Transferring files to new user account

[izzy0242mr]

I currently have a malfunctioning user account: FaceTime and iMessage don't work, and the account is generally a bit laggy. I've tested new user accounts with FaceTime and iMessage and they work just fine, but I can't narrow it down to any particular app/setting that's causing the issue bc I've migrated this account several times over previous years.

I've also tried making a new account and copying/pasting Time Machine backup folders into their proper places in the new account, but that's always resulted in obnoxious popup messages telling me every five minutes that there is some permissions error and I can't really find a way to fix that so I'm stuck using my "broken" account. Another problem is that if you manually change permissions of a folder, it doesn't necessarily mean you change the permissions of all subfolders/files.

Is it possible for me to enable root user and somehow use that to transfer files from one user account to another without getting permission errors? Or to do what I want to do some other way?

 

[Ambrosia7177]

Maybe now is a good time to reinstall OS-X?

 

[izzy0242mr]

Maybe now is a good time to reinstall OS-X?

Already did that. Completely wiped the hard drive and migrated my account but problems persist, so it's not the OS install but the account itself.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

Already did that. Completely wiped the hard drive and migrated my account but problems persist, so it's not the OS install but the account itself.

If you went to all of that trouble, I would have set up new accounts during the process.

My experience is that migrations never work that well. Even Macs get junked up and it is best to start over clen when serious issues appear.

Sorry you are so much trouble.

If you used CCC and had two backups - a recent one and one from maybe a month ago, it could have saved you a lot of heartache.

 

[izzy0242mr]

If you went to all of that trouble, I would have set up new accounts during the process.

My experience is that migrations never work that well. Even Macs get junked up and it is best to start over clen when serious issues appear.

Sorry you are so much trouble.

If you used CCC and had two backups - a recent one and one from maybe a month ago, it could have saved you a lot of heartache.

I've also deleted my account entirely after a reinstall, made a new one, and migrated files into the new account (as opposed to migrating the whole account) and that had the same problem.

I want to start over clean, but I obviously need my files, and the problem is I can't just copy and paste files from Time Machine into my new user account and I need to find a way to do that.

How would CCC help? It's still an option; I've been having this problem for well over a year now.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

I've also deleted my account entirely after a reinstall, made a new one, and migrated files into the new account (as opposed to migrating the whole account) and that had the same problem.

I want to start over clean, but I obviously need my files, and the problem is I can't just copy and paste files from Time Machine into my new user account and I need to find a way to do that.

How would CCC help? It's still an option; I've been having this problem for well over a year now.

Gurus, correct me if I am wrong...

Time Machine makes a copy of changes and stores it in a large file. So you have one piece of the puzzle.

CCC makes a copy of every single file on your hard-drive.

If there were 1,000,000 files on your Mac - both OS and data - and you wanted to restore a single file (e.g. resume.doc) then you would just copy that file and place it wherever you wanted - like on a USB drive.

CCC is one of the best programs I have ever purchased. They just made some major changes - supposedly making it easier to use - so I can't speak to the latest version, but my second to last version rocks!

It is a very easy to use and very power application!

Cost like US$50.

It will serve you well in the future.

However, if your current computer is fubar'ed, then it might not help.

Hope that help!

 

[izzy0242mr]

Gurus, correct me if I am wrong...

Time Machine makes a copy of changes and stores it in a large file. So you have one piece of the puzzle.

CCC makes a copy of every single file on your hard-drive.

If there were 1,000,000 files on your Mac - both OS and data - and you wanted to restore a single file (e.g. resume.doc) then you would just copy that file and place it wherever you wanted - like on a USB drive.

CCC is one of the best programs I have ever purchased. They just made some major changes - supposedly making it easier to use - so I can't speak to the latest version, but my second to last version rocks!

It is a very easy to use and very power application!

Cost like US$50.

It will serve you well in the future.

However, if your current computer is fubar'ed, then it might not help.

Hope that help!

