how to find out EXACTLY why is os x asking for admin creds

I don't like to type the administrator's credentials into forms whose implications and purpose I do not completely understand. I hope that you feel same way. Alas OS X frequently asks us to do exactly that. I mean the dialog that has text like this, "[some app name] wants to make changes. Enter administrator name and password to allow it."

How can a security conscious/paranoid mac user find out what restricted resource the app is attempting to access? How can he find out what exactly he is asked to authorize. Does OS X log requests for restricted files by underprivileged users?

MacBook Pro (15-inch Mid 2010), OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

That dialog should tell you what is requesting elevated privileges. If it doesn't, deny it. What have you seen that looks suspicious?

Are you logged in and using your Mac as an "Admin" or "Standard" User???

With the latter you can sometimes be nagged so much it becomes annoying and almost painful and can depend on what you're actually doing or accessing…

I'm an Admin, required to use password for any changes

I am asked for my admin password for everything, even changing a file's name. You wonder if I am logged in as an "Admin" or a "Standard" user. When I go to "Users and Groups" in Preferences, at the top left in says "Current User, my name, Admin. "Other users" below that has a Guest User, login only. So, I am set up as an Admin, correct? If so, what can I do so I don't have to enter my admin password (the password I use when I login) for every change?

It seems that you are setup and logged in as an Admin user but I don't know what the problem is.

Did the problem just recently start and what have you installed or done lately?

Have you run Disk Utility and maybe even do a Permission Repair if you can

Otherwise have a read here:
https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201609

And for more suggestions, I'd try checking out some of the hits with a google search such as this:
https://www.google.ca/search?client...&oe=UTF-8&gfe_rd=cr&ei=zxoyWIjoKOXe8AfW5b7wDg





- Patrick
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You can right click on your drive icon and select Get Info. Then where it says Sharing & Permissions:, make sure "you" have Read & Write Privileges. You may also want to unlock the window, select the Gear icon, and select Apply to enclosed items.

You may also want to unlock the window, select the Gear icon, and select Apply to enclosed items.

Click to expand...

That's would extend whatever those set permissions are to EVERY folder that would include everything in the System and Library folders!!!

Just might want to reconsider going that far….????






- Patrick
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pm-r said:

That's would extend whatever those set permissions are to EVERY folder that would include everything in the System and Library folders!!!

Just might want to reconsider going that far….????




- Patrick
======

Click to expand...

Isn't that what the admin user usually has?

****. Just erased my reply. All of this is happening on a new, Samsung EVO 6G 500G SSD as boot. I erased, formatted, and downloaded and applied Yosemite. I will try your suggestions. By the way, in the Preferences window for Users & Groups, the selection (even when unlocked) for "allow user to administer this computer" is checked, but is light gray and can not be unchecked (not that I would want to) when "me as the Admin" is selected. The window is unlocked.

When I selected the SSD boot drive and got info, it said System: read & write; wheel (what is that?): read only; Everyone: read only. Above that it said "You can only read". I changed "wheel" to "read and write". No change. But, when I changed Everyone to read and write, the message above it all changed to "You have custom access". I just changed the name of a file and it did it without asking for my password. I will have to fool around a bit more, but it seems the problem is fixed. But now I have granted read and write access to everyone, which I don't think is wise, but I can live with it. Thanks for all your help, once again this forum saved the day for me!

Well, back again. I applied the new permissions, it took a few minutes to do it, then I went to Preferences, and selected Users and Groups, and I get a message "Preferences Error, could not load the pane". I will reboot and see what happens, unless someone has a better idea. The SSD Boot drive still says I have custom access.

"If none of this makes sense to you, maybe BatChmod is not for you It has the potential to mangle your files if you do not know what you are doing. ESPECIALLY if you change the permission of your whole disk at once... just don’t do that." I did not use BtChmod, but I did do what it says NOT to do, changed the entire disk at once, which led to Users in Preferences giving me an error, "could not load pane". I suppose at this point, I need to start over and erase, format, install Yosemite or newer?

I did not use BtChmod, but I did do what it says NOT to do, changed the entire disk at once,

Click to expand...

Hence my previous cautionary reply note #7.

I would have thought one would have done some more checking or googling, but I guess you can do that now.

Yes, you'll probably find reloading the OS the best solution. And what you are asking how to avoid is how the system works. Even when you are logged in as an Admin, for certain functions you have to confirm you want to continue with a password. That is for changes that might impact the system operations--installing software, uninstalling software, changing configurations, etc. It's part of how the OS security works and is why the OS is much stronger against malicious software. Nothing gets to be installed that isn't specifically authorized by the user and no system changes take place without authority to do so. Not that a naive user can't get screwed up, it happens all the time, but in the normal course of events, this level of protection works pretty well. So, once you reinstall and recover from a backup, if you need to do that, then just live with the occasional prompt for an admin password and say "thank you" each time for the protections.