Permissions problem - how to fix?

EDIT: OK, so I've worked out that the new HD is the problem, as miniConvert and NewMacbookPlz mentioned, it looks like a permissions problem. So what's the best way of fixing this:

a) Reclone my drive using SuperDuper (again) or Carbon Copy Cloner?
b) Restore from Time Machine backup?
c) Repair permissions from my working HD (is that possible?)?

I really appreciate everyone's help so far - I think this is close to being solved!



Original: I have just installed a new HD and 2x2GB RAM into my late 2007 2.2GHz MacBook. I booted my laptop, and it all was going fine, however no apps will work - they all crash at launch. The HD seems to be fine, I can view all my files in Finder, etc, but no apps. I reinstalled the original RAM, and same thing, so I'm now typing this from my iPod touch.

What could cause this? How can I fix it? It seems strange the computer will boot, but won't launch apps...

The new HD is a clone of my old one using SuperDuper.

Please help - thanks in advance!

Thanks for the advice - I'll replace everything and hope I can solve it from there.

I used SuperDuper to clone my HD as it was recommended by a website - are there normally permissions problems with it?

Could I restore my new HD to my old Time Machine backup? Would I lose anything?

NewMacbookPlz said:

You can try Repairing Permissions from Disk Utility, see if that helps.

If it's THAT bad, repair the permissions from your OS X DVD.

Click to expand...

But because Disk Utility is an app, it won't open ... I think Time Machine, DVDs or re-cloning might sort it, I'll test It asap to make sure it's not
RAM...

OK, so I've worked out that the new HD is the problem, as miniConvert and NewMacbookPlz mentioned, it looks like a permissions problem. So what's the best way of fixing this:

a) Reclone my drive using SuperDuper (again) or Carbon Copy Cloner?
b) Restore from Time Machine backup?
c) Repair permissions from my working HD (is that possible?)?

I really appreciate everyone's help so far - I think this is close to being solved!

NewMacbookPlz said:

Try repairing the permissions by booting off your OS X DVD and running the disk utility-->permissions repair from there instead of from your HDD.

That may still work.

Click to expand...

I did it off my old HD (which I now have connected externally), and it didn't work... I'll try with the DVD this time (I recloned it using Carbon Copy Cloner, same problem).

Just a(nother) question - if I do a clean install on the new HD, will Migration Assistant work? And if so, would it pull everything across, or does it leave some stuff behind (media? apps? licenses?)?

Thanks for all your help guys, really appreciate it!