Time Machine does not make a single file. It stores a copy of all files in a folder, and you can drill down and access the individual files if you're logged in to the same account the Time Machine is backing up. So I can manually drag and drop individual files/folders from Time Machine to a new account.
…the problem is, the permissions of those dragged/dropped is all screwed up and I haven't found an easy way to get around that.
[doublepost=1476913070][/doublepost]Would this work? https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/moving-files-to-new-user-account.1757869/

 

[Ambrosia7177]

Time Machine does not make a single file. It stores a copy of all files in a folder, and you can drill down and access the individual files if you're logged in to the same account the Time Machine is backing up. So I can manually drag and drop individual files/folders from Time Machine to a new account.
…the problem is, the permissions of those dragged/dropped is all screwed up and I haven't found an easy way to get around that.
[doublepost=1476913070][/doublepost]Would this work? https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/moving-files-to-new-user-account.1757869/

I believe it creates an image that you can drill down into like you mentioned.

All I know is that CCC is money well spent, because not only does it back everything up, but you can boot from a CCC clone and you can't from a TIme Machine backup. That is main difference I suppose.

This thread is out of my expertise, but a good one for @Weaselboy

 

[Weaselboy]

I currently have a malfunctioning user account: FaceTime and iMessage don't work, and the account is generally a bit laggy. I've tested new user accounts with FaceTime and iMessage and they work just fine, but I can't narrow it down to any particular app/setting that's causing the issue bc I've migrated this account several times over previous years.

I've also tried making a new account and copying/pasting Time Machine backup folders into their proper places in the new account, but that's always resulted in obnoxious popup messages telling me every five minutes that there is some permissions error and I can't really find a way to fix that so I'm stuck using my "broken" account. Another problem is that if you manually change permissions of a folder, it doesn't necessarily mean you change the permissions of all subfolders/files.

Is it possible for me to enable root user and somehow use that to transfer files from one user account to another without getting permission errors? Or to do what I want to do some other way?

There is a folder at /Users/Shared that all accounts can access. So if it just some documents or music and photos you want, you can just drag them into that folder from the old account then access them form the new account and drag and drop them where you want them.

From your description here though, it sounds like you have either a login item in Users & Groups at System Preferences that is causing you problems, or a user launch item in ~/Library/LaunchAgents (~ is your users folder) that is causing this conflict.

If you want, you can run the app Etrecheck once. It will create an anonymized report showing all hidden launch and startup items. You can post the report here for us to have a look.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"I want to start over clean, but I obviously need my files, and the problem is I can't just copy and paste files from Time Machine into my new user account and I need to find a way to do that."

How to SOLVE that problem. Please read carefully.

1. You will need to create a CLONED backup -- not a tm backup. Use either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper. Either will do the job. CCC is FREE to download, and it runs FREE for 30 days.

2. Create the cloned backup. Now, mount it on the desktop.

3. Now, click ONE TIME on the icon for the backup drive (don't "open" it).

4. Type "command-i" to bring up the "get info" box

5. In the bottom right, there is a lock icon. Click it and enter your administrative password.

6. In the "sharing and permissions" area (click the "disclosure triangle" to see it if it's not visible), there is a checkbox "Ignore ownership on this volume". Put a checkmark into it.

7. Close the get info box.

You can now copy anything from your home folder (on the cloned copy) to your "new" home folder, without permissions problems. Works with other files wherever they are on the backup, as well.

 

[izzy0242mr]

OP wrote:
"I want to start over clean, but I obviously need my files, and the problem is I can't just copy and paste files from Time Machine into my new user account and I need to find a way to do that."

How to SOLVE that problem. Please read carefully.…You can now copy anything from your home folder (on the cloned copy) to your "new" home folder, without permissions problems. Works with other files wherever they are on the backup, as well.

Would this work if I put the cloned copy on an external hard drive and copied from there? I assume it would…

There is a folder at /Users/Shared that all accounts can access.
If you want, you can run the app Etrecheck once. It will create an anonymized report showing all hidden launch and startup items. You can post the report here for us to have a look.

I don't think the launch agents currently listed are anything causing the problem, because I think all of them are ones that have become active/installed in the past two weeks, although I may have missed something. Here's the output; any help would be appreciated! Lemme know if you want me to post it with the different colored text.

