Bought Used Mac, Previous Owner's Account is Stuck in Mac App Store

[MaestroBLC]

So I recently sold my Mac mini to buy a MacBook Pro off eBay, it just arrived today. I have pretty much everything set up on it just the way I like it, but there is one problem. If I go into the Mac App Store, It says Angry Birds needs to be updated, even though it is not installed. I then logged into my account, and that didn't fix it. I then tried to install my copy of the app, and then it prompts for me to log in to the previous owner's account. I deleted his credentials from the login box, and put in mine, but when I click "Next" it just gives me an error (picture attached below). If there is a file I need to delete or something, please say so. Any help will be appreciated.

 

[RebeccaL]

The best course of action would be to perform a full reinstall of the OS. That way you will be sure there are no leftover information from the previous owner. It takes less than an hour and is easy yet the computer will be like new software-wise.

 

[dangerfish]

Try creating a new admin account and see if it works there. If so, just delete the old account and use the new account.

 

[MaestroBLC]

Try creating a new admin account and see if it works there. If so, just delete the old account and use the new account.

I tried that without any luck .

 

[cerote]

Always do a clean restore of the OS on used machines. You never know if the person put on a keylogger to catch your info.

If it didn't come with the disc then Snow Leopard is 29$.

 

[MaestroBLC]

Always do a clean restore of the OS on used machines. You never know if the person put on a keylogger to catch your info.

If it didn't come with the disc then Snow Leopard is 29$.

The guy I bought it from on eBay had a 5 star rating overall, and has been on eBay for 10 years. On top of all that, when I got the machine, I virus scanned it with multiple softwares, so I don't think he has a keylogger on it . I have my own SnowLeo disc, I just wanna see if there is a solution to my problem before I go wiping anything.

 

[Mal]

The guy I bought it from on eBay had a 5 star rating overall, and has been on eBay for 10 years. On top of all that, when I got the machine, I virus scanned it with multiple softwares, so I don't think he has a keylogger on it . I have my own SnowLeo disc, I just wanna see if there is a solution to my problem before I go wiping anything.

Virus scans are completely pointless for keyloggers. There are legitimate keyloggers out there that no virus scanner would ever catch, but could be completely unseen by you.

Wiping the system is not just supposed to be a solution for your issue, though it certainly would be. It's just the most basic first step you should always do, without question, when you buy a used Mac, no matter how reliable the seller. There's no good reason that I know of to avoid doing so.

jW

 

[nwbusa]

Virus scans are completely pointless for keyloggers. There are legitimate keyloggers out there that no virus scanner would ever catch, but could be completely unseen by you.

Wiping the system is not just supposed to be a solution for your issue, though it certainly would be. It's just the most basic first step you should always do, without question, when you buy a used Mac, no matter how reliable the seller. There's no good reason that I know of to avoid doing so.

jW

Truer words never spoken (or typed in this case).

 

[cerote]

Plus doing a clean install helps you feel a sense of security because you are the only one that touched and installed everything.

 

[ScottNWDW]

Whenever you buy a used computer you should always, always wipe it clean and install a fresh copy of the OS. whether the new computer is Mac, Windows, Linux, whatever.

 

[maflynn]

You really do need to reformat, and install a clean and fresh copy OSX. Clears out all of the cruft, and prior user settings.

 

[MaestroBLC]

Alright, so I resulted to doing a fresh install in the end. My dad bought a new 250 WD Scorpio and gave it to me, plus I salvaged 4GBs of RAM from a broken computer, so I installed the new drive in and started new. Also, for all of you saying that a keylogger could be installed, I assure you there wasn't. I still have the old drive, and checked every single piece of the file system, and nothing was found. I do Computer Repair and Virus Removal as a job; I know what I'm doing .

 

[ScottNWDW]

Alright, so I resulted to doing a fresh install in the end. My dad bought a new 250 WD Scorpio and gave it to me, plus I salvaged 4GBs of RAM from a broken computer, so I installed the new drive in and started new. Also, for all of you saying that a keylogger could be installed, I assure you there wasn't. I still have the old drive, and checked every single piece of the file system, and nothing was found. I do Computer Repair and Virus Removal as a job; I know what I'm doing .

Interesting, you do computer repair and virus removal as a job, yet you didn't know that you should wipe a used computer clean by reformatting the drive doing a fresh install of the operating system. I'm not in computer repair and even I know that.

Makes me question how well your repair and removal skills are.