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I REALLY NEED HELP!! :'( :( :'(

I

ineedhelp500

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 28, 2005
4
0
I really need help :(

So this is what I did:
I wanted to create a new user account on my laptop (iBook g3) and then it didn't work at first... but then I created another one (deleted other I made) and then I made it an administrator.
Then I clicked on the one I made and I was happy and I had fast user switching on and as soon as I switched to my main one which had EVERYTHING ON (homework, my folder, icons, EVERYTHING) it was all gone, everything on my HD was still there but I keep everything on my desktop and it was all gone from my desktop (not my HD obviously) and now I need to give in this homework which took me like 5 hours to do in like 2 days!!
Plz plz plz plz plz plzzzzzzzz help me :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(
 
If I understand correctly, you deleted the user account under which you had done your homework? That means that that user's desktop contained the homework, and as such will likely not display in your new user.

Generally speaking, when you delete a user, it will place all the items from the user into a "Deleted Users" folder in the "Users" folder on your HD, unless you choose "Delete Immediately" (which you didn't did you?).

You should be able to go to that folder, and navigate to the deleted user's desktop folder and find your stuff.

If I'm misunderstanding, and you are simply logging into a new account, and the old account is still there, just log in to the old account to see your stuff.

Hope this helps.
 
No I didn't delete my main account with everything on I deleted the new user which I made and yes I did click 'delete immediately' i'm afraid...:eek: But do you know how to find deleted files... maybe the computer automatically deleted all my stuff :(
 
ineedhelp500 said:
No I didn't delete my main account with everything on I deleted the new user which I made and yes I did click 'delete immediately' i'm afraid...:eek: But do you know how to find deleted files... maybe the computer automatically deleted all my stuff :(
Click to expand...

Okay, it appears I completely misunderstood you, then. Let me see if I get this right. You did your homework under the main account, but at some point created and deleted a new user, which you didn't use to do homework. But when you went back to the main user, all the files were gone from your desktop (including this homework). Is this correct?

Try doing a Find for the homework you did to see if you somehow misplaced it during your adventures.

There are a number of file recovery solutions for the Mac, I've never actually used any under OS X, so can't offer recommendations.
 
In case you don't find the file with the find function, it is still possible that your file is located in a folder to which your user somehow doesn't have access, because of whatever happened when you were modifying accounts. You can also do this, to find out if the file is in a folder to which your user doesn't have access:

Open Terminal
Type in: sudo find / | grep -i [insert a keyword from your file here]

I'm not that up on grep, so I found, when I did this, if I used a wildcard like 2004*.pdf, I didn't get files with a space between the the 2004 and the .pdf. Someone else might be able to fix the syntax for that. :eek:

What I would suggest is using a single word that you know is in the file name -- preferably something which is not in dozens of other files on your computer. If you use a single word without spaces, you do not need to use wildcards to make it match.

You will be asked for your root password, and then you will get a list of all files on your hard drive, in any directory, including the trash, that match the keyword.

Then, pore through it, and see if you can find your file. If you can, you should be able to do this:

sudo cp [insert the full path of the file here, from the grep output] ~/

And then go to the file, which is now in your home directory, and get info on it. Then there should be an option that will let you use your root password to give yourself access to the file again.
 
access the computer from another computer

relax, your files are probably still there. there are three things you can do that don't require any UNIX stuff.

1) connect to the iBook from another computer (APPLE + K). this will require you to have a network, such as a wireless network set up with Airport. you'll be asked for a username and password. use the username/password of your old account (the one with the homework).

2) if you don't have a network, boot the iBook into Target Disk Mode (i think you hold "T" after pressing the power button, or hold "T" and then press the power button.). this will basically turn the iBook into a Firewire hard drive - just hook up a Firewire cable from another Mac and you will be able to access all the files on the hard drive. look for your homework in the folder where your main user's desktop is/was.

3) if you don't have a network OR another Mac, download some FTP software onto an internet-enabled PC. turn on FTP sharing on your iBook (System Preferences > Sharing). note the IP address that it shows you after you connect. from the PC, connect to the IP address of the iBook using the FTP software. use your main account's username/password. i do this all the time to send files from my PC workstation to my Powerbook, because my PC can't print to the printer i own (?!).

if your files are still on the iBook, one of these methods will surely work. #2 is probably the most fail-safe as it doesn't require you to log in to anything, and therefore you will not be potentially limited to the /User/Username/ folder of the account you sign in to.

post back, let me know if one of these methods works.
 