EtreCheck version: 3.0.6 (315)

Report generated 2016-10-20 12:57:38

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime 10:43

Performance: Poor



Click the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products.

Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.

Click the [Check files] link for help with unknown files.



Problem: Computer is too slow

Description:

I currently have a malfunctioning user account: FaceTime and iMessage don't work, and the account is generally a bit laggy. I've tested new user accounts with FaceTime and iMessage and they work just fine, but I can't narrow it down to any particular app/setting that's causing the issue bc I've migrated this account several times over previous years.



Hardware Information: ⓘ

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Early 2011)

[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,1

1 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2-core

16 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0

8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 897


Video Information: ⓘ

Intel HD Graphics 3000

Color LCD 1280 x 800


System Software: ⓘ

OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 (15G1004) - Time since boot: about 10 days


Disk Information: ⓘ

ST1000LM014-1EJ164 disk0 : (1 TB) (Rotational)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

Windows HD (disk0s4) /Volumes/Windows HD : 70.00 GB (24.66 GB free)

Macintosh HD (disk1) / [Startup]: 928.97 GB (212.65 GB free)

Core Storage: disk0s2 929.35 GB Online


HL-DT-ST DVDRW GS23N ()


USB Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver


Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus


Configuration files: ⓘ

System Integrity Protection status: disabled


Gatekeeper: ⓘ

Anywhere


Unknown Files: ⓘ

~/Library/LaunchAgents/info.stovell.StickiesSyncKickstart.plist

/bin/bash -c launchctl unload /Users/isaac/Library/LaunchAgents/info.stovell.StickiesSyncTrigger.plist ; launchctl load /Users/isaac/Library/LaunchAgents/info.stovell.StickiesSyncTrigger.plist

~/Library/LaunchAgents/info.stovell.StickiesSyncTrigger.plist

~/Library/StickiesSync/StickiesSyncScript

~/Library/Safari/Extensions/KeepOnSmiling.safariextz

3 unknown files found. [Check files]


Kernel Extensions: ⓘ

/Library/Application Support/VirtualBox

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv (5.0.26 - 2016-08-15) [Support]

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetAdp (5.0.26 - 2016-08-15) [Support]

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetFlt (5.0.26 - 2016-08-15) [Support]

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB (5.0.26 - 2016-08-15) [Support]



/Library/Application Support/org.pqrs/Karabiner

[loaded] org.pqrs.driver.Karabiner (10.21.0 - SDK 10.11 - 2016-07-05) [Support]



/System/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungComposite (1.4.38 - SDK 10.6 - 2016-10-07) [Support]

[loaded] com.fsb.kext.logKext (2.4 - SDK 10.9 - 2016-10-07) [Support]



/System/Library/Extensions/ssuddrv.kext/Contents/PlugIns

[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungACMControl (1.4.38 - SDK 10.6 - 2016-04-19) [Support]

[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungACMData (1.4.38 - SDK 10.6 - 2016-04-19) [Support]

[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungMTP (1.4.38 - SDK 10.5 - 2016-04-19) [Support]

[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungSerial (1.4.38 - SDK 10.6 - 2016-04-19) [Support]



System Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] 8 Apple tasks

[loaded] 146 Apple tasks

[running] 76 Apple tasks

[killed] 9 Apple tasks

9 processes killed due to insufficient RAM


System Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[not loaded] 42 Apple tasks

[loaded] 147 Apple tasks

[running] 96 Apple tasks

[killed] 6 Apple tasks

6 processes killed due to insufficient RAM


Launch Agents: ⓘ

[failed] com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.cc24aef4a1b90ed56a725c38014c95072f92651fb65e1bf9c8e43c37a23d420d.plist (2016-10-13) [Support]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (2016-07-11) [Support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (2015-06-17) [Support]

[running] com.orbicule.UCAgent.plist (2014-06-27) [Support]

[running] org.chromium.chromoting.plist (2016-06-20) [Support]

[loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist (2014-08-11) [Support]


Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[running] com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist (2016-10-13) [Support]

[failed] com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist (2016-10-13) [Support]

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2016-09-23) [Support]

