I need to access my old user account with all my presets.

[Huddsmac]

Hi, 3 weeks ago I had a little issue with my battery, it disconnected and during operation shut my whole comp down, upon opening the mac again, I had to use DISK WARIOR to restore files, not pretty, luckily I got in but as a new user, so could only access my files through cmd/shft C and folders etc.

I want to regain control of that account now, as it has important firefox tabs on there and tbh the newer account i set up as a temp is just so slow compared, I have 16gb it should not be this slow.

Here's my spec.

mac pro 2011
500gb
16gb
10.7.?

I head if you just set up a new user with the same name the log in that is all you need to do, well this did not work for me sadly.

It says 'user already in use" but I can not see it anywhere.

Anyone have any ideas please?

Thanks.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Hi, 3 weeks ago I had a little issue with my battery, it disconnected and during operation shut my whole comp down, upon opening the mac again, I had to use DISK WARIOR to restore files, not pretty, luckily I got in but as a new user, so could only access my files through cmd/shft C and folders etc.

I want to regain control of that account now, as it has important firefox tabs on there and tbh the newer account i set up as a temp is just so slow compared, I have 16gb it should not be this slow.

Here's my spec.

mac pro 2011
500gb
16gb
10.7.?

I head if you just set up a new user with the same name the log in that is all you need to do, well this did not work for me sadly.

It says 'user already in use" but I can not see it anywhere.

Anyone have any ideas please?

Thanks.

If your battery is dead it may well throttle the whole computer back to half speed on everything until you replace it I have seen similar on other MBP's from the period.

Not sure on the user account thing but that may explain your slow computer.

 

[Huddsmac]

Hi can anyone please help me on this?

 

[BrianBaughn]

So...you don't see your original user folder in the NameOfHardDrive>Users folder?

 

[Huddsmac]

So...you don't see your original user folder in the NameOfHardDrive>Users folder?

Hi, not on the log in screen no..

If I cmd/shft C I can access it through there, when I add the user name I need in 'add account' it says user is in use, I heard that if I did this it will automatically let me in upon log in?

This should be so simple?

What's the crack?

 

[Fishrrman]

Here's something to try.
It may work, or maybe not.

The user account that you CANNOT access is in its normal place on your internal drive, is this correct (it should be in the "Users" folder) ??

If so, copy the entire Users folder to an EXTERNAL drive.
A hard drive will work, so will a USB flashdrive, if it's large enough.

Then, do this:
1. Click ONE time on the drive icon to select it
2. Type "command-i" to bring up the "get info" box
3. Towards the bottom there is an area for "Sharing & Permissions". If you can't see the details, click the "disclosure arrow" to reveal them.
4. Look in the extreme lower-right-hand-corner. There should be a "lock" icon
5. Click the lock icon and enter your administrative password. The lock icon should now appear UNlocked.
6. At the very bottom there should be a checkbox for "Ignore ownership on this volume". Put a checkmark into it.
7. Close the get info box.

Now --- can you open up the OLD account you're trying to get access to?
If so, you should be able to copy individual items out of it, into your present account, without permissions problems.
Be aware that you CANNOT copy entire folders such as "Library", "Mail", "Movies", "Music", "Pictures" -- but you CAN copy items from INSIDE them.
Be aware that copying prefs, settings, etc., may or may not work.

Again, something to try.
All it requires is some disk space on an external drive an some time...

 

[Huddsmac]

Here's something to try.
It may work, or maybe not.

The user account that you CANNOT access is in its normal place on your internal drive, is this correct (it should be in the "Users" folder) ??

If so, copy the entire Users folder to an EXTERNAL drive.
A hard drive will work, so will a USB flashdrive, if it's large enough.

Then, do this:
1. Click ONE time on the drive icon to select it
2. Type "command-i" to bring up the "get info" box
3. Towards the bottom there is an area for "Sharing & Permissions". If you can't see the details, click the "disclosure arrow" to reveal them.
4. Look in the extreme lower-right-hand-corner. There should be a "lock" icon
5. Click the lock icon and enter your administrative password. The lock icon should now appear UNlocked.
6. At the very bottom there should be a checkbox for "Ignore ownership on this volume". Put a checkmark into it.
7. Close the get info box.

