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I just installed El Capitan on a laptop and I want to install applications without going through the OS X welcome and creating a user.

I would like to give my brother a laptop that has Adobe's photo and audio editing applications pre-installed, as though it is an OEM install, so that he can go through the OS X system and user setup from the fresh El Capitan install. I want him to be able to set the system name and first user that are chosen during the OS X setup.

I am guessing it will require root use through Single-user mode, so as to avoid the Apple Welcome and OS setup, but I'm not sure how to go through the install process that way.

Is there a better way? Can I do that and be sure that the applications will work after he creates his user?

Pop-Purr
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    How about just creating a user called user. If he complains after that that's not his name then tell him to create another user. Or instead of creating an account called user, make an account with his name andwhen you give it to him then get him to set/change it to his own password. – barlop Sep 27 '16 at 21:10
  • @barlop Thanks for the suggestion. I found the workaround I was looking for and posted it in the answers below. – Pop-Purr Sep 29 '16 at 03:32
  • well, you, the system, still created a user, the root user – barlop Sep 29 '16 at 10:38

2 Answers2

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On OS X, you can't remove the only user, and you can't do anything without a user added. There's always a user for interacting with the system. +1 to the suggestion of adding a generic user to start, but give them explicit instructions for setting up a new one.

Christopher Hostage
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  • Thank you for the suggestion. One of the primary reasons I want to leave the first run to my brother is that he has always had systems setup and populated by others, so I want to give him the thrill of being the first user. The other reason I don't want to create a user is because the first one names the system, which is something else I want to leave to him. – Pop-Purr Sep 28 '16 at 04:09
  • yeah even root is a user. – barlop Sep 29 '16 at 10:40
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Found the solution in this forum post by "SideStepSociety" on Macworld Hints forums. The post details how to circumvent the OSX setup routine to do exactly what I wanted:

  1. Boot into recovery
  2. Log in as root
  3. Create the "AppleSetupDone" signifier
  4. Install software and any system updates
  5. Disable root and re-enable the OSX Welcome and setup.
  6. Congrats, we're done!

Please visit the detailed instructions by "SideStepSociety" for a walkthrough and Terminal commands.

Pop-Purr
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