Even after formatting and clean-installing OS X, my iMac still keeps the old computer name (kind of)

Question

Previously, formatting my iMac's HDD and clean-installing OS X 10.6 on it, used to rename the computer name back to OS X default computer name which is derived from the user's first and last names.

Now today I formatted my iMac's HDD and clean-installed OS X 10.6 on it, and while opening the Sharing panel shows that the computer name has been reverted back to the default computer name, opening Terminal still shows my old computer name in the prompt but with all lowercase letters. Changing the computer name in the Sharing panel does not immediately change the computer name in the Terminal prompt anymore. I have to restart the iMac to see the changes. And even so, Terminal does shows the computer name in all lowercase letters.

Any ideas why is this happening?

Answer 1

Perhaps you computer is getting its hostname via DHCP? You may need to change it on your router or wireless access point.

Answer 2

If you are on a corporate network, the DNS server used there may be storing a DNS name for you PC and OS X looks up the name via reverse-DNS lookup.

Considering you have a clean install, I would definitely look the DHCP and DNS-server way. That includes talking to the network administrator.

Answer 3

Is there a DNS name associated with the computer's IP address?