MacBook Pro question on former owner

Question

I have a used MacBook. The former user was still the admin so I Googled and followed instructions to remove his password and get myself in as admin. I then deleted his user account.

I just looked at my settings on my iPhone and saw under messages "share with FORMER USERS NAME MacBook"

How do I get his name off of everything? I don't see him at all under user accounts. I don't have any discs, install media, etc.

I would boot it into recovery, and erase the startup disk and reinstall macOS. Which is what the previous owner should have done. (Note that installation media is not required.) — Michael Hampton, Apr 12 '18 at 19:40

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 12 '18 at 14:53

2

You need to change the name of the MacBook, not just the user account.

You will find this in System Preferences -> Sharing. The Computer name can then be changed by selecting edit (you may have to unlock, first).

answered Apr 12 '18 at 14:53

Allan

101,432

Ok I did that! Next issue is my itunes is signed in but I keep getting requests to update his applications. How do I stop that? – BluQQ Apr 12 '18 at 15:17
1

You need to sign out of iCloud. Sys Prefs -> iCloud. What might be easier, is just to re-run the initial setup. – Allan Apr 12 '18 at 15:48

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 12 '18 at 15:34

With iCloud, the App Store, Find My Mac and everything else that Apple has designed into the OS to make stealing a Mac difficult, they have also made buying a Mac difficult.

All of the apps on that Mac belong to someone else, as far as Apple is concerned. The operating system as well. If I were you I would download High Sierra and use a program like DiskmakerX to make a bootable USB thumb drive installer.

I would back up all your documents. Everything you need from that Mac and then boot from the thumb drive and, using Disk Utility in the installer, reformat the hard drive so nothing of the previous owner is left on the computer.

You can remove apps, you can change the name, you can hope he disabled Find My Mac, but for me all of that is death my a thousand cuts. It's easier, in the long run, to wipe his footprint from the computer by doing the format and reinstall then endlessly fiddling with all of the myriad ways you will have to work around what he has already done with the Mac, IMHO...

Instead of re-downloading the OS and using a USB stick, the OP could boot into recovery mode, erase the disk, then install the OS. — At0micMutex, Apr 12 '18 at 18:35
Both require downloading macOS but my version allows you to select what version you get and make a reusable bootable installer — Steve Chambers, Apr 12 '18 at 20:10

MacBook Pro question on former owner

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