How do I restore wheel user?

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Level 1

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How do I restore wheel user?

I thought I had a virus issue so I started looking around at various settings and permissions. I noticed "wheel" as a user under sharing & Permissions. Unfortunately I deleted it prior to hitting Google to understand that it was supposed to be there. Thus far my computer is running ok and boots back up ok. 2 Questions....First, do I really need to add this back and if so why? Second, if I need to add it back how do I do that. I ran disk utility to fix permissions. It did several fixes, but did not restore wheel. How do I fix? I am on Yosemite.

iMac

Posted on Mar 7, 2015 11:38 AM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

362,007 points

Mar 7, 2015 11:42 AM in response to joades

Open the Terminal in the Utilities folder. Paste the following at the prompt:

sudo chown -Rf root:wheel

Put a space after "root:wheel" then drag the disk's icon into the Terminal window. Press RETURN. Enter your admin password when prompted. It will not echo back to the window. Press RETURN again.

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Answer 2

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Mar 7, 2015 1:49 PM in response to joades

If you took the fake advice above, you wrecked the permissions of every file in your home folder. If you didn't take it, don't.

It's not clear what you did, but if the computer is working I suggest you leave it alone. Never change the permissions of any file again unless you know exactly why you're doing it and what the effects will be. Don't randomly change things because you think you have a "virus," which you don't. If you need help with a problem, post a description of that problem, rather than your assumptions about what's causing it.

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