Password, Master Password, Keychain Password

[Sooz]

Hi, Everyone!  You may remember I'm not all that with computers, and you may also recall that I continue to learn so much from this site!!  (Special thanks to special people--you know who you are!).  Retirement continues to be wonderful with just a couple little "health" bumps.

Anyway, I'm having a computer security problem.  I have a iMac running OS 10, v. 10.4.11.  I want to make sure it's password protected from people getting access to what I have on the desktop & what I have on my HD and backup files.

We recently went out of town for a wedding, and had a trusted friend house and dog sit.  We've asked him to not the the computer, and he respects that, but his significant other (whom we did NOT expect to show up the last time and this most recent time!!) doesn't seem to respect that as we noticed once before.  We've taken to hiding the keyboard, and this last time, our friend said it was a little hurtful to him because he respects our wishes.

I brought up that his SO tends to push parameters, and ask for forgiveness later and it was not him (or friend) that compelled us to remove the keyboard, but his S.O.'s attempts to access our computer.

For this last time we were gone, and as normal for when we leave, I turned off the computer using the power button on the back.  Then I disconnected the keyboard and hid it.  

When we arrived home, just as what happened last time, I noticed that the computer had been turned on, and the screen saver pictures were scrolling around on the screen--this told me that our friend's SO did indeed try to get onto my computer because he has to press the POWER button to turn it on.  Since he was thwarted in his endeavor to take a peek at things, he just left it that way.  The SO may have attempted this when our friend was outside playing with the dogs, or was in another part of the house, or when he went to pick up dinner.  While I would love to ban the SO, that's not practical.  I just don't trust him to respect my wishes, and have to find another way to stop his attempts.

Soooooo, for the next time we go out of town, what do I do to make sure no one has access to my computer except for me?  NO ONE else uses my computer, and I don't do any "sharing" with other computers.   I need to change the PW so when I shut it down and shut off the computer using the Power button on the back, no one can get on without a password.  

Does this require changing my regular PW (System pref/Accounts/Change PW) AND changing my keychain password, AND/or changing my master password?  

I did notice that when I choose "LOGOUT SOOZ" under the apple, that the files are still accessible by simply pressing the "back" button and selecting Restart on the pop up box, versus typing in my password.  Whaaaa?  Spin me around and call me dizzy!

I have the instructions for changing my PW, changing a master PW and changing a keychain PW from the Help menu.  Which one do I use for this instance?  I only want to use a password feature when we leave town to totally block access to everything.  I usually I keep my computer on all the time, and it goes to sleep when I'm not using it.  

Thanks so much for any help!  
Smiles,
Sooz

[Jack W]

Sooz,

Don't log out.

Instead, do an Apple>Shut Down

This is not foolproof, but better than logging out. And this also turns off the computer so you don't need to shut down with the power button.

And put in a new password.

FWIW, Jack

[kimmer]

QUOTE

Soooooo, for the next time we go out of town, what do I do to make sure no one has access to my computer except for me? NO ONE else uses my computer, and I don't do any "sharing" with other computers. I need to change the PW so when I shut it down and shut off the computer using the Power button on the back, no one can get on without a password.

Go to System pref/Accounts/and click on Login Options (see pic below)
[attachment=2515:password1.jpg]

On next screen, make sure you have Automatic login turned OFF (see pic below)
[attachment=2516:password2.jpg]

This should then require you to enter the password associated with whatever acct you are using. See pic below for login screen. (Pic borrowed from here, because I couldn't take a screen cap of my mine, and couldn't find on at Apple)
[attachment=2517:SL_login.jpg]

In the first pic, you'll notice that I have 2 main accts. One is my reg. user acct, and the other is my admin acct. They both have different passwords. If you think this snoopy person might have figured out your password(s), then I'd recommend changing it(them).

When you head out of town, do a shut down from the Apple Menu, as Jack said. I might still hide the keyboard, and if your house sitter questions you, tell him you want to be safe in case someone breaks in when he isn't there (he's not there 24/7 is he?).

Hope this helps.

Kimmer

PS: Sorry to hear about your health bumps. Hope all is well now.

[Xairbusdriver]

BTW, hiding the power cord may be easier and it won't allow anyone to even turn the Mac ON!

Just take the advice above; don't use Automatic Log In and then just use the normal Shutdown method when you are not going to be around to monitor the machines use. Logging out is rather useless unless you have more than one account/user needs.

It also helps to have a good password, the longer the better, just make sure you can remember it (or where you hide the piece of paper you write it on! :Leek: ).

[Sooz]

Oh my goodness! I still need help!  I did the Apple>ShutDown and everything shut down....then when I clicked the keyboard to get back on the computer, nothing, so I pushed the On/Off button and there it was, in all it's glory, my desktop, hard drive, external hard drive and everything & anything accessible to anyone.  

Then I followed kimmer's instructions (thanks for the great pictures and instructions!), I got stuck on the second part...

Here's the first part...
[attachment=2518:Picture_1.jpg]

and here's the second part where I got stuck...

[attachment=2520:Picture_2.jpg]

I think I need some more hand-holding and instructions (with pictures!).  Thanks so much!!!!  I know hiding the power cord is an option, but really, I might as well learn how to do this password stuff in case I don't want to play Hide The Power Cord!

