MacinSpot

It is a good idea to keep your computer secure. Mac OS X is pretty bulletproof, but it is far from perfect. Always keep your computer updated by going to the Apple menu in the upper left corner and select Software Updates. This is pretty automated so there is no need to write an article on how to do so, but Apple releases security updates and program patches to keep everything else secure. Having a good password on your machine is always a good idea too. Should you ever need to change your password this is how you do it.

Start by clicking on that Apple menu in the upper left corner of your screen and selecting System Preferences. Alternatively you can click the icon on your dock for system preferences. In Tiger, it looks like a light switch, but Apple changed this in Leopard to three gears grinding. Since there is a way to the system preferences from the Apple Menu, I removed this from the dock by just dragging it off the dock and letting it go poof. So I access it here:

Towards the bottom of the system preferences you will see an area titled “System”. Directly under System you will see “Accounts.” This is where you can control user accounts in all different forms and fashions. You can delete, create, and adjust user accounts in any way you need. So click Accounts and it will take you to the Accounts preferences.

Once you are in the accounts area you will see something much like this:

You will notice under the very top user labeled MouseCalls on the left hand side, and under the user Music it says Admin. An admin can do just about anything on the computer. You can setup parental controls for your kids user accounts and restrict access for other users. An admin is powerful. Select the user you want to change the password for and then on the right hand side towards the top you will see two options if you are changing the password for an admin, one option is “Password” and the other option is “Login Items.” You want to make sure you are in the password area, then click the button, “Change Password.” After clicking that a box will pop down:

Put in the old password and then create your new password. Verify the password by typing it in the box labeled “Verfiy” and if you need a password hint, go ahead and put one in the “Password Hint” field. After you click the “Change Password” button at the bottom of this drop down box then your password has been changed. Log out and log back in to make sure the password was changed and you are ready to go.