[loaded] com.ea.origin.ESHelper.plist (2015-10-08) [Support]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (2016-09-01) [Support]

[loaded] com.microsoft.autoupdate.helpertool.plist (2016-08-20) [Support]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper.plist (2015-07-01) [Support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (2015-06-17) [Support]

[running] com.orbicule.uc.plist (2014-06-27) [Support]

[running] logKext.plist (2014-03-05) [Support]

[loaded] me.connectify.SMJobBlessHelper.plist (2016-03-25) [Support]

[loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist (2014-08-11) [Support]

[not loaded] org.pqrs.Karabiner.load.plist (2016-07-05) [Support]

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.startup.plist (2016-08-15) [Support]


User Launch Agents: ⓘ

[loaded] com.citrixonline.GoToMeeting.G2MUpdate.plist (2015-07-02) [Support]

[loaded] com.valvesoftware.steamclean.plist (2016-10-13) [Support]

[loaded] info.stovell.StickiesSyncKickstart.plist (2016-08-07)

[loaded] info.stovell.StickiesSyncTrigger.plist (2016-08-07) [Support]

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.vboxwebsrv.plist (2016-08-15) [Support]


User Login Items: ⓘ

Box Sync Application Hidden (/Applications/Box Sync.app)

smcFanControl Application Hidden (/Applications/smcFanControl.app)

Flux Application Hidden (/Applications/Flux.app)

DisableExtremeScrollAcceleration Application Hidden (/Applications/DisableExtremeScrollAcceleration.app)

Sync Folders Pro Application Hidden (/Applications/Sync Folders Pro.app)

Karabiner Application Hidden (/Applications/Karabiner.app)

Music Manager Application Hidden (~/Library/PreferencePanes/MusicManager.prefPane/Contents/Helpers/MusicManagerHelper.app)

Dropbox Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

StickiesSync.scpt Script Hidden (~/Downloads/StickiesSync/StickiesSync.scpt)

MightyText Application (/Applications/MightyText.app)

Synergy Application Hidden (/Applications/Synergy.app)

fuspredownloader Application Hidden (~/Library/Application Support/.FUS/fuspredownloader.app)

CrossOver CD Helper Application (/Applications/CrossOver.app/Contents/Resources/CrossOver CD Helper.app)

AppCleaner SmartDelete SMLoginItem (/Applications/AppCleaner.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/AppCleaner SmartDelete.app)


Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

FlashPlayer-10.6: 23.0.0.185 - SDK 10.9 (2016-10-11) [Support]

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2016-07-26)

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 15.017.20053 - SDK 10.11 (2016-08-05) [Support]

AdobePDFViewer: 15.017.20053 - SDK 10.11 (2016-08-05) [Support]

Flash Player: 23.0.0.185 - SDK 10.9 (2016-10-11) [Support]

Default Browser: 601 - SDK 10.11 (2016-07-26)

Silverlight: 5.1.50901.0 - SDK 10.6 (2016-10-16) [Support]

DirectorShockwave: 12.1.8r158 - SDK 10.6 (2015-04-16) [Support]

JavaAppletPlugin: Java 8 Update 101 build 13 (2016-08-20) Check version



User internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: 1.0.105 (2013-04-25) [Support]

RealPlayer Plugin: Unknown (2015-07-30) [Support]



Safari Extensions: ⓘ

Zotero Connector - Center for History and New Media - http://www.zotero.org/ (2016-09-20)

Add To Amazon Wish List - Amazon.com - https://www.amazon.com/wishlist?ref=cm_wl_saf_ext (2016-09-20)

Cleaner - for Facebook - Graffino - http://apps.graffino.com (2016-09-20)

WOT - WOT Services Ltd - http://www.mywot.com/ (2016-09-20)

KeepOnSmiling (2016-09-20)

AdBlock - BetaFish, Inc. - https://getadblock.com (2016-09-20)

Adblock Plus - Eyeo GmbH - https://adblockplus.org/ (2016-10-17)

Grammarly for Safari - Grammarly - https://www.grammarly.com (2016-09-20)

Honey - Honey Science Corporation - https://www.joinhoney.com (2016-10-17)