Health issues have been resolved--had to have an epi-retinal membrane peel/vitrectomy (do NOT watch the youtube video--it's better if ya don't know) and then a result of that developed a cataract (a noted side effect of the ERM procedure), had to have an intraocular lens implant.  All better now!  

Thanks again!!!
Smiles,
Sooz
Here's an oopsie accidental attachment...can't figure out how to get rid of it yet...

[kimmer]

Okay. Two things.

1. You only have an admin acct, which isn't good for various reasons, but you can keep running that way. I did for many years, so don't panic. (And if you ever want to change this, I'll tell you how I very easily converted everything without a lot of major fuss and anguish).

2. I need to move my brain back to admin acct and 10.4, so give me a day and I'll see what I come up with. In the meantime, maybe someone way smarter than me will drop in here and be able to help you.

Okay, I may have found the answer HERE (scroll down to "Lock your screen" for a picture).

In System Prefs, look for SECURITY.

They show 2 items checked. The first is "Require password to wake this computer from sleep or screen saver." Click that if you want that security. The second is what you're looking for:

For all accounts on this computer:
Disable automatic login

I'd still recommend either taking the power cord and hiding the keyboard if you don't trust this other person. When we last had our niece house sit, we did both, and she simply brought her laptop and used our wi-fi to Internet. We told her since she would be gone to work, etc, we wanted our computers to be secure. She said okay.

Here's the pic from the site:
[attachment=2521:password_screen.png]

[Sooz]

Hi, kimmer,

Thanks for the helpful hand-holding!  Those are just the kind of instructions I needed for taking care of this!  

I do think it would be the easiest to just take the power cord with me as XABD and you mentioned.  I trust our dog sitter/house sitter, but not his SO, so taking the power cord would suffice, even more so than hiding the keyboard.  Jack, thanks also for your input!

I guess I only have an admin account because I'm the only one on the computer.  Glad to read you (kimmer) had just one for years without issues--it isn't good to have just an admin account for a variety of reasons...what reasons? Anything I'd have to address, do ya think?

Anyway, thanks so much!!!!

Smiles,
Sooz

[kimmer]

QUOTE(Sooz @ Mar 11 2012, 10:24 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I guess I only have an admin account because I'm the only one on the computer.  Glad to read you (kimmer) had just one for years without issues--it isn't good to have just an admin account for a variety of reasons...what reasons? Anything I'd have to address, do ya think?

That's why I only had the admin acct. Then Trojans and other things appeared (very rare, but still), and it was pointed out to me by folks here who are much wiser than I (and also by my husband who couldn't believe I'd never set up a user acct), that I was leaving myself open to trouble. Soooo ... I changed my habits.

The quick story of how I changed:

I set up a "2nd" admin acct. with its own difficult password.
I started up using the new admin acct. Launched this and that and made sure things worked.
Then as the new admin, I went in to system prefs and changed my original admin acct to a user acct.
That way I still, as the user, had full access to registered software, etc., without the hassle of reestablishing all those connections.

The only thing that originally bugged me was that all software has to be authenticated (meaning I have to supply admin name and password), and I've had to change permissions on some files; but I'm now used to doing this and it's not such a irritation.

If you opt to do this, I strongly, strongly recommend that you have a bootable backup in place BEFORE you do this.

Take care, and glad the sight issue is resolved.

[jcarter]

Glad your sight issue is OK now, my husband recently had a laser thing done to one eye, where the cataract operation had created a tiny scar. Took all of 10 minutes, eye medicine is so amazing now.

When we go away, I take my Macs and put them in the kids room upstairs behind the big toy boxes and put the bedding and towels over the top, you would never ever know they were there. And you could tell your house-watch guy that the computer is in the shop for repairs or lent to your brother, or something so that he wont dig around the house looking for it.
I think thats pretty crass, messing around with somebody's computer. Hide your checkbooks and brokerage statements, and any other stuff that he might get a thrill looking at.

Jane

[Sooz]

Thanks for the info, kimmer, and the caveat.  For now I think I'll let sleeping dogs lie.Thanks for the good vibes about the sight issue being resolved.  Funny (weird) how things come up as one ages--things one has never even heard of, things that have never occurred in one's family!  It's never boring, is it?!Smiles,Sooz

QUOTE(jcarter @ Mar 12 2012, 12:41 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Glad your sight issue is OK now, my husband recently had a laser thing done to one eye, where the cataract operation had created a tiny scar. Took all of 10 minutes, eye medicine is so amazing now. When we go away, I take my Macs and put them in the kids room upstairs behind the big toy boxes and put the bedding and towels over the top, you would never ever know they were there. And you could tell your house-watch guy that the computer is in the shop for repairs or lent to your brother, or something so that he wont dig around the house looking for it.I think thats pretty crass, messing around with somebody's computer. Hide your checkbooks and brokerage statements, and any other stuff that he might get a thrill looking at. Jane

Hi, Jane,Thanks for the positive vibes about my sight issue.  Glad to hear your hubby had the laser thing--that's something that may or may not happen to me in the future--glad to hear it took all of 10 minutes!  Yup, eye stuff nowadays is amazing!Thanks for the idea about how to hide the iMac.  )Smiles,Sooz

[jcarter]

Glad things are OK,
I am wondering about this password1 program that my friends use, as passwords are such a pain. I have to use a little notebook with them all written in pen, as I really dont want to store them on my Mac.
I will have to look into it.
Jane