Logged into Guest; Logged into Primary; LOST EVERYTHING!

Bonjour,

Are you sure your original directory (in users directory) is missing ?

If it is not you can try to boot on again by modifying the directory to boot with in your primary account in System preferences …

If it is backup or new installation.

Good luck

*DRIVE SALVAGE OPTIONS*

This happened to me, and I don't have a recent backup. Before you criticize me for that, realize that this is painful enough without people doing so; and at any rate, I had Time Machine set up several months ago, but turned it off as it was very slow and completely without the options I needed (like backup at night only, for example). Apparently this has been fixed (to a degree) with Snow Leopard, but I hated the early version and hadn't gone back for another try.

I called Apple's tech support 1-800-275-2273, who recommended using my Time Machine backup. Thanks for that, genius.
They also recommended *Drive Savers: 1-800-440-1904*
But I chose not to send my computer to them, as I don't have a lot of spare cash laying around and I know when it says "free estimate" on the home page it isn't going to be cheap. (Nice that an Apple-endorsed company can make some bank off this, eh?)

Then I called the nice people who make DiskWarrior (Alsoft), who reported that their product could not help me but recommended:

*1. File Salvage*
http://subrosasoft.com/OSXSoftware/index.php?mainpage=product_info&productsid=1/

*2. Data Rescue*
http://www.prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue.php

And on my own I found:
*3. Virtual Lab OS X*
http://www.binarybiz.com/vlab/mac.html

All three of the above programs have 'demo' versions of their software that can explore your drive and show you what they have to offer. I ended up trying *Virtual Lab OS X* first (probably because they had the best looking model on their home page) - this found many of my files, but was amazingly expensive:
$40 for 100MB up to $280 for 1TB, and $350 for a year

What I ended up using was *File Salvage*, downloaded for $79. This recovered most (?all) of my MS Word/Excel/PowerPoint files, images, MP3s, etc. I was even able to recover my most important data - my Python code - by giving the program examples of .py files (for it to look for). Amazing. That said, it *could not recover any file names or dates* (a function of how the data was deleted - using the POSIX 'rm' command), so I still have my work cut out for me in organizing this pile of recovered data.

Note: I booted my MBP in 'target' mode (hold t after the boot chime) and ran recovery from another MBP. If you run it from the same computer you are recovering from, you risk losing (overwriting) data.

--------------------------------
Forum on file salvage:
*OS X Data Recovery Software*
* http://forums.macosxhints.com/showthread.php?t=83112*

This happened to me today. Is there a fix. I am freaking out.

Scedwards wrote:
This is definitely spreading, as the glitch made the news on the BBC website, but it really isnt helping, because people are now becoming paranoid, and it will make a huge impact in v10.6 sales. I really hope apple corrects the problem soon!

No certified expert has yet been able to duplicate this bug in the lab. They have tried all the proposed scenarios to confirm it. The people who actually know what they are talking about have labeled this bug extremely rare. This in no way plays down the data loss of those who have been hit by it but you all need to know that this is NOT widespread in any way. The latest developer release notes for OS X 10.6.2 (not yet released) indicate this has been dealt with. The update will not restore lost data, of course. It will only correct the original problem.

And does it need to be stated again that you can avoid the rare possibility of lost data by simply not enabling the Guest account at this time? Apparently not many users actually use the guest account in the first place.

And for the record, I myself tried to duplicate the bug on my own system. I have always followed a strict regimen of backups and cloning. I enabled the Guest account, logged in ,logged out, and then disabled the Guest account. Nothing happened. I tried other proposed scenarios. Again, nothing happened. Try as I might I could not get this bug to rear its ugly head on my system.

Message was edited by: lkrupp

cymx5 wrote:
"In rare circumstances, use of the Guest account can cause irreversible data loss to the boot hard drive after installation of Snow Leopard. As precautionary measures, back up using Time Machine prior to installation. After installation is complete, disable the Guest account until further notice from Apple."

While the issue is obviously annoying if it happens to you, having a current backup is just normal computing procedure and shouldn't need to be explicitly called out.

William Kucharski wrote:

cymx5 wrote:
"In rare circumstances, use of the Guest account can cause irreversible data loss to the boot hard drive after installation of Snow Leopard. As precautionary measures, back up using Time Machine prior to installation. After installation is complete, disable the Guest account until further notice from Apple."

While the issue is obviously annoying if it happens to you, having a current backup is just normal computing procedure and shouldn't need to be explicitly called out.

This should be a wake-up call to every user who has chosen not to back up their data or who has become complacent or lax in their backup routines. I would specifically call out the users who use third party hacks to modify Time Machine's scheduling from once per hour to once per day. They are unwise to do this. Catastrophe can strike at any instant, even on a Mac. Choosing to forgo backups is, quite literally, data suicide in the making.

thanks for this information, I am definitely going to look into this.

This just happened to me and I am absolutely devastated. I feel like such an idiot, I've lost all my art and university files. Time Machine was one of those things I never got around to doing (I only bought this mac 3weeks ago)

These kind of bugs and hardware glitches need to be disclosed (I've had hardware problems that applecare will not take responsibility for in the past).

Hi Kate; Sorry to hear about your data loss. I guess I have been lucky because I have always received first rate service from AppleCare. I suggest that before you do anything else with your computer, you buy a good data salvaging program and see if it can help you. An example of one to consider is Prosoft Engineering's Data Rescue. You can find info on it at http://www.prosofteng.com/ and purchase it at numerous stores that sell Mac software. I also suggest you go right out and buy an external hard drive, plug it into your Mac and begin using Time Machine to protect your files from further loss. Good luck.