Resetting Tiger Welcome Screen and Setup

[cargoplex]

I've got a random question...

I'm selling a Power Mac, and I have performed a clean installation of 10.4 Tiger, as well as installed several applications such as Adobe CS2, MS Office, etc.

Is there any way to reset Tiger to boot into the Welcome screen again as if it was being setup for the first time with all of these application installations having been performed. My thought process is that I thought it would be fun if I could preinstall some software for the buyer, but then allow them to setup Tiger as if it was a new installation.

Any input would be much appreciated! Thanks.

[Raven]

You need to remove the .applesetupdone file. You should remove it via the command line in the Terminal with a command such as:

rm /var/db/.applesetupdone

[giskard22]

You'd also want to remove the NetInfo database and whatever admin user you created. If you search this site for applesetupdone you'll probably find the full list.

[Raven]

Ideally you should remove those files in Single user mode too. That way you could even remove the temp account you created.
And you can find a good idea of what to do to reset as you wish in post 10 in this thread. Thank DeltaMac for it !

[cargoplex]

Wow, thanks! I used the instructions given by DeltaMac on the thread you recommended Raven, and it worked perfect. Muchos Gracias!

[Crisis1837]

Im not MAC smart but I ran the command

rm /var/db/.applesetupdone

and it comes up with...

override-w----r-- root/wheel for /var/db/.applesetupdone?

what do I type to say yes or confirm...please help

[hayne]

Quote: Originally Posted by Crisis1837 and it comes up with... override-w----r-- root/wheel for /var/db/.applesetupdone? what do I type to say yes or confirm

Usually you answer this type of question with either:

y
or
yes

By the way, I merged your new thread into this one. Please don't cross-post. If you ask a question one place, don't ask it again elsewhere.

[Crisis1837]

Please bare with me, I am not an experienced Mac user, not even a novice for that matter. But I purchased a PowerBook G4 (as is) on ebay. There is only one account on it, for which they did not have the password for. I have done some googling and read that if you delete the file .applesetupdone the next time you reboot it will run setup and basically overwrite the previous account.

On start up I know to hold Apple+s to access...well, what I think of as a windows DOS screen, Im sure its something else on MAC. And Ive tried several commands that I have found, but none work for me. If someone could please enlighten me and help I would apprecite it. I know more than basic crap on windows and want to learn MAC even if you just give me a link to some types of tutorials or something I would be grateful.

[trevor]

Quote: Please bare with me, I am not an experienced Mac user, not even a novice for that matter. But I purchased a PowerBook G4 (as is) on ebay. There is only one account on it, for which they did not have the password for.

Hi Crisis1837,

You should have received operating system discs with the computer. Ask the seller to send those to you.

If they refuse, then they're selling you a computer without any valid operating system--which is, obviously, of less value to you. I would personally be very unhappy with that, and do what I could to recover my money.

In any event, you will need valid OS discs for your computer. If you can't get them from the seller, then you will have to buy them.

I'd recommend Tiger, OS X 10.4.x, as the best choice.

If you tell us exactly which PowerBook G4, we can give you further information about what the minimum version of OS X you can use. Note that unlike on Windows, you cannot boot a Mac with an OS older than the computer, so there's a hard minimum to what version of the Mac OS will work on a specific computer.

Once you have an OS disc, either from the seller or that you purchased, then boot to the disc by holding down the 'C' key on the keyboard immediately after hitting the Power button. When you've booted to the Installer and gone past the opening screens, choose "Custom Install", then select "Erase and Install", which will wipe off all the former user's junk and install a nice clean version of OS X just for you.

Trevor

[Crisis1837]

I did the command to erase applesetupdone file and restarted, I got the welcome screen to create a new account and everything was going fine but now Im sitting here looking at the screen for "name" "Short Name" "Password" "Verify" "Password Hint" and then your picture on the right...I filled everything out...but there are no pictures for me to select from...and I cant press continue...only Back...any suggestions?

PowerBook G4
1 GHz
15"
256 DDR2700
Mac OSX 10.3.9 Panther

[hayne]

Quote: Originally Posted by Crisis1837 I did the command to erase applesetupdone file and restarted, I got the welcome screen to create a new account and everything was going fine but now Im sitting here looking at the screen for "name" "Short Name" "Password" "Verify" "Password Hint" and then your picture on the right...I filled everything out...but there are no pictures for me to select from...and I cant press continue...only Back...any suggestions?

I don't recall this screen, but usually if a button is greyed-out, it means that something isn't filled in or is not appropriate.

But in any case, I agree with what Trevor said above. You should always erase the drive and install a fresh copy of OS X from the CD/DVD when you buy a used Mac. You have no idea what the previous owner did with the OS. It could be filled with malware due to maliciousness, or just due to incompetence.

You can usually get a copy of older versions of OS X quite cheaply on eBay. Make sure that you get a retail version of the CD, not just an upgrade or "restore" disk (that came with some particular model of Mac).

By the way, I again merged your new thread with this one. Please keep to the one thread while discussing the same issue - or problems that arose from that issue.