Create a new user
25/06/07 07:20
When problems arise in an application or in your
workflow. One of the easiest fixes can be to create a
new user in Mac OS X.
iPhoto, MS Office, Safari, Mail or any of the other applications (programs) that run on your Mac save data related to your personal usage including passwords, accounts and history.
Clearing these files of data, also known as plist files or preferences files is a useful method of troubleshooting and the easiest way to start with a clean slate of preferences across all your applications is to create a new user. This user will be named John Tester and he can be setup with the same privileges as your main user profile (do remember to have a full backup of your system before trying any troubleshooting, you can perform a full backup using Apple's Backup software, or a third party solution like Retrospect or SuperDuper)
Create your user by going into System Profiler,
entering your Administrator password,
clicking the plus sign
and filling in information for your tester profile, when finished setting up this user,
sign is as this test user (log your other users out first, better yet perform a restart and zap the P-ram while doing it).
Try performing some of the tasks that were causing you issues under your own user profile, e.g. If Safari wasn't opening, is it now working? or if iPhoto or Photo Booth were behaving erratically, do they perform well now?
Performing this quick step will save you time as you may find you can fulfill your needs under this new user account, you can also inform your Mac Technician (If in the Bay Area, Call us for assistance) that creating a new user helped, this will knock 15 minutes off any consulting fee!
These tips provided to save everybody time and hopefully make you love your Mac a little more, brought to you by AuburnCom, San Francisco's Favorite Friendly Mac Consultants.
iPhoto, MS Office, Safari, Mail or any of the other applications (programs) that run on your Mac save data related to your personal usage including passwords, accounts and history.
Clearing these files of data, also known as plist files or preferences files is a useful method of troubleshooting and the easiest way to start with a clean slate of preferences across all your applications is to create a new user. This user will be named John Tester and he can be setup with the same privileges as your main user profile (do remember to have a full backup of your system before trying any troubleshooting, you can perform a full backup using Apple's Backup software, or a third party solution like Retrospect or SuperDuper)
Create your user by going into System Profiler,
entering your Administrator password,
clicking the plus sign
and filling in information for your tester profile, when finished setting up this user,
sign is as this test user (log your other users out first, better yet perform a restart and zap the P-ram while doing it).
Try performing some of the tasks that were causing you issues under your own user profile, e.g. If Safari wasn't opening, is it now working? or if iPhoto or Photo Booth were behaving erratically, do they perform well now?
Performing this quick step will save you time as you may find you can fulfill your needs under this new user account, you can also inform your Mac Technician (If in the Bay Area, Call us for assistance) that creating a new user helped, this will knock 15 minutes off any consulting fee!
These tips provided to save everybody time and hopefully make you love your Mac a little more, brought to you by AuburnCom, San Francisco's Favorite Friendly Mac Consultants.