Another reason for a current backup

glb613 · ‎03-09-2010

I'm one of the regular posters who encourages, and sometimes nag, people to have a current backup. What happened to me today is just another in a long list of reasons why they are so important.

The guest account on my iMac had been turned off and I didn't know why. I like to have 2 administrator accounts and one guest in case something goes wrong or someone wants to use my computer. I don't know what happened but while trying to enable the guest account, I changed my primary account from Administrator to Managed. Of course, a managed account can't make any changes including changing it back to Administrator. I restarted the computer, tried to log on to my other administrator account and the computer wouldn't accept the password. I tried logging in using my iTunes ID and that failed as well. I started to panick, look online for solutions (most involved doing things I wasn't comfortable doing), finally changed my iTunes password and was able to log in as the second Administrator. I was able to change my main profile back to Administrator and all is well.

Had I not been able to figure out the problem, I was going to do a restore using a backup. I checked and my most recent backup was done 8-12-2016. I was surprised since I usually make one on a more regular basis. It's easy to forget or not have one at all. I guess this long post is to show how easy it is to mess up a computer and need a backup to fix a mistake.

jaxs mom · ‎04-18-2012

Time Machine backs hourly all you have to do is leave it turned on.

Don't Change Your Authenticity for Approval

Mz iMac · ‎07-26-2014

"look online for solutions (most involved doing things I wasn't comfortable doing),"

Like what? Using Terminal as mention in this KB Article Change or reset a user account password on your Mac?

"Never argue with a fool. Onlookers may not be able to tell the difference."

ChynnaBlue · ‎05-22-2012

I'm so glad you got it sorted. I'm always worried about doing something like that with my own Admin account and locking myself out of things.

I'm also an Admin for a lot of SharePoint sites at work and I'm worried about the same thing there - mistakenly removing my own permissions so that I can't do anything other than read/contribute to a page.

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glb613 · ‎03-09-2010

@Mz iMac wrote:
"look online for solutions (most involved doing things I wasn't comfortable doing),"
Like what? Using Terminal as mention in this KB Article Change or reset a user account password on your Mac?

Did you read my post? I changed one administrator account by mistake to managed and the other administrator account wouldn't accept my password or Apple ID. I found some information online how to get into Single User Mode and change the managed account to an administrator. Thank goodness I didn't have to do it.

I don't have my backups set for automatic because I don't like having a portable or non portable hard drive on all of the time. I don't back up to the cloud because I have more than 5 GB and I'm too cheap to pay for monthly storage. Heat is a computer's and hard drive's worst enemy. So when I want to do a backup, I do it manually. I'm retired and my computer isn't used like a work computer. Not much gets added on a daily basis.

glb613 · ‎03-09-2010

@ChynnaBlue wrote:
I'm so glad you got it sorted. I'm always worried about doing something like that with my own Admin account and locking myself out of things.

I'm also an Admin for a lot of SharePoint sites at work and I'm worried about the same thing there - mistakenly removing my own permissions so that I can't do anything other than read/contribute to a page.

I've had 2 administrator accounts on my computers since the days of Windows XP. I used to read a lot of tech magazines and go to tech websites and they all said it is a necessity. It has come in handy more than once. In fact, I would never have just one 1 administrator account on a computer I own.

It really is a big problem when you don't have permission to do anything! Had I only had 1 administrator account, I would have needed to do a restore from a backup or possibly taken it into Simply Mac. I found a hack online but didn't feel comfortable doing it.

I think I'm also going to put a reminder on my calendar to backup my computers the first and 15th of each month. I'm retired, don't use my computers like a work computer and not much changes from day to day. But, that doesn't mean nothing changes in a month or 2 and I should practice what I preach.

Mz iMac · ‎07-26-2014

@glb613

Yes I did read your post. You did not mention what you were not comfortable doing. Reason for my link.

Sorry, I can't .

"Never argue with a fool. Onlookers may not be able to tell the difference."

glb613 · ‎03-09-2010

This is what I didn't want to do:

http://www.hackmac.org/tutorials/from-standard-to-administrator/

Mz iMac · ‎07-26-2014

YIKES! I would'nt want to do that either. My eyes just glazed over reading that techno mumbo jumbo. I thought messing w/the terminal was bad!

"Never argue with a fool. Onlookers may not be able to tell the difference."

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

I don't do much on my computer that I need to save. I have a my pocket account where I save recipes and I save some photos in my outlook, but none of those would be an earth shattering loss. My DH does all our banking etc. so he has a lot more to lose than I do and he does back things up.