Accessing Setup Screens

[OldMarketMeg]

Is there a way to access the actual setup screens that are displayed when you turn on and register your new Mac?

I assume that there are files somewhere on your Mac...

 

[Zazoh]

It could be once they are used they are removed, like the installer files that are presented when you go through a new setup.

Any settings you made would be able to be undone using Apple | System Preferences, but is there something else you needed them for?

 

[OldMarketMeg]

It could be once they are used they are removed, like the installer files that are presented when you go through a new setup.

Any settings you made would be able to be undone using Apple | System Preferences, but is there something else you needed them for?

I am writing a guide to hardening your Mac, and I would prefer to have access to those exact screens.

I tried taking pictures with my camera, but now that I look at them they look very amateurish - not what you would expect to see in a book or guide for which you are paying money!

 

[Zazoh]

I am writing a guide to hardening your Mac, and I would prefer to have access to those exact screens.

Got it, that is what I suspected. I wonder if you create a new user you can go through the process? Cmd + Shift + 4 to take a screen shot, but I wonder if that works in Setup ... good question, I'm out ;-)

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205749

 

[OldMarketMeg]

Got it, that is what I suspected. I wonder if you create a new user you can go through the process? Cmd + Shift + 4 to take a screen shot, but I wonder if that works in Setup ... good question, I'm out ;-)

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205749

Some time in the past I was poking around in Finder and I am pretty sure that I found some directory with hundreds of files that appeared to be from the Setup Assistant or something similar. Ironically, at the time I was snooping around, I wasn't interested in this topic!

It is certainly possible that after you run the Steup Assistant that OS-X deletes things, but I have a suspicion that the files are still on my hard-drive, it is just a matter of finding someone here who knows where they are!

It would really makes this girl's day if someone knows the answer!

 

[DeltaMac]

You can run the setup screens (same as a new user setup), by deleting the file that is created at the time that setup was originally performed.
Delete the file
/var/db/.AppleSetupDone

Then, restart your Mac, and the new user setup (with all the screens) will run.

 

[OldMarketMeg]

You can run the setup screens (same as a new user setup), by deleting the file that is created at the time that setup was originally performed.
Delete the file
/var/db/.AppleSetupDone

Then, restart your Mac, and the new user setup (with all the screens) will run.

But that isn't what I asked about... I want to know how to access the files on my currently setup Mac, not re-reun the Setup Assistant. (Hint: I can't take screenshots during setup.)

This link mentioned deleting the file you refer to above, so that tells me the files I want are already on my MacBook. The question is, "Where are the setup files on my MacBook?"

 

[Zazoh]

Found em ... BUT I found raw images, poke around you might find pages that bring together.


Open Finder Click Go from the menu and type in: /System/Library

Once in that window type setup in the find box

Click on "Library"



Ctrl + Click on the Setup Assistant and select "Show Package Contents"

Go down to the "resources" folder highlight the first file and press the spacebar, then use your arrow keys to see all the files. Looks like all the tiff files are what you may need.

 

[OldMarketMeg]

Found em ... BUT I found raw images, poke around you might find pages that bring together.


Open Finder Click Go from the menu and type in: /System/Library

Once in that window type setup in the find box

Click on "Library"

View attachment 679071

Ctrl + Click on the Setup Assistant and select "Show Package Contents"

Go down to the "resources" folder highlight the first file and press the spacebar, then use your arrow keys to see all the files. Looks like all the tiff files are what you may need.

Thanks for the research, but I think I feel more frustrated now than before! I was certain that I had seen complete screenshots of the setup assistant.

I followed your instructions, but as it stands this will not help me do what I need.

Looks like I need another approach.

Do you have any ideas?

There must be some way to do this, because I have seen books in Barnes & Noble that have done what I want.

 

[OldMarketMeg]

Anyone else?

 

[chown33]

You could ask the author of the book where you saw it.

Computer books are often accompanied by websites. This will usually be listed in the book somewhere near the start. It may even be on the back cover. Or google the title and author.

If the author is active on the website for the book, you can ask them in the forum there.

 

[OldMarketMeg]

You could ask the author of the book where you saw it.

Computer books are often accompanied by websites. This will usually be listed in the book somewhere near the start. It may even be on the back cover. Or google the title and author.

If the author is active on the website for the book, you can ask them in the forum there.

