New mac user...did I mess up my permissions?

Hi all,

I'll skip the long backstory of HOW it happened, but...

I accidentally applied 'change permissions of all items contained within' or whatever, to Macintosh HD instead of the folder I thought I selected (extremely bonehead move I know). All contained items are read/write for admin and system, and read only for 'everyone'.

During the changing process, which took forever, a bunch of errors popped up and said something about lots of files not being installed properly or something...I clicked ok like 100 times to clear the errors.

Did this just mess up my cpu? Is there any way to move all permissions back to defaults automatically?

Please help I'm worried I messed up my new cpu!

edit: Everything seems to be working OK but one weird thing is happeneing: I have a folder on my desktop that I changed the icon for a while ago. When I click my desktop off this Safari window for example, it switches back to a blue folder for a split second and then back to the changed icon...this is new since I made this severe permissions mistake. Please help guys!

Thank you.

No, it would not mess up the CPU. It may very well affect your installation of OS X, depending on what exactly it was you did.

Worst case, it would be time to restore the drive from your backup or backup your data now and reinstall OS X.

when I inserted my os x disc, there is a verify permissions button, which I clicked. It came up with tons and tons of errors, saying permissions are x for this file in library, it should be y. If I repair permissions from here, will that fix my issue? Otherwise i'll go ahead with a complete fresh install.

If I click continue to do an install, will it erase files, itunes library, apps, etc?

Thank you.

Well you are at a stage where a complete re-install is near, so go ahead and repair permissions and see where it takes you. Cant do any worse from where i sit
Or dl Oynx or MainMenu and run all scripts. These 2 Apps do a lot deeper than root level and will give it a good fix up ... A lot better than the Repair Permissions in Disk Utility >>> Just MHO

With SL you can do the Install which is like the old "Archive & Install" or you can Restart with the disk inserted and hold down the 'c' key when you here the chime and release when you see the  logo.
Then choose language, and from the menu bar choose Utilities>Disk Utility> selct your HD then the erase button. When thats done quit DU and the installer window will appear. Follow the prompts to completly re-install the OS
Hope it helps some

Cheers

so my best bet, if i want to completely reinstall the OS without losing my itunes library (which is now slightly outdated on my ext HD) is to just continue with the install without erasing the HD, right?

This will create some type of 'previous' folder with all my data in it, so it seems. Will the apps I downloaded and installed be there? Reinstalling them really wouldn't be a big deal...

Yep as you said.
But remember when its all done and you have gone through and checked everything, and its all fine, trash that "previous" folder as it will have the whole OS in there and will take up considerable Space on your HD ....
Was something i didnt do and couldnt work out why for the life of me it was sooooo sooo full lol

Cheers

thanks much for all the info.

I'm debating on accessing that previous folder, reinstalling macfuse and the ntfs-3g driver (if necessary), backing up my files to my ext HD, and then going thru the steps to erase the HD and do yet another (fresh this time) install. I'd also look into not installing some of the unnecessary (to me) language packs this time around.

It'll take a while but this way I know there will be nothing on there that doesn't need to be there, and everything should (in theory) definitely work because the whole HD will be cleaned so no files will be left that are messed up.

Does all that sound like appropriate steps to take?

(note to anyone that reads this...don't F with permissions without reading every screen twice lol...I've learned my lesson that's for sure)

If you have backed everything up to the Ext HD you shouldnt need to access the 'Previous" folder.
If its all backed up just do a Clen Install of the OS then access the MacFuse and NTFS-3g apps via the Backup and use Migration Assistant in Applications>Disk Utilty and migrat over everything you need from that.
Easier way to do things IMO

Cheers

TattooedMac said:

If you have backed everything up to the Ext HD you shouldnt need to access the 'Previous" folder.
If its all backed up just do a Clen Install of the OS then access the MacFuse and NTFS-3g apps via the Backup and use Migration Assistant in Applications>Disk Utilty and migrat over everything you need from that.
Easier way to do things IMO

Cheers

Click to expand...

Well that's the thing my ext HD is out of date right now, specifically the itunes library. I've ripped a bunch of old CDs in since I got the mac and haven't copied them over yet, which is why I'll need the 'previous' folder...assuming that's where I'll find my library the way I left it...

How do I access the previous folder by the way?

well it looks like everything has been left as it was prior to installing again...

Well if its all as it was you havnt done a clean install You can do this as i stated in my post above

With SL you can do the Install which is like the old "Archive & Install" or you can Restart with the disk inserted and hold down the 'c' key when you here the chime and release when you see the  logo.
Then choose language, and from the menu bar choose Utilities>Disk Utility> selct your HD then the erase button. When thats done quit DU and the installer window will appear. Follow the prompts to completly re-install the OS

Click to expand...

If you follow these instructions the OS will be as it was when you opened the box.
I would if you could do a COMPLETE backup (you havnt said in previous post's you cant) then following ^^ instructions do a 'clean install' then via migration assistant bring back what you want.
The 'Previous' folder (cant remember the correct name) should be in yourDocuments

Keep coming back if you need more help. We will get you through this

Cheers

OK so now I have some type of corrupt version of macfuse and ntfs-3g, there is a permissions error regarding some file in library not being accessible and then says permissions as the reason.

i tried re-downloading and installing macfuse and ntfs-3g, and it still doesn't work. if I uninstall ntfs-3g it can see my drive but not write to it. if I reinstall ntfs it gives the error. I can't seem to be able to uninstall macfuse. the uninstall box doesn't do anything.

Any ideas or alternatives to macfuse and ntfs i could use to get the mac to write to ntfs?

ok just saw your last post...

I guess I didn't to a 'clean' install because I didn't erase the HD. If I erase the HD though, won't everything be gone? Can you please explain the migration assistant?

OK regarding the backup, I can't seem to write to my ext HD to do a backup right now, because somehow the permissions for macfuse and ntfs got corrupted and I keep getting an error, even after reinstalling...

bingo got it! figured out how to fix macfuse by updating the beta version...now I have write permissions!

Awesome news ... Glad you found a solution.

With migration assistant, open it with your backup connected and its really simple and self explanatory when you see it. It basically sks you what you want migrated over and will migrate what ever you have given it permission to do so.

Or the easier way is like im doing as we post, is dragging the files i want straight into where they need to be on my new MBP. I have a backup and being a new machine ill start clean and only need a few files atm.

Cheers

doing the fresh install now after backing up everything onto the external.

Now all I'll have to do is download and install flip4mac, gmail notifier, and 1 or 2 other programs I've added, and go thru the settings again to make sure everything is customized the way I had it.

No big deal considering I've had my mac only a week.

Plus I did a custom install and saved over 2.5 GB of space by trimming the fat.

Ahh what a fun way to spend a Saturday night while the wife is out...lol

HAHA i hear you

If you use Migration Assistant i believe there is a check box to migrate over your settings ..

Only from memory

Cheers