Corrupt User Profile.. Is there a workaround?

[Dr.Ph0bius]

OK, this is actually the first problem Ive had with my iBook since I bought it about 5 years ago...

Anyway, I turn it on (a G4) and it seemed to take a little longer than usual to get to the log in screen... I have two accounts set up. Mine and a limited access one for my wife. I entered my name and password, and the log in window disappeared. The screen changed (as usual) to the blueish screen that appears right before the desktop pops into place... but instead of the desktop, it just hung there. I left it for a few minutes and the beachball went away and the cursor arrow replaced it, as if it were done loading, but all I had was that blueish screen (never got to the desktop).

I had to do a hard restart, and logged in as my wife. Her account worked fine.

The last time I used my account I was listening to XM Radio in Opera, with a second tab open to digg (I think). It was uneventful, I shut down like always and didnt notice any issues.

So Im wondering how to remedy this?

My wifes account is limited, so I cant use it to create a new account for myself.

Can I fix the (what I believed to be) damaged account/profile?

Worst comes to worst, how can I get the things I need to save off and reinstall?

Any help would be appreciated. I loath having to fire up this windows machine again...

 

[bigboy99]

Repair permissions and/or run Diskwarrior. If those steps don't work try Archive and Install (try first w/saving user settings.) It's fairly painless compared to a PC save and reinstall.

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

Try logging in to your account and then immediately hold the shift key as soon as your press the log in button. This will boot into your account in safe mode, meaning that none of the things that you have set to load when you log in will load. Then go into system preferences and try to find the thing that is causing the freeze up. and final go into disk utility and run repair permissions.

 

[Dr.Ph0bius]

Thanks to both of you!

I wasnt able to boot into safe mode (same problem as original problem), and Diskwarrior is out of my price range, so...

Archive and Install (w/saving user settings) is currently underway!

I have my finger crossed that this will do the trick...

Thanks to both of you for the solutions. I was a consultant for a long time and worked with "that other operating system" until I burned out and left the field. The ease and solid performance of Mac OS lulled me into complacency and I never bothered to learn the ins and outs of it. With windows you kind of have to learn every aspect of it, because its down more than its up... so maybe this will get me into action and I can brush up on my Unix and OS X.

Thanks again!

 

[bigboy99]

You can repair permissions from the Utilities Menu after booting from the OS disk (hold c at startup.) If that doesn't work the A & I should do the trick. I recommend saving the user settings the first time around as it will eliminate the need to restore your passwords and preferences. If it doesn't work try it without.

I've been using Super Duper to make a mirror image of my entire HD every night. It eliminates the need to sit through long back ups.

Good luck.

 

[Dr.Ph0bius]

Final Update:

Well, it went... ok.

The A & I ended with the message that "there were errors" and I should try it again. For the hell of it, I tried logging in, and actually made it to the desktop!

Each click took between 5 and 15 minutes to execute, but I managed to open a folder on the network and s-l-o-w-l-y copied over everything I wanted to save!

I just got done with a clean install, and all looks well. I have a few programs to re-download, and I have to bring stuff back, but Im going to go ahead and call it a win.

Thanks again, and Im going to look into Super Duper!

 

[bigboy99]

Good one!

 

[chenr2]

Corrupt User Profile - applejack

When I tried logging into my user account, I could see the desktop wallpaper and the spotlight/search at the top right, but nothing else. It was as if the shell had frozen. I logged in using the Administrator account with no problems. I tried the following to no avail:
-Safe mode (held down shift)
-Disk Utility > repaired permissions multiple times
-Disk Utility > verify disk
-Disk Warrior (all 3 options given)
-Reset PRAM
I also tried booting into Target Disk mode and creating a disk image over firewire from another Mac, but was unable to view any files in my profile.

Finally, I used applejack as a last ditch effort:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/applejack
And was able to log into my profile. I noticed that FileVault was turned on, which may have been related to some of my symptoms.