vidgpersonrsw
Level 1 (125 points)

Q: Moving to a new user account

I'm creating a new user account and moving my personal data over to it, because I want a fresh start with default settings. Both accounts are administrators. Will I have any permissions problems after moving my files? I don't want to find out that I can't access my data on the new account because I don't have the UNIX permissions for it.

 

Edit: I don't know if it makes a difference, but I forgot to add that I am moving my files from the old account to an external firewire drive, and then from the drive to the new account.

 

Also, I'm running 10.7.3

 

Message was edited by: vidgpersonrsw

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.3)

Posted on Feb 15, 2012 2:34 PM

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vidgpersonrsw

Q: Moving to a new user account

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  • by Frank Caggiano,Helpful

    Frank Caggiano Frank Caggiano Feb 15, 2012 2:47 PM in response to vidgpersonrsw
    Level 7 (25,796 points)
    Feb 15, 2012 2:47 PM in response to vidgpersonrsw

    You might want to have a look at OS X: How to change user account name or home directory name

  • by vidgpersonrsw,

    vidgpersonrsw vidgpersonrsw Feb 15, 2012 2:55 PM in response to Frank Caggiano
    Level 1 (125 points)
    Feb 15, 2012 2:55 PM in response to Frank Caggiano

    That looks very useful. I guess I should do this after I move everything and delete the old account, correct?

  • by Frank Caggiano,

    Frank Caggiano Frank Caggiano Feb 15, 2012 6:50 PM in response to vidgpersonrsw
    Level 7 (25,796 points)
    Feb 15, 2012 6:50 PM in response to vidgpersonrsw

    Looking back at your first post you may not need to go through all this, just what do you mean by 'a fresh start?

    And what personal data will you be moving?

     

    The vast majority of your settings are in your ~/Library/Preferences folder. Deleting those (or moving them out to the desktop) will cause all apps to behave as if they were just installed.

     

    If you go ahead with this will  the new account have the same name as your current account or will it have a different name?

     

    if you want to use the same name I would first rename your current account as per the instructions in the link above. Now create a new account with your current name. Then as the root user copy the data you want to move from the former account to the current one. Now log in into this new account. Make sure it is all working, I'd give it  a few days, and then if everything is ok you can delete the old account

     

    But don't delete anything until you are sure it is all working. And have backups it's not to difficult when doing this type of work to mess things up to the point of not being able to log in.

  • by vidgpersonrsw,

    vidgpersonrsw vidgpersonrsw Feb 15, 2012 7:22 PM in response to Frank Caggiano
    Level 1 (125 points)
    Feb 15, 2012 7:22 PM in response to Frank Caggiano

    It doesn't matter if the new account has the same name, but if I can make it that way without causing problems that would be great.

     

    I've already created the new account and begun to move some things over. So far, I haven't had any permissions problems. The new account is, of course, a different name. Could I just wait and change the names using the procedure in the link after I'm done moving everything?

  • by Frank Caggiano,Helpful

    Frank Caggiano Frank Caggiano Feb 15, 2012 7:59 PM in response to vidgpersonrsw
    Level 7 (25,796 points)
    Feb 15, 2012 7:59 PM in response to vidgpersonrsw

    That should work, just make sure everything is OK before changing the name.