Time Machine backups greyed out

Okey, I finished copying whole folders and files of old <home folder>/library to new <home folder>/library. It is a lot of work. I copied some folders with no problem. But some folders gave some errors somethings like below:

"com.apple......." is in use

or

alot of ...... required by Mac OS X

So I was not able to copy some folders. But I figured out something new. Let's say, if I copy a folder from Shared Folder and then go ahead and paste it inside the content of Target folder in new account. It copies whole content no problem. But only problem is something like:

Application Support

Application Support

What I mean is: Application Support folder inside Application Support Folder. Am I supposed to copy the content of inside Application Support content to Application Support folder outside ? or leave it as it is ? I hope you understand what I mean.

tolgao wrote:

. . .

"com.apple......." is in use

That sounds like a preferences file (in the Preferences folder). If it's an important one, be sure the app associated with it isn't open. Delete the (default) one in the new account if you have to.

Mail, in particular, will be a problem if you can't copy it, as it has all your mail accounts, passwords, server names, etc.

But with most preferences files, you can just re-enter the preferences.

if I copy a folder from Shared Folder and then go ahead and paste it inside the content of Target folder in new account. It copies whole content no problem. But only problem is something like:

Application Support

Application Support

What I mean is: Application Support folder inside Application Support Folder. Am I supposed to copy the content of inside Application Support content to Application Support folder outside ?

Application Support should not have another Application Support folder inside it. Needed files won't be found by many apps.

That's what I mean by "copy the content of a folder" to the corresponding place in the new account.

Do not copy the actual folder; just all the contents. I don't know any other way to say it.

When you're done, you should have exactly the same structure in both home folder libraries; otherwise things will not work properly.

I can't copy the contents of some folders in Shared Folders because I Am not allowed to see content because of permission issue. But I copied most of the stuff except few. Now my new account looks like exactly the same as old account. I am going to test for a while to see if it works okey. Then I will erase most of the stuff in old account.

tolgao wrote:

I can't copy the contents of some folders in Shared Folders because I Am not allowed to see content because of permission issue.

Yes, I know.

For those folders (one at a time), log on to the old user account, go back to the originals in the old home folder. Copy the contents (if any) of the folder to the Shared folder.

Then log on to the new user account and copy the contents to the corresponding folder in the new home folder.

I realized that only folders I could not copy to new account are empty folders or folders with empty sub-folders.

For example, When I tried to copy: <home folder>/library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components (emptyfolder)

I get following error: "Components" can't be modified or deleted because it's required by Mac OS X.

I got above error with some other folders like: (Input Methods, Internet Plug-Ins, iMovie, ColorPickers, Compositions, Favorites, Fonts). All of these folders and sub-folders in them are empty(no contents). They are same Folder structures in new account.

It looks like I am done. Everything is working good so far.

tolgao wrote:

. . .

All of these folders and sub-folders in them are empty(no contents). They are same Folder structures in new account.

Ah, ok, I misunderstood. As long as you have all the right things in the right places, you're fine.

It looks like I am done. Everything is working good so far.

Great! Glad it's sorted out. 🙂

First permission problem occured few minutes ago. I was updating Skype application. It downloaded okey. But It wanted to install new version of Skype. I got the following error:

"Skype was unable to install the update because the old application can't be overwritten." Please try again later.

I did Reset Permissions for my new account and old account 10 minutes ago. Still did not solve the permission problem.

I did get info trick to change permission for Skype Application by adding manually my new account. It allows to choose my new account but does not add to Share & Permissions list. Why this happens ? and How can I fix this problem ?

P.S. I checked all of my Applications permissions settings and none of them has my new user account, they all had my old account permission settings.

Message was edited by: tolgao

tolgao wrote:

First permission problem occured few minutes ago. I was updating Skype application. It downloaded okey. But It wanted to install new version of Skype. I got the following error:

"Skype was unable to install the update because the old application can't be overwritten." Please try again later.

Try just deleting it (you'll probably have to enter an Admin password).

Then reinstall it.

you mean deleting the application ?

Yup.

do you mean i have to delete all apps and reinstall again ? can you explain abit more ?

No, only the one you're having a problem with.

The default Apple apps won't be a problem; only some apps you installed separately, as the old user. That user will have read & write permissions; other users will only have read rights, so can't replace them.

So either log on as the other user to update/replace the app, or delete it and reinstall as the new user, so you won't have trouble the next time.

I decided to delete the third party apps and reintsall them again. Just deleting the third party apps from Application Folder is enough ? or Do I have to delete also plist and other files associated to those third party apps ? How can I also delete Apps purchased from Mac App Store and after reinstall them ?

tolgao wrote:

I decided to delete the third party apps and reintsall them again. Just deleting the third party apps from Application Folder is enough ?

Probably.

But many, perhaps most, may never be a problem.

How can I also delete Apps purchased from Mac App Store and after reinstall them ?

Check their permissions first, via Get Info. Most, perhaps all, will be fine.

Should I do Reset Permissions on my new account one more time ? or Don't I need to ? Can I also install Mountain Lion when it is released ? Would that be problem installing Mountain Lion ?