Dooley;513874 said:
Whatever you do don't change your "Home" directory name, which is the one next to the icon of a House or *Home*... you need to really do your research first before attempting to change this .... that's your Short User Name and to change this can cause untold chaos if you are not careful ....

I too was unhappy with my full name being seen as the name of my computer so I just changed it using the above methods .... my short user name (next to the house) is unchanged and I don't really care about that.

Are you able to change your Computers Name to something else using one of my methods?

Mac OS X 10.3, 10.4 or later: Return to default desktop, apparent "loss" of home directory

I realise this info relates to Panther & Tiger but I'm sure it'll be the same in Leopard.



.

Thanks for the information, although I think we're on two different tracks here. The short name, the one next to the house icon, is the one that somehow has my e-mail address on it and that's what I wish I could change. My actual computer name is fine. Since changing the short name is an apparently dangerous thing to do, and since I haven't really added much stuff to my machine, would it be best to just re-install Leopard again? I did an Erase An Install operation today, so I do have a bootable clone of my old Tiger system on my external HD.

LOL, I realize how anal this sounds, but it just bugs the heck out of me looking at my e-mail address next to that house icon. I guess my OCD strikes again!
 

bobtomay

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Your Mac's Specs
15" MBP '06 2.33 C2D 4GB 10.7; 13" MBA '14 1.8 i7 8GB 10.11; 21" iMac '13 2.9 i5 8GB 10.11; 6S
If you're OK with doing another Erase & Install - just create another user account with admin privileges - log out and then log in to the new account and delete the original account.
 
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The ShortUserName is just a lower-case-without-any-gaps version of your Computer Name. I don't think we are on different tracks at all. You must have already changed your Computer Name from what you originally entered in the set up of Leopard just as I changed my Computer name from what I entered during the set up of Tiger.

Here is a link about changing the short user name, but once again I don't know the relevance of it with the new os Leopard:

Easily Change the Short Username in Mac OS X

IMHO I wouldn't go ahead and reinstall the OS but would just keep the current user account but make it the Admin accoung and create a new account in Sys Prefs and you can give it the name you want .... problem solved ... it's adviseable to have an Admin acct that you don't use for everyday stuff anyway and a restricted account for everyday web surfing etc.

Hope this helps

.
 
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Thanks, guys, sorry for my misunderstanding. Anyways, I started another Administrator account and deleted the other one and its contents; the new account fixed my problem, however, now I have another one. When I try to access my external HD to bring back some files, it says that I do not have sufficient access privileges to open a lot of folders. I am baffled as to what is causing this.
 
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Ahh the old Permissions PITA ... do a Get Info on one of the folders and have a look down the bottom of the window to the Permissions section. If you don't have read/write access you can change it there ... I'm not sure if you can batch select all the folders and do a Get Info on the lot .... try selecting the lot and press Command as you right click and select Get Info .... maybe you can change the Permissions en masse?




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Thanks. The good news is that changing the permissions helped, but the problem is there are SO many folders on my external HD that are now locked that it would take me all day to try and change them back. Also, when I tried to use Mail to check my e-mail (GMail account), it wouldn't retrieve any previous messages, just new ones. All of this started once I deleted my original Administrator account. When I deleted it, they asked if I wanted to delete all its contents, including its home folder and I said yes. Ever since I've deleted the account, it seems that things aren't quite the same. Is there still hope or should I maybe reinstall? And if so, how would I do that?
 

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