Recovering a deleted User

[markg]

This is my first post here. I'm a relatively new Mac User and not technical as you will see from my problem.

PROBLEM: I deleted my main User on my Mac G4 running OSX 10.1.5 after creating a new User. Since I did not specify otherwise the deleted User went to System Administrator. This User has all my relevant files (email, internet favorites, etc). This is a home computer and I do not have any need to set up multiple Users, except in this case to troubleshoot another problem which led to a greater one. Also my new User does not have internet or email access. It only works through System Administrator.

Can I recover this User or at least all the preferences and associated files? I have tried logging in as System Admin and copying folders from the deleted User name to the new User but got error saying I don't have permissions when I tried opening them as the new User. Tried creating new folders on new User and copying the contents of the deleted folders and that seemed to work for most folders containing gerneral files.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[DarkFrost]

Eeeeek.... Ignore me.
My mind was in the wrong place.
Sorry

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-This should get you access to your files.
I'll poke around and see what I can find out about restoring users

1: Open the "Terminal" application
2: Type: "sudo chmod 775 /" in the terminal window
(this will give you root admin access)
----

[Rhino_G3]

Originally posted by DarkFrost
This should get you access to your files.
I'll poke around and see what I can find out about restoring users

1: Open the "Terminal" application
2: Type: "sudo chmod 775 /" in the terminal window
(this will give you root admin access)

-DF

Dark frost, what exactly is that command supposed to do? that will change the permissions at the root of you filesystem, but nothing else. The owner will still be root. That specific command may cause more problems than it solves.

Unfortunately you can not restore a user but if you know the exact username and User ID you can recreate the user through a command in the terminal.

Other than having to mess with that you can use the "chown" command to change the owner of specific files. You will want to be carefull in how you use this command though. Is it only files in your old home directory that you need to gain access to?

if you type "man chown" in the terminal it will show you the exact usage and syntax that you would need to use. Terminal is located in the utilities directory.

If you don't feel safe using the command line you can alternately use a graphical utility such as xFiles to change the owner or permissions, which can be found at www.versiontracker.com

[markg]

DarkFrost, Rhino, Thanks for your responses.

Rhino, Yes the files in my old User home dir are what I am trying to recover, specifically my email files/settings, internet favorites, and the settings for my internet connection.

Can you be more specific on what I need to do in Terminal as I have not used it before and I don't want to make even more of a mess of things? If it is too involved let me know and I will try the xFiles. The xFiles maybe the easy way but I like to learn how to fix things or at least understand what I did wrong.

Out of curiosity why am I not able to get to the internet or configure my Mail from a new User?

[markg]

PROBLEM SOLVED?

Maybe. Here's what I did:

Logged in as root; selected all the folders in the deleted User Home one at a time chose File - Show Info, then selected drop-down box for privileges selected Read & Write for Group and Everyone; copied all contents of the deleted User Home into the Home of my new User; logged out of root and into new User.

This seemed to resolve my problem as everything appears as it was before I deleted my main User.

Thanks for the advice.

[Rhino_G3]

Yes, exactly. that will fix it for you. That is, in essence, what I had meant by the permissions. There are a few quicker ways to do it but the way you did it is probably the easiest.

The owner is still set to the old user that you deleted, but you do now have full access to the file.