Please help me set up account permission.

M

MonaRaeHill

Registered
Hi.

I am a fairly new MAC user. I bought a new MAC OS 10 in January, and feel as if I have been fighting with it ever since. (although my son just say's it's because I am letting it intimidate me.) Anyway, I am a prior Window's user (of over 15 years), and don't really seem to be able to figure out how this MAC likes to do things (seems awfully step specific, but that could just be me.)

Anyway, it finally got to the point where I decided that it was time to set up a separate account for my son. So far, so good. I figured that out, okay.

The problem is that no matter what I tell it to do; he can't access all the ITUNE and Music that he downloaded to my administrator account, from his account.He doesn't want to start over, and I can't blame him.

I have tried setting him up as another administrator; I have tried going into the two programs and changing the ownership and permission settings; and I have tried to set and unset parental controls; all to no avail.

His account continues to get blank applications (with apparently, no downloaded tunes). How can I tell the computer that it's okay for him to access, view and adjust all the music programs on the hard drive?

I don't care that much about them, for myself; I only care about us both having some privacy.

Please help! (Please pretend that I am pretty much a MAC idiot, when you do; it's completely okay to be very, very, specific. My computer really likes that, so, of course, so do I. lol.). Thanks. MonaRaeHill.
 
Place the items in a mutually shared area. Applications should be downloaded in the root Applications folder, if you want them to be accessible between users. This means the Applications folder that's at the first level of your Macintosh HD, or whatever you may have named your specific hard drive. :)

For music or documents to be accessible between all of you, you can move them into the Shared folder inside of the Users folder. That location is mutually accessible as well.

Making him an administrative user doesn't specifically allow him access to your documents in your home folder. It can, as he could access them or copy them from the command line, but this would be easier. If you set /Users/Shared as the default download location for your applications (these are all legally obtained files, right?), then any downloads from those applications will be universally accessible.

Michael
 
Well, I finally figured this out at about 10:00 o'clock last night.

Thank you very much, though, for the reassurance, and also, the legal advice.

I tend to be unreasonably paranoid at times; with computer stuff, especially; it's good to know that just because I am paranoid; doesn't mean that someone is not out to get me..........

It's nice to have third party verification that we do, indeed, live in a very scary world, but that MAC's are somewhat bombproof, virus-wise. That's kinda why I bought it; that, and the fact that I don't appreciate having VISTA thrown down my neck. What on earth could Bill Gates be thinking, anyway?

On another note; I am wondering about hijacking, also? I have listened to "hackers" talk, and it truly is scary, what they can do to penetrate and take over, someone's computer. I have all the included firewall protection on my MAC, set to the "on" position; but how safe is this, really? Could someone clever get in and take me over? Should I do more to protect myself?

I ask, because I've had documents come up missing (but only sections); (I have Word for MAC installed), and was thinking that someone had got in and messed with em'. This could just be user error, and paranoia, however, so I thought I'd pose the question.

Thanks again! MonaRaeHill
 
MonaRaeHill,

It's good to think about security, and I think the Mac is the ideal platform for novice computer users because of XP's woes. Maybe Vista will prove to be truly better, we'll see. Reviews indicate it's pretty clunky in places.

Now, modern Macs are really built upon an industrial-strength Unix-type operating system. Apple has done an amazing job shielding the complexity of Unix from users. But some quirks still come through such as user access protections.

Have you figured out how to move your MP3s and other iTunes files to the Shared folder in users as Go3Iverson suggested? Have you figured out how to get iTunes to find them?

Suggestions to keep your computer secure (stop me if you've heard these before): Don't open email attachments or click on links in email. Be extremely suspicious of any emails that claim to be from your bank. Do NOT click on any links in emails that ask for your account information or password. Go directly to the site by using a bookmark or typing the www.bank.com into the top of your browser.

** Pick a secure but memorable (for you) password for your Mac. Have a mixture of uppercase and lowercase and throw in a few numbers. Here's mine: Welldrink747

That's not really my password. Did you think I'd lost my mind? :)

All seriousness aside though, it is unlikely anyone has gained access to your computer through your Internet access. Again, make sure you have a strong password. Use a different password for your system than the ones you use for websites. And close any ports you don't need by clicking on the "Sharing" pane in System Preferences (click blue Apple, click "System Preferences"). Is anything checked?

Good luck and we hope you'll post any other questions you might have. We'll do our best to help. One more thing, highly recommended: MAC OS X: THE MISSING MANUAL by David Pogue (O'Reilly Press) is available at bookstores. It has an excellent conversational style and should really bring you up to speed on your computer.

Doug

---------------------------

Finally, at the risk of opening my big, dumb mouth (virtually), I hope we're not going to be in the habit here at MacOSX.com of grilling people about whether their music and software are all legal. I understand that Scott doesn't want the site used for discussion of copyright infringement. I think that's wise.

But we shouldn't be representatives of the (incidentally corrupt, money-grubbing) RIAA or an unsanctioned arm of the FBI either. We shouldn't be going around monitoring compliance with copyright laws. That can be overbearing.(Monitoring compliance of the board rules is good, however.)

IMHbdmO (in my humble big, dumb mouth opinion)
 
MonaRaeHill said:
It's nice to have third party verification that we do, indeed, live in a very scary world, but that MAC's are somewhat bombproof, virus-wise. That's kinda why I bought it; that, and the fact that I don't appreciate having VISTA thrown down my neck. What on earth could Bill Gates be thinking, anyway?

On another note; I am wondering about hijacking, also? I have listened to "hackers" talk, and it truly is scary, what they can do to penetrate and take over, someone's computer. I have all the included firewall protection on my MAC, set to the "on" position; but how safe is this, really? Could someone clever get in and take me over? Should I do more to protect myself?

I ask, because I've had documents come up missing (but only sections); (I have Word for MAC installed), and was thinking that someone had got in and messed with em'. This could just be user error, and paranoia, however, so I thought I'd pose the question.

Thanks again! MonaRaeHill
Click to expand...

Microsoft likes to become even more richter (and powerfull) as it already is and releasing a new OS will generate new revenue for them (they hope). More software sales is making more money and getting more powerfull. Nothing new under the sun for over 20 years.

I suggest using a router between computers and the modem will in general make live a lot more difficult for hackers and they tend to attack the easy targets.


Good luck, Kees
 
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