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huge problem!! please help!

djsound

djsound

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 4, 2006
791
17
hi there I just changed the name of my main harddrive then i 'logged off' of my computer...when i restarted it all of my user preferences were GONE...i just have a plain desktop and the computer is the way it was when i bought it.if i search through 'users' i found my files but.....is there no way of going back to how it was before? i would have to reinstall all applications etc......please help!!
i read of someone having the same problem on some other site but he found to answer.....im scared

can io maybe just roll back to a previous start my computer was in?? like this morning maybe?

i had renamed my drive to 'DJ Sound'.when i go to users i see DJ Sound with ALL my old folders and stuff.if i just move them and replace the new stuff would that work do you think?


=(
 
Try this KB article

Mac OS X 10.3 said:
In Mac OS X 10.3, 10.4 or later you can rename your home directory without the safeguard of entering your password (authentication). If you do this, your home directory contents and preferences will appear to be lost the next time you log in. Applications use default preferences, and your home directory subfolders (Documents, Pictures, and so forth) are empty.

This issue affects Mac OS X 10.3 or later.

When an "admin" user renames his home directory, a new, empty home directory will be created the next time the affected user logs in. Though the original home directory is not being used, it is still present. This may create the false impression that the home directory is lost.

Note: For technical reasons, it is best not to intentionally change the name of a home directory unless absolutely necessary.

Before you assume that the home directory contents were actually lost, check the /Users folder to see if the missing home directory is present and simply renamed.

If you determine that the home directory is present but renamed, follow these steps:

1. In the Finder, go to the /Users folder.
2. Locate the new home directory, which bears the users' short name.
3. Add "_new" to the new home directory's name.
4. Rename the old home directory to the user's correct short name.
5. Log out and back in with the affected user account.
Click to expand...
 
Yeah, the ability to rename your home account folder is a big issue with OS X.

One option:

Go into System Preferences->Accounts and create a new account - called anything but your account name. Make sure it has admin privileges. Go into System Preferences->Accounts->Login Options and disable auto-login.

Log out and then log into that new account. Go to the Macintosh HD->Users folder, find "your" new folder - the one with your original account name that was auto-created when you renamed yours - and rename it to something else. Then find the file you'd renamed before and name it back to your username.

Then try logging out and logging back in under your new name.

Edit: or just do what was posted above as I typed. Duh. :eek:
 
wow you guys are life savers!! i feel the need to take you guys out for some beers...!!!!!!to bad i cant paypal a bottle of something ...thanks guys
 
It is a major problem to the end user but it is caused by something so little which isn't obviously bad at all.

Glad it is all sorted, bet you are relieved:D.
 
very happy hehe..........so i guess now i can go and delete the 'user' that it had created? the '_new' one?
 
THANKS A MILLION!!!

This just happened to me and I really freaked out, luckily I didn't lose anything :D
 
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