No permissions to .sparsebundle file

[cobretti3115]

A few days ago I was trying to make a change to a .plist file and was continually told I did not have permissions to it (even though I'm the ONLY user and an ADMIN). In my frustration I changed the Sharing & Permissions for my entire disk so that all groups had read & write access I even added to include all files and directories within. Tried to edit that file again and still no access. I then tried to turn off FileVault which was activated but that encountered an error and stopped. At my next reboot the computer went into a boot loop and it would not go passed the grey screen with the dark grey Apple logo and the spinning wheel. I used my Installation Disk to see what I could do and I was able to do another installation and create a different user name. With the second username I was able to log into the system and navigate to my original user's folder but all I see in there is a .sparsebundle file. There is also a "Previous Systems" folder on the disk now.

I can log in with the original user BUT when I try to navigate to the User folder I am now given a "Folder could not be opened... you do not have permissions" error.

How can I access my files stored inside of the .sparsebundle file??? Also, I've tried some of the terminal commands and I have a "No home directory /Users/'Username'" at the very top.

Thank you for any help! Please keep in mind, I am brand new to Macs. I've only had it for about 3 months.

My mac is a Macbook (2007) with Leopard 10.5.2 (after the reinstall) it used to be 10.5.8