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If you are a standard user and want admin rights:

1. Launch Privileges.

2. Click the Request Privileges button.

3. The Privileges dock icon should change to look like a yellow unlocked padlock.

4. A Privileges have been changed successfully message should appear.

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5. The logged-in account should now have admin rights.

If you are an admin user and want to remove admin rights, verify that Privileges is installed then use the following procedure:

1. Launch Privileges.

2. Click the Remove Privileges button.

3. The Privileges dock icon should change to look like a green locked padlock.

4. A Privileges have been changed successfully message should appear.

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5. The logged-in account should now be a standard user account.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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This is by design. The icon is green and displays a locked padlock icon when you are a standard user.Image Removed

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The icon is yellow and displays an unlocked padlock icon when you are an administrator.Image Removed

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By default, is there a time limit on the admin rights granted by Privileges?

Yes. Admin rights are granted for 10 minutes by default on all University owned computers. At the end of the 10 minutes you will see a message window appear asking if you wish to extend your admin time.  The default answer is NO so if you do not click on any of the buttons on the message window the Privileges.app will automatically toggle you back to a normal user account after one minute.  If you click on the YES button your admin rights will be extended another 10 minutes.Image Removed

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NOTE: When installing software on the Mac, you only need admin rights to START the installation.  Once the installation is underway you can safely return to normal user rights without jeopardizing the software installation.

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When you right-click on the Privileges application icon in the Dock you are presented with several menu choices:Image Removed

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The Toggle privileges toggle option switches you to admin or standard user without prompting for confirmation and moving your application windows out of the way.

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If the icon for the Privileges app is accidentally removed from your Dock, you can restore it by going to the LAITS Self Service application in your Applications folder.Image Removed

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Select the Tools/Troubleshooting section on the left hand side, then click on the Fix button of the Privileges-Add app icon back to the Dock item.Image Removed

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