HoverSee - SideTree.com - Apps for Mac - http://SideTree.com/extensions.html#HoverSee (2016-09-20)

Blur - Abine, the online privacy company. - https://www.abine.com (2016-10-17)

SSL Always - Jeet Doh (2016-09-20)


3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ

remoting_host_prefpane (2016-07-12) [Support]

Flash Player (2016-09-23) [Support]

Java (2016-07-19) [Support]

MusicManager (2015-11-17) [Support]


Time Machine: ⓘ

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 928.97 GB Disk used: 716.33 GB

Destinations:

Time Machine Backups [Local]

Total size: 900.13 GB

Total number of backups: 16

Oldest backup: 6/20/16, 8:27 PM

Last backup: 10/12/16, 9:42 PM

Size of backup disk: Too small

Backup size 900.13 GB < (Disk used 716.33 GB X 3)


Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ

34% WindowServer

29% com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(29)

4% Safari

2% Box Sync Monitor

2% kernel_task


Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ

7.47 GB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(29)

1.29 GB kernel_task

1.28 GB Safari

459 MB softwareupdated

344 MB MightyText


Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ

28 MB Free RAM

16.00 GB Used RAM (2.82 GB Cached)

8.35 GB Swap Used


Diagnostics Information: ⓘ

Oct 19, 2016, 01:01:18 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/MightyText_2016-10-19-130118_[redacted].cpu_resource.diag [Details]

/Applications/MightyText.app/Contents/MacOS/MightyText

Oct 18, 2016, 07:50:03 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/com.apple.WebKit.WebContent_2016-10-18-195003_[redacted].cpu_resource.diag [Details]

/System/Library/StagedFrameworks/Safari/WebKit.framework/Versions/A/XPCServices/com.apple.WebKit.WebContent.xpc/Contents/MacOS/com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

 

[Weaselboy]

User Launch Agents: ⓘ

[loaded] com.citrixonline.GoToMeeting.G2MUpdate.plist (2015-07-02) [Support]

[loaded] com.valvesoftware.steamclean.plist (2016-10-13) [Support]

[loaded] info.stovell.StickiesSyncKickstart.plist (2016-08-07)

[loaded] info.stovell.StickiesSyncTrigger.plist (2016-08-07) [Support]

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.vboxwebsrv.plist (2016-08-15) [Support]


User Login Items: ⓘ

Box Sync Application Hidden (/Applications/Box Sync.app)

smcFanControl Application Hidden (/Applications/smcFanControl.app)

Flux Application Hidden (/Applications/Flux.app)

DisableExtremeScrollAcceleration Application Hidden (/Applications/DisableExtremeScrollAcceleration.app)

Sync Folders Pro Application Hidden (/Applications/Sync Folders Pro.app)

Karabiner Application Hidden (/Applications/Karabiner.app)

Music Manager Application Hidden (~/Library/PreferencePanes/MusicManager.prefPane/Contents/Helpers/MusicManagerHelper.app)

Dropbox Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

StickiesSync.scpt Script Hidden (~/Downloads/StickiesSync/StickiesSync.scpt)

MightyText Application (/Applications/MightyText.app)

Synergy Application Hidden (/Applications/Synergy.app)

fuspredownloader Application Hidden (~/Library/Application Support/.FUS/fuspredownloader.app)

CrossOver CD Helper Application (/Applications/CrossOver.app/Contents/Resources/CrossOver CD Helper.app)

AppCleaner SmartDelete SMLoginItem (/Applications/AppCleaner.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/AppCleaner SmartDelete.app)

The problem would not be a system level launch item, but rather a user item from my quote here since the issue only exists in the old account. It would be very unusual for any type of "system" corruption to cause trouble with multuple apps like you are seeing. I really do think it is one of the user items I quoted here.

I notice a crash report at the bottom of the report for MightyText and that is a user login item you are running.

I would try going to to the users ~/Library/LaunchAgents folder and removing everything from there then also remove everything from login items in Users & Groups, then restart and run Etrecheck again to make sure you got all the user items. Then test.

~/Library/LaunchAgents

You can mouse select the line above in this message then right click, then services, then reveal in Finder to get to the correct folder.