Changing the Short Name (Home Folder Name) of the MBP

[DJAznSensation]

This is probably more of a OSX question more than a question about the MacBook Pro itself.

I want to change the the short name of the MacBook Pro. The short name of my computer isnt really short (the name of my Home Folder), thats why i want to change it. And I've read an article on MacWorld.com that has a guide on changing it but there might be some risks because some programs and system settings store files within the home folder. Changing it can cause some errors, but these can be fix by going to application's settings and changing it so its the new folder name that its rooted to.

I wanna know if anyone else has done this particular changing of the home folder name and any encounters they've experienced... & maybe some advice people can give me

 

[Kaliemon]

I have done this on several different macs. (MB, MBP, G5). I used the ChangeShortName app mentioned in the MacWorld article on tiger. I haven't done it in leopard but the guide probably works just as well.

Everything worked perfectly after the change. I would definitely consider backing up just in case.

 

[Crossbone]

Do Not Change The Home Folders Name. It Will Mess Your System Up.

 

[DJAznSensation]

Here is the link to the article/guide to changing the short name/home folder

I was wondering however the amount of "fixing" when applications give errors... would I have to do it for a lot of programs?

 

[merl1n]

This is probably more of a OSX question more than a question about the MacBook Pro itself.

I want to change the the short name of the MacBook Pro. The short name of my computer isnt really short (the name of my Home Folder), thats why i want to change it. And I've read an article on MacWorld.com that has a guide on changing it but there might be some risks because some programs and system settings store files within the home folder. Changing it can cause some errors, but these can be fix by going to application's settings and changing it so its the new folder name that its rooted to.

I wanna know if anyone else has done this particular changing of the home folder name and any encounters they've experienced... & maybe some advice people can give me

Maybe I'm not understanding what you want to change. The computer name and Account (user) name are two separate and distinct items.

The article from MacWorld addresses changing the "user" short name, not the computer name.

If you want to just change the computer name, that is easy...

System Prefs -> Sharing. In the top field is your Computer Name. Just change it and reboot. To avoid problems, don't use any spaces or special characters in the new name you type in.

If you are referring to changing the "short user (account) name" than that is a different thing altogether and you can do the procedures in the article.

Don't confuse the Computer name with the Account User name.

 

[richard.mac]

changing your computer name in Sharing and changing the name of your hard drive from "Macintosh HD" to anything is fine but changing your short name by renaming your home folder is a big no no as when you reboot a new account is created with the new name and the default settings. in fact Apple has made it so you cant change your short name in Leopard presumedly because of so many new users asking why their desktop had gone back to the default and their files had gone after they changed the name of their home folder… hey i did this!

if you really want to do this the best way would be to follow this guide from Apple. be warned its 40 steps!