I don't have a specific book in mind, just know I have seen this at Barnes & Noble. Besides, I highly doubt someone like O'Reilly would return my email.

Since this is a Mac website with Mac gurus, isn't there someone here who can help out?

One would assume that I am not the first person to want to capture the Setup Assistant for a guide or book. There must be a practical way to do what I want, and I would be indebted to anyone who could help me out!

 

[chown33]

I don't have a specific book in mind, just know I have seen this at Barnes & Noble. Besides, I highly doubt someone like O'Reilly would return my email.

O'Reilly is a publisher, not an author (unless you mean a specific person). Start here:
http://www.oreilly.com/

If you don't have a specific book in mind, maybe you can visit B&N and find the specific one you saw, and proceed from there.

I'm responding to your request, "Do you have any ideas?", and just outlining ideas for ways to proceed on this. I'm not saying any particular idea will work out, or that you'll definitely end up with an answer. You asked for ideas, so I'm posting ideas.

Since this is a Mac website with Mac gurus, isn't there someone here who can help out?

One would assume that I am not the first person to want to capture the Setup Assistant for a guide or book. There must be a practical way to do what I want, and I would be indebted to anyone who could help me out!

Capturing screenshots is both widely used and widely known.

Capturing screenshots of Setup Assistant, however, is both uncommon and poses a unique set of restrictions. I say it's uncommon because a book is the only reason I can think of to make such screenshots. That alone makes it uncommon, as relatively few people here are book authors. It's also a unique set of restrictions because no user accounts exist yet (unless one is redoing the procedure).


Personally, I would start by finding a specific book with such screenshots, and asking the author. This falls under the engineering maxim "Don't reinvent the wheel". In other words, if someone has already solved the problem, a good starting point is to ask them how they did it. Unless it involves a proprietary tool or a trade secret, book authors are generally open to questions about how they do things.

If I was completely unable to find any actual book, or a forum for the book proved completely fruitless, I'd probably look into the 'Grab' utility (google search terms: mac os grab tool). Yes, this may well take some technical skills, and the ability to dig into the underpinnings of the OS while Setup Assistant is running. I have the skills to start that research, but I still can't predict how it would turn out. It could fail completely, and even if it worked out, it might turn out to be a fairly complex process. There's also no way of knowing how difficult the research itself would be. It could take hours and hours to figure out. That's a lot less appealing than finding a book and asking the author.

In short, the requirement that it work in Setup Assistant means this is a markedly more difficult problem to solve.

 

[OldMarketMeg]

O'Reilly is a publisher, not an author (unless you mean a specific person). Start here:
http://www.oreilly.com/

If you don't have a specific book in mind, maybe you can visit B&N and find the specific one you saw, and proceed from there.

I'm responding to your request, "Do you have any ideas?", and just outlining ideas for ways to proceed on this. I'm not saying any particular idea will work out, or that you'll definitely end up with an answer. You asked for ideas, so I'm posting ideas.

Capturing screenshots is both widely used and widely known.

Capturing screenshots of Setup Assistant, however, is both uncommon and poses a unique set of restrictions. I say it's uncommon because a book is the only reason I can think of to make such screenshots. That alone makes it uncommon, as relatively few people here are book authors. It's also a unique set of restrictions because no user accounts exist yet (unless one is redoing the procedure).


Personally, I would start by finding a specific book with such screenshots, and asking the author. This falls under the engineering maxim "Don't reinvent the wheel". In other words, if someone has already solved the problem, a good starting point is to ask them how they did it. Unless it involves a proprietary tool or a trade secret, book authors are generally open to questions about how they do things.

If I was completely unable to find any actual book, or a forum for the book proved completely fruitless, I'd probably look into the 'Grab' utility (google search terms: mac os grab tool). Yes, this may well take some technical skills, and the ability to dig into the underpinnings of the OS while Setup Assistant is running. I have the skills to start that research, but I still can't predict how it would turn out. It could fail completely, and even if it worked out, it might turn out to be a fairly complex process. There's also no way of knowing how difficult the research itself would be. It could take hours and hours to figure out. That's a lot less appealing than finding a book and asking the author.

In short, the requirement that it work in Setup Assistant means this is a markedly more difficult problem to solve.

Okay, I am sorry and didn't mean to sound bitchy. I just feel frustrated with the picture I took, and now that my new Mac is set up I feel like I lost my chance to write about it.