Oh god what have i done!

N

Nick_73

Registered
Ok so i had this great idea, (with my new macbook...yes i are a noob..sorry) instead of clicking on my drive icon on the desktop in order to access my user folder (i.e. the folder called "nick smith" in the explorer window). what a wheeze it would be to have my user folder right on the desktop.

Easy thinks I, so I drag the "nick smith" folder from the explorer window right onto the desktop.

The folder actually disappears in a puff of smoke, i mean really someone has animated that. But now its gone, "documents" is still on the dock and I can access everything in it, but now when I click my drive icon on the desktop, the new explorer window no longer has any folder called "nick smith" How do I undo whatever I have just done? Oh, and what did I do?

Thanks
Nick
 
The "nick smith" folder is still there. It's Macintosh HD > Users > nick smith.

Just drag that back to your left-hand column.

Welcome to Mac! You'll love it. Btw, it's "Finder", not "(Windows) Explorer".
 
Thanks, your only right, it is there and I do love it lol! I just knew I'd make an error of terminology. I'd already gone over the post changing 'my documents' to "documents" lol

thanks again

Lets face it Ill probably be back sooner or later lol.

cheers again

Nick
 
You may want to go into Finder's preferences (Apple-,) and select "New Finder windows open" to "Home". It's under the General tab. That way, Finder windows will start from "nick smith", your Home.

You'll see that puff of smoke if you drag something off your Dock too. (Isn't there sound too?) That item won't be gone either, just the shortcut on your Dock.
 
minckster said:
Welcome to Mac! You'll love it. Btw, it's "Finder", not "(Windows) Explorer".
Click to expand...

:)

Yeah, I was wondering!

"How is he opening in a browser?"

Nick_73

Welcome to Apple! Seriously, I did the same thing when I upgraded to OS X. I would click something and accidentally drag it . . . and . . . GONE! NO!!!! COME BACK!!!!

Then I could not figure out what part of the "Dock" you could place "aliases." So I would end up deleting aliases left and right.

Anyways, you will get the hang of it. Two things: make sure your firewall is "on"--go to your System Preferences--Sharing--Firewall. Sometimes the default is "off."

Next, if you wish to use a PC emulator, read the FAQs on this site on those things. Good wisdom there!

--J.D.
 
You can get your Home folder back in the sidebar y going to /Users (that is to say, the Users folder in Macintosh HD) and dragging "nick smith" back into the sidebar. You can also make an alias (called shortcut in the Windows world) on your desktop by dragging "nick smith" to the desktop while holding down the command (Apple) and Option keys on your keyboard.

The puff of smoke IS alarming. You're certainly not the first to be confused by it.
 
Mikuro said:
You can also make an alias (called shortcut in the Windows world) on your desktop by dragging "nick smith" to the desktop while holding down the command (Apple) and Option keys on your keyboard.
Click to expand...

I was trying this out and it took me a few minutes to realise that you couldn't drag "nick smith" from the Finder Sidebar ... it only works from MacHD ~> Users ~> nick smith .... otherwise it's the dreaded puff ' o ' smoke!

I wanted to add that dragging 'nick smith' to the Dock (to the space just to the left of the Trash Icon) is useful as when you click/hold on the 'nick smith' folder in the Dock it allows fast access to your Home Directory. You can also customise the folder icon if you like. :)
 
Or better said...

explorer.exe = Windows Explorer (aka, the file manager)
iexplore.exe = Internet Explorer
 
I wonder why Apple had the directories arranged in the order that they did in the sidebar. Desktop is a subdirectory of the home directory, yet it was placed above the shortcut to the home directory. Placing it underneath it instead emphasizes the relationship of subdirectory better. Also, why put the Applications shortcut underneath the home directory in the sidebar? Applications is not inside the home directory, so I placed its shortcut above that of the home directory.
 
It's because the sidebar does *NOT* reflect the hierarchical folder structure. The desktop folder has been the "main" folder for most users "just to put stuff" for 24 years on the Macintosh computer, that's why it's kept at the top. The home folder, then, came along with OS X, so it's right there as well. Applications are a separate thing, but still important.
 
So I have a similar problem except I was trying to drag my Macintosh HD to the desktop and poof. How do I recover that? Its no longer in Finder and not on the desktop either...somewhat new to mac.
 
click on your desktop, now go to Finder->Preferences in the top menu-bar.
From there select Sidebar and click on Hard Disks.
 
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