Yes you are correct emw, thanks all you guys but unfortunately none of those things worked... does anyone know a program to find all the files which have been deleted or a website or something... btw i'm a girl (not that it matters) and i know alot about computers, just not about this situation, i'm sure you all know alot more about computers and thats why i'm asking for your help, i really need to find my files its not just the homework its practically EVERYTHING i ever did, made, tryed, etc so please help me!
 
ineedhelp500 said:
Yes you are correct emw, thanks all you guys but unfortunately none of those things worked... does anyone know a program to find all the files which have been deleted or a website or something... btw i'm a girl (not that it matters) and i know alot about computers, just not about this situation, i'm sure you all know alot more about computers and thats why i'm asking for your help, i really need to find my files its not just the homework its practically EVERYTHING i ever did, made, tryed, etc so please help me!
Click to expand...

So if my summary was correct, that means that you somehow (mistakenly) deleted everything on your own? Without knowing it? :confused:

Anyway, it sounds like you need a data recovery application of some sort. I wish I could be of help here, but I really have no experience in this area. Perhaps others can help?

(backup your data before your lose it...backup your data before your lose it...)
 
You could try Data Rescue X. One problem with trying to recover info, the more you use the disk after the info is lost, the greater the chance that what was lost is overwritten (and therefore unrecoverable). Basically you should instantly STOP using any disk that you need to attempt to recover data from.
 
yeah thanks for that but it takes a very long time and it only lets you search in specific places :(
 
ineedhelp500 said:
yeah thanks for that but it takes a very long time and it only lets you search in specific places :(
Click to expand...
Longer than redoing all of your work?

As for the specific places - can you specify the root Hard Drive and it will find anything there?
 
Just out of curiosity, have you shut down the iBook completly, not just put it to sleep or just restarted and then rebooted? I've had a hard drive totally disapear off my desktop before, but then I shut down and rebooted and it came back.

I'd also recomend booting up from your install CD's and running disk utility, and doing a repair of your hard drive and the permissions if you haven't already done so.

I don't think zapping the PRAM could hurt either. Command (apple Key) + Option + P + R on startup. Wait till you hear a chime 3 times then let go.

If you have already tried all this, then I'm out of ideas.
 
:confused:

You made a new user account, deleted it, made another one, then set the admin preference for it. You then logged into this new account. Once logged in, you used Fast User Switching (FUS) to log into your original account. You then found that all of your Desktop items were missing except for the hard disk icon, or that all the files still appear (using a volume usage comparison) to be on the hard drive but you can't find them? Is the new user account still active through FUS? OS X should not have been able to affect the data contained in your original account unless you linked the accounts somehow, moved the files to the new account, and then deleted it.
In Terminal, enter "cd /Users". Which subdirectories appear in that directory? Look in each Desktop directory for each user (you might need to "su" as root): enter "cd /Users/<User name>/Desktop" and then "ls -l".
 
I tried to Wake my Mac today but it went to Sleep again. I then tried to wake it again, but the display wouldn't come on. I did a cold boot but when I tried to log in to my user account, my Desktop and Dock preferences were reset to defaults. :eek: It was like I'd never logged in before, and my Desktop folders weren't there. I logged out and in and OS X decided to restore my profile. Strange things can happen to data. Backup your data before you lose it!
 
Anyone else vote for a repairing of permissions?

mkrishnan said:
Then, pore through it, and see if you can find your file.
Click to expand...

Apparently, grep isn't the only thing you aren't up on...:p ;)
 
It was a bit difficult to understand the description of what you did. Is this step by step list correct?

1. started out with user account A
2. created non-admin user account B
3. created admin user account C
4. deleted account B
5. everything was gone from user account A

Is it possible that you deleted account A instead of account B?

If you did delete the wrong account, I'm afraid it's almost impossible to get it back because to my knowledge Mac OS X actually overwrites deleted files immediately rather than just removing it from the hard drive's file index.
 
Mechcozmo said:
Apparently, grep isn't the only thing you aren't up on...:p ;)
Click to expand...

Not that I'm not a fan of cheap shots :D, but I think that "pore through it" is actually the right version of the expression. When I first saw your response, I thought, oops, I should've said "pour." But I think it's actually pore, as in this definition of pore the intransitive verb, from Am. Heritage:

To read or study carefully and attentively: pored over the classified ads in search of a new job.
Click to expand...

Anyway, I will be conciliatory, and say that I am always up to vote for repairing permissions. In fact, even when I see an annoying commercial on television, because I forgot to commercial advance through it, my first instinct is to repair permissions and see if it goes away. :p ;)

You could even say that I grant unlimited permissions to repair permissions. In 1337-5P34|<, I believe that would be:

Code: 
sudo chmod 777 /

:D
 
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