login problem, but not one i have read about

W

walden2

Registered
macbook pro 10.4.11


in brief;

at login, i type my usual name and pw
login succeeds, i can see my desktop image and dock
but i get the spinning rainbow
after a few seconds, the mac goes back to the login prompt
at this stage i log in as a guest, which works fine
then i choose to "launch full finder", which prompts me for an admin level user and pw, which is accepted when i type it in.
at this stage i can work pretty much as normal.


i need to access this main account -, or at the very least access its desktop and other privileged areas.

my guess is that i have some corruption in the desktop or its preferences (it was untidy and full of files.....)

i'm afraid i am not totally up to speed with macs.....

any ideas would be most welcome
 
If you have way too many files cluttering the desktop, that can cause all kinds of issues. Log-in any way you can and create a folder on your desktop called desktop stuff or something different from desktop and throw all of your desktop files and folders in there and see if it acts as it should after that.
 
thanks. perhaps i didnt make myself clear,
i cant access the main login account, hence i cant access its desktop.
each login has a different desktop, stored as a folder which is locked to other users..........
 
You can try a safe boot by booting and holding the shift key until you get a log in screen, then clean the desktop and restart normally and see how it acts after that. If you can't log in that way you are going to have to slave that machine to another by connecting through target disk mode to another mac and then go to the desktop directory of the affected user and do the cleanup. Last but not least, if there is another admin account on the machine you can log in to or or you have your install DVD, then you can go enable the root user which will give you access to the affected users files and cleanup that way.
 
djackmac, thanks thats encouraging :-)
there isnt another admin account, but i do have the install dvd, i'll try root user and report back.
W
 
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