How to add user accounts on a new MacBook


Add a New User Account

You already created one user account (Administrator) when you first booted up your new MacBook. If you want other people to be able to use your computer with their own accounts, you need to create one account for each of them. You can do this by going to the Apple > System Preferences > Accounts pane. Look for the lock symbol in the corner of the window. If it is in the locked position, you need to click it and enter your password to make changes.

To create a new account, click the (+) button in the lower-left corner. This opens a new account dialog box in which you can set a username and password. In the text boxes, choose the type of account you want to create, enter the full name of the user, name the new account, and enter a password. Enter the password again to verify that they match.

How to Select a Strong Password

You should spend some time considering what you want your password to be for your user account. If your laptop is ever stolen, you want to make sure that whoever has it can't access the personal information that's stored inside.

You should never use a password that might be easy to figure out, such as any combination of a pet's name, child's name, the date of your birthday, your Social Security number, your ZIP code, or other easily identifiable information. You might think that it's hard for a stranger to figure out this type of information, but all they need to do for many people is visit a social networking website like Facebook or MySpace or rifle through their mail/recycling.

When choosing a password, it should be a minimum of 7–8 characters. Try to use a mixture of upper- and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. Of course, it should also be something that you can remember. You'll see in the new account dialog box that you can add a password hint. Feel free to add one, but realize that if it will help you remember your password, it might help someone else figure out what it is. If you want your MacBook to help you select a password, click the key icon next to the Password text box.

Once you click Create Account, your new account will appear in the sidebar on the left side of the Accounts pane. You can click it now to make some additional changes.

User Pictures

You can choose a picture to associate with your account. Click on the small picture to the left of the Change Password button to open a menu of additional photos to choose from. You can select a picture that you like from those listed or you can really go nuts and choose one of your own pictures.

If you want to choose your own picture, click the Edit Picture button to open the photo editing window. Drag a photo from your personal collection into the program or click Choose to browse your computer's directories. If you want, you can click Take Photo Snapshot to use your MacBook's built-in camera to snap a photo. Resize it until you have the image that you want to use, and then assign it to your new account by clicking Set.

Allow User to Administer This Computer

Checking the Allow User to Administer This Computer check box turns a previously Standard account into an Administrator account. Before assigning these privileges to another user, make sure you trust them enough not to screw up your computer!

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This article was sent to us by: Tim Pallen at 11072010

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