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How do I stop Mac from prompting me (to input admin password) when installing?

MythicFrost

MythicFrost

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Mar 11, 2009
3,944
40
Australia
I'd like to know how to stop Mac from prompting me with the 'Enter an administrator account and password' dialog, I'd just like to install things, I do have a 'Managed' account (with Parental controls), but how do I stop that? is there a setting???

Kind Regards
Me
 
It will prompt you for the password when logged in as either a standard account or administrator account. If you log in as the root user, it won't prompt you, but it's not a good idea, as it gives every application unlimited access to your system. A simple programming error could damage system files, and you'll be far more vulnerable to trojans and such.
 
Hmm, I see, I've allowed all access for me to Read & Write in my main Hard drive.. and also the applications folder, is that bad?

Kind Regards
Me
 
I have never (in 5 years of being a mac user) been prompted to enter my password when not installing something I chose to.
Are you saying that a trojan would ask my permission for me to install it, and then I would think 'hmm I didn't choose to install this?' and not enter my password?

If so, does this mean that I have never had a single breach of security in half a decade?
 
hector said:
I have never (in 5 years of being a mac user) been prompted to enter my password when not installing something I chose to.
Are you saying that a trojan would ask my permission for me to install it, and then I would think 'hmm I didn't choose to install this?' and not enter my password?

If so, does this mean that I have never had a single breach of security in half a decade?
Click to expand...

Yes, that's the definition of a trojan, something that tricks you into installing it because you think it's useful software or in the case of the recent iWork malware it was malicious code added to torrented copies.

That's why trojans are much harder to defend against than viruses, your machine can be rock solid secure, but it doesn't mean anything if someone with an admin account isn't careful what they install.
 
ihabime said:
Yes, that's the definition of a trojan, something that tricks you into installing it because you think it's useful software or in the case of the recent iWork malware it was malicious code added to torrented copies.

That's why trojans are much harder to defend against than viruses, your machine can be rock solid secure, but it doesn't mean anything if someone with an admin account isn't careful what they install.
Click to expand...

Exactly this.

You can't defend against trojans, if you can install an application onto your computer, you can install a trojan. A trojan is just a simple application.
 
MythicFrost said:
Hmm, I see, I've allowed all access for me to Read & Write in my main Hard drive.. and also the applications folder, is that bad?

Kind Regards
Me
Click to expand...

Yes.

Regards,
Me

-------

No. It's fine -- you have nothing to worry about...

Regards,
Everyone who wants to use your Mac
 
hector said:
I have never (in 5 years of being a mac user) been prompted to enter my password when not installing something I chose to.
Are you saying that a trojan would ask my permission for me to install it, and then I would think 'hmm I didn't choose to install this?' and not enter my password?

If so, does this mean that I have never had a single breach of security in half a decade?
Click to expand...

Programs only ask for a password when installing files to a system folder such as the System or the root directory Library. There are many other system folders and files at the root directory but they are hidden.

So for a virus to be effective it needs to install into those areas thus asking for your password. Since by default the administrator accounts do not have write access to these files/folders just read. Entering your password temporarily gives you permission to write as well.

Maybe an Applescript could be written that monitors for the password dialogue to automatically input the password then OK the dialogue. I would not know if this is possible though. You want to have a password set because for some reason having a blank password makes sudo (superuser/root) commands not work in Terminal.

MythicFrost said:
So I should do what to fix it?

Kind Regards
Me
Click to expand...
You can do as Jethryn Freyman suggested and enable the root user and login that way to "fix this". But you just open yourself up to problems as mentioned. I would not do this. I would only use the root account when I am tweaking a lot of System files and don't want to be bothered with a lot of other maintenance to make the files usable by the system again. Even with that said I still do not use the root user and instead opt to input chmod/chown commands into Terminal to set permissions then run Disk Utility.

Enabling the root user

You will have to login at the loginscreen and have it set for you to type in both the username and password.
 
The original post suggested that the OP had a managed account with parental controls and that he'd like to install applications. This suggests that he cannot enter an admin username/password combination. How then has he managed to enable read-write access on the whole hard drive for which root access is required?

I think more information is required here.
 
The best trojans for the mac will now be subtly embedding into the installers of popular software on the torrents ...

Its the easiest entry vector ... you still get the app you downloaded and installed and it even works perfectly ...... you just get a little quiet hidden extra that you didn't bargain for

This is why Windows Vista introduced User Account Control .... a means to bug the user to convince the OS that what it was installing was intentional ... even MS admitted they made it deliberately annoying
 
synagence said:
This is why Windows Vista introduced User Account Control .... a means to bug the user to convince the OS that what it was installing was intentional ... even MS admitted they made it deliberately annoying
Click to expand...

Neither UAC nor sudo nor Apple's admin privileges dialog box will stop users from installing trojans.

You can't protect against stupidity.

UAC wasn't added in an attempt to stop trojans. It was added in an attempt to balance the backwards compatibility requirement of "everyone is an admin" with the least-privileged principle of security. It's a half-ass compromise, but MS couldn't do much more without breaking stuff in a big way.
 
I ask because, I can't remember exactly if I changed the main hard drive security settings or not, is there a way to set it to it's default?
I don't want to disable write access if it wasn't initially disabled...

Kind Regards
Me
 
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