Desktop and Privileges Vanished

[poptophazard]

Howdy,

I have an iMac with 10.4.11 on it that I've been using since 2006. Everything has been fine and dandy until earlier today when I decided to restart my computer after trying to get Adobe to work, and when I logged back in, my desktop background and all my icons were missing...it was as if I had turned my computer on for the first time.

Now all the files are still on the computer, I just can't access them. Anytime I try to click on "Documents" or certain other folders, I get a message saying I can't access them because I don't have "sufficient access privileges". I tried checking my account in the system preferences, but I am still listed as admin and am the only user anyway. I also tried repairing disk permissions under the Disk Utility tool, then restarting after that and I'm still having the same problem.

I'm pretty stumped at the moment. I'd appreciate any advice you all could give. Thanks for your time.

 

[BlueRevolution]

Try rebooting to your computer's restore disks. Once there, under Utilities, select Disk Utility, and run permission and volume repairs.

 

[stephmcd]

This Just Worked For Me A Few Minutes Ago

Launch Terminal, located at /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.
Enter the following command line into Terminal. You can copy/paste the text into Terminal, or you can simply type the text as shown. The command is a single line of text, but your browser may break it into multiple lines. Be sure to enter the command as a single line in the Terminal application.
defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop -bool true
Press enter or return.
Enter the following text into Terminal. If you type the text rather than copy/paste it, be sure to match the case of the text.
killall Finder
Press enter or return.
The Finder will disappear for a moment, and then reappear.
Enter the following text into Terminal.
exit
Press enter or return.
The exit command will cause Terminal to end the current session. You can then quit the Terminal application.


hope this works for you. keep me posted.