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Q: I am recently married and was trying to change my user name and home folder on my mac.  Something has gone wrong and I think I've lost all my data

I recently got married.  I followed a set of instructions to change my username and home folder on my MacBook Pro (13-inch, Early 2011), using OS X Yosemite (version 10.10.5).  I have gotten mixed up with the instructions and managed to corrupt (not sure this is the correct terminology) my home folder.  Following another thread it appeared as though the option was to create another admin user account (my husband had one) and then delete my user account, then restore it.  However, I cannot seem to be able to follow the instructions to do this as I no longer have the advanced options on user accounts, nor can I find my home folder to enable me to restore.  I am worried I have lost all the data on that account (it was the main account for this mac).

 

I know it seems a very idiotic thing to have done, but I am truly hoping there is some way to restore my mac to how it was a few hours ago!  P.s. I do not think I had time machine setup (which is what I have read in other threads thus far)

 

Thanks for any help offered.

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Mar 30, 2016 3:31 PM

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Q: I am recently married and was trying to change my user name and home folder on my mac.  Something has gone wrong and I think ... more

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  • by Jongliste,

    Jongliste Jongliste Mar 30, 2016 3:49 PM in response to higheronsugar
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Mar 30, 2016 3:49 PM in response to higheronsugar

    Hi,

     

    How did you rename the user ?

     

    Have you backed up data before doing so ?

     

    <Image Edited by Host to Remove Personal Information>

  • by higheronsugar,

    higheronsugar higheronsugar Mar 30, 2016 4:00 PM in response to Jongliste
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 30, 2016 4:00 PM in response to Jongliste

    I renamed the user to my married name, the home folder I browsed and clicked Macintosh HD (which is where I believe the problem has occurred).  I now no longer have the option under any admin account to reach the advanced settings stage of this operation.  I have found the original user home folder, which has all my data.  But given that I no longer seem to have the option to revert my accounts back to the previous nomenclature I am not entirely sure, at this stage, how to proceed with restoring my mac.

  • by Jongliste,

    Jongliste Jongliste Mar 30, 2016 4:12 PM in response to higheronsugar
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Mar 30, 2016 4:12 PM in response to higheronsugar

    The data may not be lost for good, then. You most likely damaged the user library and a great deal of permissions, but not the user's data itself.

    You might want to enable the root user and retrieve data from there, if still accessible.

    If you have a back up with time machine, there might be easier ways, though.

    Do you have a Time Machine Back up ?

     

    Oops just realised you don't ^^'

  • by Jongliste,

    Jongliste Jongliste Mar 30, 2016 4:20 PM in response to higheronsugar
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Mar 30, 2016 4:20 PM in response to higheronsugar

    Can you still access the Users and Groups pane in System preferences ?

    If yes, click the lock and then login options, then "Join" in front of "Network account server".

    Click "Open Directory utility...", open the lock again, then Edit > Enable Root user

    Give it a password (like root), then Apple Menu, log out.

    In the log in screen, find "Other".

    Log into the root user by typing root as the username and enter the password you chose.

    Then in the Finder, navigate to the user you damaged, see if data is still here ^^.

    I recommend you disable the root user after you're done, same way you enabled it, yet choosing "disable root user" instead.

     

    Hope this helps

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Mar 31, 2016 11:45 AM in response to higheronsugar
    Level 9 (70,035 points)
    iTunes
    Mar 31, 2016 11:45 AM in response to higheronsugar