Now --- can you open up the OLD account you're trying to get access to?
If so, you should be able to copy individual items out of it, into your present account, without permissions problems.
Be aware that you CANNOT copy entire folders such as "Library", "Mail", "Movies", "Music", "Pictures" -- but you CAN copy items from INSIDE them.
Be aware that copying prefs, settings, etc., may or may not work.

Again, something to try.
All it requires is some disk space on an external drive an some time...

Thanks, I deffo don't have large enough HD to do that.. seems a lot though just to access an account? :s

I only need my firefox tabs back, though would like to just getb back to normal..

 

[BrianBaughn]

Hi, not on the log in screen no..

If I cmd/shft C I can access it through there, when I add the user name I need in 'add account' it says user is in use, I heard that if I did this it will automatically let me in upon log in?

This should be so simple?

What's the crack?

It's not simple because there's security (permissions) involved.

Your responses to my question and to Fishrrman's post are frustrating.

You heard wrong about "if you just set up a new user with the same name the log in that is all you need to do". I doubt that you heard that here.

If all you care about is the Firefox stuff...all I know is that the info is stored in a complicated fashion in the ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles folder. You could try to copy that folder from the old user account to the new one but I don't know if it will work or not.

 

[Huddsmac]

It's not simple because there's security (permissions) involved.

Your responses to my question and to Fishrrman's post are frustrating.

You heard wrong about "if you just set up a new user with the same name the log in that is all you need to do". I doubt that you heard that here.

If all you care about is the Firefox stuff...all I know is that the info is stored in a complicated fashion in the ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles folder. You could try to copy that folder from the old user account to the new one but I don't know if it will work or not.

Hi don't mean to frustrate anyone.

Any idea on how I can try this without transferring 500gb of data?

What are these security permissions?

 

[BrianBaughn]

Any idea on how I can try this without transferring 500gb of data?

See my last paragraph above.

 

[Huddsmac]

Hi

See my last paragraph above.

Hi, I can not find the support files?

 

[CoastalOR]

The Library folder (Post #8) in your User folder in hidden (invisible) on you backup. Use something like the free Onyx to turn on (temporarily) "Show hidden files and folders" (Onyx>Parameters>Finder>Misc. options) to get to the hidden Library folder.

 

[Huddsmac]

Hi sorry, not being ru

The Library folder (Post #8) in your User folder in hidden (invisible) on you backup. Use something like the free Onyx to turn on (temporarily) "Show hidden files and folders" (Onyx>Parameters>Finder>Misc. options) to get to the hidden Library folder.

Hi, not being rude, but that made no sense to me. I am not a computer expert. Is this for firefox or for me to get my old account back? ?

 

[BrianBaughn]

Just switch to the Finder, hold down the "Option" key, click on the "Go" menu and select "Library" (it only shows in that menu if you're holding down the "Option" key).

So you need to dig down to the "Profiles" folder I described above (~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles). Since you're already in ~/Library you just need to open "Application Support" etc.

And I have no idea if copying that folder to your new account will work!

 

[Huddsmac]

Just switch to the Finder, hold down the "Option" key, click on the "Go" menu and select "Library" (it only shows in that menu if you're holding down the "Option" key).

So you need to dig down to the "Profiles" folder I described above (~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles). Since you're already in ~/Library you just need to open "Application Support" etc.

And I have no idea if copying that folder to your new account will work!

Hi what do you mean 'switch to finder'? I might sound dumb here but the instructions don't follow clearly.

 

[CoastalOR]

POST #8: If all you care about is the Firefox stuff...all I know is that the info is stored in a complicated fashion in the ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles folder. You could try to copy that folder from the old user account to the new one but I don't know if it will work or not.

The Library folder (Post #8) is in your User folder in hidden (invisible) on your backup (my mistake I thought you had a backup - it should have been your old User account). Use something like the free Onyx to turn on (temporarily) "Show hidden files and folders" (Onyx>Parameters>Finder>Misc. options) to get to the hidden Library folder.

Is this for firefox or for me to get my old account back?

Yes, it is for Firefox. I was only trying to help you find the Firefox folder in your old User account - nothing else. Use Onyx to "Show hidden files and folders".
Navigate to the path: (name of your internal drive - usually Macintosh HD)/Users/(name of old User account)/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles.