Lost Access to Files & Settings after Zapping P RAM

[drgthang]

Hi all, I was having a problem printing to any of our office printers yesterday. I kept getting messages on Photoshop about "not enough memory (RAM)" to print. I decided this AM to "Zap my P RAM". I followed instructions and did that (let it boot 4 times)..But afterwards my computer seemed to revert back to OS X 10.2.8 (when I had been using 10.3.9 prior). I also lost my desktop somehow? I cant access files that Ive used for the past 2 months, and it seems to have reset my programs. I see a bunch of locked folders under my Username on the Hard Drive. (locked as in I am unable to access since zapping) Has anyone else seen this problem before? IF so what to do?

 

[Debaser626]

I don't think that zapping the PRAM or in any other situation it is possible for your OS to "revert" from 10.3.9 to 10.2.8 (unless you have a slave drive or other partition with 10.2.8 on it, and in that case you're just booting off of another drive so your 10.3.9 should still be there). From the rest of your description it sounds like you are logged in as another account. So.. two things... make sure your startup disk is correctly set, (in System Preferences) to 10.3.9. If you don't have another partition or bootable drive, make sure that you are logged in correctly as your self. I'm not sure if you're using netboot on your server in your office, but it could be that you're not logged in properly, hence the disappearance of your desktop and the fact that you're locked out of your home folder.

Also, if you see that photoshop message again, make sure you have enough space on your HD (if you're under a 500 MB-1 GB of free space, it could create an issue depending on how big the file you are trying to print is.) Second, you may want to take a look at how many apps you have open, and close unnecessary apps (this depends on how much RAM you have installed, of course) 3rd, you may have a bad preference file for Photoshop. There are a couple of other things, but with the Art Dept. at my job, the case has usually been someone trying to print a 1 GB file, who only has 750 MB left on their HD.