You Can’t Change Some Options in System Preferences
When you open System Preferences and click an icon, you may find that some or all of the controls in the resulting preferences window are disabled. This actually isn’t a glitch or a bug at all. Instead, it’s a security feature designed to prevent unauthorized users from making changes to sensitive system settings. (It’s also designed to prevent you from making certain changes without at least having to think about them first.) For example, Figure 12.1 shows what the Parental Controls preferences look like when a user without authorization displays the window.
12.1 MacBook Air sometimes locks preferences to avoid unauthorized changes.
To enable the controls, click the lock icon in the bottom-left corner of the window and then type the username and password of an administrator account.
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