Reset user folder permissions?

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Level 1

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Reset user folder permissions?

Hello. A while ago I was having some slow downs on my late '08 MBP and decided to set up a new user to see if this solved some of the slow downs. It did but after copying my data over from the old user account I was left with many incorrect permissions. I tried repair permissions in disk utility but that didn't solve the problem. I have since upgraded to Snow Leopard and the folder/file permissions issues have stayed. Is there an easy way to reset permissions with out doing a clean install of Snow Leopard? I've tried getting info and clicking on the file permissions area and setting the new user as admin and owner then selecting apply to sub folders/files. It goes ahead and does it but still I seem to have to repeat this process for every file/folder. Very time consuming.

Macbook Pro 2.53Ghz (Late 2008), Mac OS X (10.6.1)

Posted on Sep 29, 2009 3:17 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Kappy

Level 10

361,855 points

Sep 29, 2009 3:30 PM in response to Bay2Sacto

This is common when copying files from another user account because you do not have permission to access files from another user. Your solution of creating a new account to see if you could solve a slowdown problem was not the best solution as you've since found out.

It's possible to fix the problem assuming the only thing affected is your Home folder. See the following:

Make sure all of your files are in your home folder. Then open Terminal and enter this (assuming your short name is "gail":

sudo chown -R gail /Users/gail [Press return, read the lecture, enter your password]
chmod -R u+rwX /Users/gail [Press return]

That will change file ownership of the contents of your whole home folder to you, and will let you read and write everything. Substitute your own short name for "gail" in the above command lines. Note that case is important.

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Answer 2

K T

Level 7

23,883 points

Sep 29, 2009 4:30 PM in response to Bay2Sacto

CarbonCopyCloner has the ability to migrate files and appropriately retain existing permissions - you may want to take a look at using it for this (start over) and other tasks as it is very popular and quite useful. Good luck in any case.

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Answer 3

Bay2Sacto Author

Level 1

20 points

Sep 30, 2009 9:45 PM in response to Kappy

Thanks. Most of the issues are in my home folder. But there have been a few issues with a few apps and settings folders. I was actually given the suggestion of setting up a new user as a way to trouble shoot by a Apple support person on the phone. The old account is still there just I haven't used it in 5-6 months so it's a bit behind. I'm still wanting to do a clean install after I find a decent external firewire 800 hard drive to clone my current drive to and the time to reinstall all my apps :/

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Answer 4

Oct 1, 2009 11:01 AM in response to Bay2Sacto

Hi Bay2Sacto;

If a new account works then doing an Erase & Install is not necessary unless you just want to kill time because that proves there is noting wrong with the system. The problem is in your old account.

Allan

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Answer 5

Oct 10, 2009 5:04 PM in response to Bay2Sacto

as it says here:
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10329971-263.html
you can reset the ACL's (access control lists) on your home folder. to do this follow these instructions:

1. type into terminal without the quotes "sudo chmod -RN ~" and press return
2. type your password and press return NB. When you type it it won't appear in terminal
3. when that command is done type without the quotes "sudo chown -R `id -un` ~" and press return
4. boot up off the snow leopard/leopard dvd and after selecting a language select from the utilities menu "Reset Password"
5. Select the user account that is affected and click the "Reset" button in the "Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs" section. After this has run, quit the installer and restart the computer

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Answer 6

Bay2Sacto Author

Level 1

20 points

Nov 18, 2009 2:49 AM in response to Allan Eckert

Yeah I've come to the conclusion that I really don't wanna do that 😉 Probably the years of Windows re-installs every 6-12 months. Still need to get used to not having to do that with OS X except for extreme cases. Lol

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Answer 7

Bay2Sacto Author

Level 1

20 points

Nov 18, 2009 2:51 AM in response to MatthewXonk

I finally got around to trying this and it has seemed to work. There are still a small number of apps that give me permissions errors when trying to upgrade, but that's solved by trashed and reinstalling. Thanks for the tip 🙂

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Answer 8

Nov 23, 2009 10:56 AM in response to Bay2Sacto

Two things that might help:

1. Try copying things from the old account to the Shared folder, then to the new account. I think that copying from the Shared folder changes permissions of copied items to work in the destination account.

2. Not sure about this one. Try deleting the old old account with the option to archive the home folder to a disk image. Then log into the new account and copy files from the disk image. Does that work?

3. There is an old program "Batchmod" that I have used to change permissions. Handy and free, but I have no idea about Snow Leopard capmatibility:

http://macchampion.com/arbysoft/BatchMod/Welcome.html

Frank Martin
Author, FUNDimensions Fundraising Software
Apple Certified Help Desk Specialist

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Answer 9

Feb 10, 2010 8:58 AM in response to Kappy

YOU ARE A LIFESAVER!!!! THANK YOU INTERNET HELP WORLD!!!!

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