Tried to manually move everything from 1 user to another: now most folders are empty

[Toblerone]

For some reason, I naively thought I would be able to manually move everything from one user account to a new user account. So I clicked on "All my Files", selected everything, and then dragged it all into my other user account folder (named "guestaccount").

Now the folders on my desktops (in both users) are mostly empty. I think everything is still on my computer, but basically nothing of it is organized anymore. So it will take me forever to find anything that I need. How can I get everything back to normal? Can I somehow restore my computer to a previous time? (I haven't set up Time Machine)

I dragged Microsoft Word into the new account as well, and now it won't work in either account. When I try to open it, a box pops up saying:

"Microsoft Word cannot be opened because of a problem. Check with the developer to make sure Microsoft Word works with this version of Mac OS X. You may need to reinstall the application. Be sure to install any available updates for the application and Mac OS X. Click Report to see more detailed information and send a report to Apple."

(I clicked report)

Btw, I have a MacBook Pro with Mac OS X Lion 10.7.4

 

[SpetsnaZ99]

Now the folders on my desktops are mostly empty.

When you say 'mostly empty', what do you mean? Do you mean that some items have moved but others haven't or have some files completely disappeared. Have you tried searching for the missing files

I dragged Microsoft Word into the new account as well, and now it won't work in either account.

Are you saying that you moved the actual application or a word document.
If its the application youre talking about have you tried putting it back in the 'Applications' folder on the hard drive, not in a user 'Applications' folder.

 

[Toblerone]

Thanks for the response! I just searched for various files, and they are all in the folder 'Macintosh HD > Users > guestaccount'). The problem is that nothing is in their original folders. I guess I'll just have to sort everything manually...

What I'm really worried about now is my Microsoft Word application won't work (I moved the application itself). Ya, I just moved the application into 'Macintosh HD > Applications'. It still wont work. I think it may be because of the Microsoft Office license, which says it can only be used on three computers? (I have it downloaded on two other computers as well)

 

[steve-p]

Word is probably not working because you didn't move any of the supporting files in the hidden Library folder from one user to another. If you dragged everything from All My Files then they would all end up in the same folder, as it's not going to be able to distribute them based on what source folder they were in. Also I wouldn't recommend relying on All My Files anyway because in my experience, not all files that should be in that list are necessarily there.

TBH I would go back to the latest backup and leave well alone. Fixing the damage is likely to be pretty hard.

 

[Toblerone]

Ya, that makes sense... unfortunately, I don't have my computer backed up, and I have not activated Time Machine yet (but I think I'll set it up pretty soon, after this). I guess some people need to learn the hard way

So, any ideas on how to get Word up and running again?