Mac OS 10.5 / I deleted the " Private" folder ... and emptied the trash. So the folder and its contents no longer exists on my computer at all !!! I do have the OS dvd that i purchased years ago... But my computer will not start from it on its own. My

I love when I type a huge synopsis of what I've done along the way and you just delete the whole thing accidentally :(

I attempted to find something on another page via my ipad and it decided to use the window i was using for this chat!!! Ugh...

Alright here goes the shorter version...

BDAqua first I want to say thanks for the response ;)

To answer your question the answer is no unfortunately.

Upon reboot " Pressing and Holding the Option Key" before hearing the startup chime doesnt seem to be responding...

What I do see after reboot " Pressing and Holding the Option key " is the same thing I see if i dont press a single thing... And thats the Apple Logo white background with a spinning progress circle.

After seeing this screen for approx. 3 min.

My computer reboots on its own and returns to the same Apple Logo screen with progress circle and repeats the reboot cycle in 3 min.

I'm never prompted or given the option to login.

I also attempted to restore it from the recycle bin just in case their were remnants of this folder in this location...

I used the following in open source/ terminal...

First mounting the drive with:

/sbin/mount -uw /

Then once mounted i see:

-sh-3.2#

then I type:

cp -rf /Volumes/"my drive name"/Users/myshortname/.Trash/private /Volumes/"my drive name"

I then receive the error:

No such directory found

Figuring I may have typed it wrong , I removed the space between the word "private and the forward slash before volumes as follows:

.Trash/private/Volumes

I then receive the following:

usage: cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-fi | -n] [-pvX] source_file target_file

cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-fi | -n] [-pvX] source_file ... Target_directory

Then I see:

-sh-3.2#

So i typed

reboot

And it returns back to the continuous cycle of rebooting every 3 minutes while displaying the Apple logo...

Very frustrating...

I hope this makes things a little more clear

Hey BDAqua , now that definitely took me a little further into seeing what is available on my computer...

Really cool actually...

But when I access my .Trash , which from the list actually says .Trashes ... So ofcourse I tried both. But upon gaining access to the Trash folder via Terminal... I get the following 3 dots.

.. .

I think this shows me that there aren't any contents in this folder.

How can I navigate or tell my computer to start from the DVD via terminal?

Unless there is a better option ;) ...

Ill try anything...

The words of a desperate man lol

Im sorry I forgot to say upon mounting the .Trash folder ... I then typed ls -a

And received the three dots once it processed my request.

It looked like .. . And that was all it displayed.

The only other mac computer here is my brothers Macbook Air... And it doesnt have firewire.

I do have the OS X 10.5 installation dvd... Is this what you mean by disc ?

And is anyone still running an old mac? Lol

My brother and neighbors all have new macs and ipads...

Knowone is running the old OS...

My neighbors do have I macs though so if I was able to use firewire with one of their computers ...

What would be the steps ?

Oh by the way one more thing I forgot to add...

I do have an external drive that is connected via firewire, and it has been connected to my mac since day one...

I use it for the storage of of everything I dont need on my main HD.

Would this maybe hold the file we're looking for since it had to be formatted the same as my primary HD?

Okay sorry it took forever to respond... But for a while there I gave up on this computer!!!!

Money's been tight lately , so taking it in to a professional was not yet an option... though I did consider it eventhough.

Anyway long story short im glad I didnt spend any money because I already had all the tools necessary to fix this issue but was going about it in the wrong way. Okay so here is my scenario and the breakdown... Though this may not fix the issue for everyone :( which *****... But I know we all will have different circumstances.

Anyway here we go...

Okay so first things first.... Years ago I purchased the OS 10.5.1 disk ... So that has always been in my possession!!!!

I realize that some may not have a disk to reflash your OS to your hard drive... but if you do your in luck.

2ndly ... I had an external harddrive with all of my itunes downloaded music so it was more than okay with me to delete my primary HD because all the important stuff could either be copied over or repathed to be located.

-------If you dont want to read through the whole story the fix is summed up in the bottom section-------

Okay so now the SOLUTION!!!!

By trial and error , and pure boredom I opened up my computer to clean the inside...

AND

"Disconnected the primary HD"

and just because ....... REBOOTED my computer. Just to see what it would do.

Upon restart and though it looked like it would repeat its usual cycle...

About 1 minute in to that process my computer froze for about 2 seconds and flashed to the OS installation screen.

Mind you I havent seen this screen yet... Probably hasnt been since I installed the OS years ago.

After a bit of trial and error...

I decided to tell my computer to startup from the OS 10.5 disk located in my dvd rom drive and restarted once again...

this setting is under

Utilities / startup disk

After a little more trial and error ... I realized that I could reconnect the primary HD , restart the machine and return to the OS installation menu.

So upon this discovery

I went to the Disk Utility located under Utilities

Highlighted my primary HD located in the left hand column

Once highlighted ...

In the heading section on the right I selected the option

Erase

in which I erased My current OS on my primary HD ...

I used the first option in the list under security... Because it seemed like the least invasive and would take the least amount of time to see if this process would actually work.

I FORGOT to add something...

Another reason why I deleted my primary HD!!!!!

I forgot to say that it WOULD NOT!!!!! Show up in the STARTUP list as an option...Even After multiple reboots....

But like clockwork... Once I deleted its name IT SHOWED UP as an option!!!!

So back to the next step...

I returned to the STARTUP option under utilities ... And was then able to see MY primary HD now as a startup option...

But ofcourse it had no name because it we previously erased it.

So when Clicking my newly erased HD ... I was almost immediately prompted to REINSTALL the OS ...

Which said it would take about 57 minutes ... But I believe was alot less...

My issue was resolved ... My computer then stated the install was SUCCESSFUL!!!!!!! :))))))))))) lol ;)

It was like I was setting up for the first time ;) asking for my registration info...

The dilemma of deleting the private folder and emptying the trash is finally over resolved. Done ... and no extra money spent!!!!!!!!!

Its really crazy that the information for such a simple thing is not readily available. Especially being such a simple fix.

I know im not the only person who's had this issue , because i've seen numerous posts with similar wording.

I also know I wont be the last person to have this issue... So I hope this synopsis makes sense.

-------One more time the fix------

*Insert your OS dvd into your dvd rom drive.

*Unplug your primary HD or corrupted startup disk

*Reboot your machine...

Upon restart your primary HD will not be recognized...

* you will then be prompted to select your language.

Once selected

*Click Utilities/startup... Highlight the the selection that refers to the OS dvd located in the dvd rom drive.

* Click restart...

!!!!!!!!!!Be sure to reconnect your Primary HD Before your computer restarts and you hear the chime!!!!!!!!

If you do not replug your HD before the chime it will not be recognized.

In that case restart again.

Upon restart once again

*Choose your language...

*Click Utilities / disk utility

In the left column select and

*Highlight your HD ...

Then towards the top portion / center of the page

*Click the heading Erase

Then on the page toward the bottom

*Click security options

This will then provide erase options.

I USED THE FIRST OPTION

"Dont erase data"...

*click OK

* click erase...

Once erased which should take a few seconds

*Cancel the disk utility...

* Click Utilities / startup

And your newly erased HD should now appear in the list.

* Select your drive from the list by highlighting

It should no longer have a name.

*Once selected, you will then be prompted to restart and install the OS to your newly erased HD...

Thats it!!!!

Once everything reinstalls re-add your personal info or registration info and you are up and running.

Goodluck ;)