Hopefully, you're just confusing the system's request for authentication with a demotion in your user status: Try entering your password when the installer tells you that you need an administrator's password. If it still balks, try setting the Root password, which normally requires an administrator password - unless you do it after booting from your Mac OS X Install disc. Do so, then click through the first screen and select Utilities > Reset Password from the menubar. Select System Administrator (Root) from the User pull-down menu and follow the prompts to set a password.
Now you can reboot normally from the hard drive and dig into System Preferences > Accounts to restore your administrator status. But for better security, leave your accounts as they are and use the Root password when you need to authenticate an installation or what-have-you. Sure it's a little more typing, but it makes your Mac more secure from would-be infiltrators. You know not to log in as Root for daily use, right? That's a big security no-no.
Matt
October 23, 2007 at 12:47pm
I found this on the Apple discussions. Hope this helps others.
If you are unfortunate enough to delete your only admin user, or remove his admin capability, then as long as you have another user with login capability, you can give that user admin rights as shown below. You can then re-create the original user or reinstate the admin capability using NetInfo Manager.
Print this post out in a mono-spaced font, and type carefully, paying attention to spaces and punctuation, since you cannot copy/paste in Single User mode.
Caution: in single user mode you have root privileges. Be careful! Substitute the name of 'youruser' below.
Boot into single user mode (Command-S) at startup which will eventually get you a shell prompt (ending in #). Then type the following:
fsck -fy
Repeat the above until it says your disk is OK. Then continue withmount -uw /
nicl -raw /var/db/netinfo/local.nidb -merge /groups/admin users youruser
If you get a message saying "invalid path", then type these two commands first:nicl -raw /var/db/netinfo/local.nidb -create /groups/admin gid 80
nicl -raw /var/db/netinfo/local.nidb -create /groups/admin passwd '*'and then repeat the "nicl ... -merge" command. Then:
reboot
You will now be able to login as 'youruser' and have administrative privileges.Membership of the 'admin' group is the only thing that distinguishes administrative users from ordinary users.
