Macbook "Returned to defualt settings" help!

wklose · #1 November 20th, 2008, 09:41 AM

Hello -

My friend has a macbook pro and OSX. I am not sure what version exactly. She said someone was using her computer and when she got it back a window popped up that said "blah blah you must restart now" in many different languages. She claims it only said "you must restart now" but I'm sure it had some vital piece of information that would help find the cause of this problem that she just didnt remember.

Anyways, now when she logs onto her computer under her username(the only user account on the computer) her desktop wallpaper was reset and docking bar are at the default settings "like they were when [she] got the computer". Furthermore, none of her programs will open and her apple drop down menu will not drop down when she clicks on it to try and open it.

All of her files still exist in her /Users/[account short name] directory like her preference files, pictures, other data, etc. I found this apple help topic: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1876 on the issue. However, there is no other account in the /Users folder. The current home directory is the one with all her data in it. We even tried renaming her home directory, restarting, and then changing it back and restarting again but this did not fix the problem.

It sounds a lot like her home directory got changed or moved but the current home directory in the /Users folder is the one with all her data. Could it be the data is corrupted and thats why no programs will open? I have searched this forum and a few others and it seems a few other people have had similar problems but no one has been able to offer a legitimate solution to the problem. Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks, -Wklose

ElDiabloConCaca · #2 November 20th, 2008, 11:55 AM

It sounds like her home folder (the one in /Users) got renamed from what it was originally named.

Does the name of her home folder match her short username?

wklose · #3 November 20th, 2008, 12:13 PM

From what I understand it does. She is not an ace mac user and I am a PC guy so I am trying to find help for her. The problem is she cannot check what her short name is since the apple drop down menu does work. However, I am pretty sure it is correct because I had her rename her home directory folder to something else and the OS immediatly created another folder with the same name that was originaly there(with everything blank/default obviously) but that leads me to believe we are using the correct short name.

Thanks for your help though!