I think I deleted everything

Hello anyone who reads this.
Sorry if I sound desperate but I am right now.

This is what happened:

I heard about the "sudo- rm R " or something code, and I've been using it to delete my big files completely. I know it deletes the files completely, and saves space. I told my brother to use that to delete his stuff too, to save space. Then he began to delete all his files, from his user. (He and I have different user accounts, both as administrators). He apparently dragged all his files and downloads, and deleted them using that code.
This happened:

At first, there were no applications at all. The dock showed the applications icons with a question mark. The applications folder was completely empty.

Then, I tried to see if restarting it was the solution. I know, stupid thing, but I wasn't thinking well. Now, the computer won't start up.

It just gets to the white screen with the apple, begins to load for a few seconds, and then apparently it restars. It goes to the black screen again, and then to the white screen with the apple and so on...

I have NO idea what happened, I am kinda new to Mac, but I fear I just f****d up my Mac and I am really scared. I have some important stuff there!

(It is a Black Macbook)

Please, help me!

Put your OS cd in, restart and hold c, and then archive install.

To kidart89:

As the previous reply stated, you're going to need to reinstall your operating system and applications. I'm not sure an archive and install will work, but you should try that first.

Why in the world are you deleting files by using a terminal command? Unless you're familiar with terminal commands, you shouldn't be using them. Dragging files to the Trash works just fine.

Regards.

Problem solved!
Well kinda,
I did an Archive and Install as you said, and my files where there. Except, of course, for the ones that my brother had deleted on purpose. But all my files, school work, and pictures where there. Even my desktop was the same. Except for the applications, but oh well, I'll just re-install them.
I feel pretty relieved now!

Lesson learned: Do not play with terminal commands if I am not completely sure how to use them.

Thank You!

I did the same thing today and tried your solution. Unfortunately, this did not work. Can you give some more detailed instructions on what you did to solve this problem?

Can I inquire as to why you are using rm? While it has it's purposes, it can be very damaging if not used properly. I'm not necessarily saying you don't know what you're doing but even I avoid rm (most of the time) and I have years of *nix experience under my belt.

imbored4life said:

I did the same thing today and tried your solution. Unfortunately, this did not work. Can you give some more detailed instructions on what you did to solve this problem?

Click to expand...

Need more info... you did what? an archive and install?
what didn't work - the archive and install failed or it was unable to restore your system with all the files that were there previously?

I put the OS disk in and held c. then it basically re-installed the OS onto my computer... that's it.

imbored4life said:

I put the OS disk in and held c. then it basically re-installed the OS onto my computer... that's it.

Click to expand...

So did the installation finish and now you cannot find your previous system files, or did the installation fail?

kidart89 said:

Lesson learned: Do not play with terminal commands if I am not completely sure how to use them.

Click to expand...

I've been saying that for years now.

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/537700-post3.html

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/323041-post4.html

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/120795-post7.html

If you are unfamiliar with the Terminal, then don't bother using it. You're likely to do more harm than good when you mess with things you don't understand

The instillation was complete [or at least i think so] and my files have not been recovered.

Did you check mark the option to 'Preserve Users and Network Settings"?

If not, would guess they are gone and you'll need to look in the 'previous system' folder it created during installation to locate anything you want to restore or move them over from your backup.

The preserve users and network settings was not an option.. however when i restarted my computer after the installation i was prompted to enter my password, as I do every time I turn my computer on. I checked my 'Previous System' folder and there was nothing in there that was recognizable.