Priveleges Problem 10.5.8

[zongamin]

When trying to update certain applications (specifically Firefox and Clam Xav) this error message is displayed:

'The operation cannot be completed because you do not have sufficient priveleges for some of the items'.

The account is an admin account (and the ONLY account on the machine.)

OS is 10.5.8 on a G5 imac.

Bit of background - this is a machine I gave to my dad. Before passing it on I created a NEW admin account in his name, set that up for him then removed my OLD admin account.

I was able to update Firefox by downloading the new version, deleteing the old one, then dropping the new on into Applications, but it wouldn't let me replace it.
The same thing happened with Clam.
Both FF and Clam were NOT running when I tried this.
It seems that the user permissions are messed up somewhere.

I also noticed that FF did not allow me to update from within the app either- it was stuck on 3.5.2 with no option to update.

Any suggestions - does it sound like a reinstall might be required?

 

[toMACsh]

When you do Get Info on one of them, what does it say in the Sharing & Permissions area? It might be as simple as changing Read Only to Read & Write.

 

[zongamin]

I'll check that out,

but wouldn't that stop me from deleting them too?

 

[6string]

Repairing disk permissions is a good start.
Then, as before, I would set up a new admin account, log out of yours and into the new one, and if the problem no longer persists, just trash the old one.
You may want to get into a regular maintenance routine.
OnyX is a good place to start, with the automation tab.
Reinstall is a last option... even though I love doing a fresh install every now and then

 

[kishta]

although this is not exactly a solution, maybe it can help. i had this in the past when a folder on my desktop named 'movies' was giving me issues of not let me delete it or mess with stuff in it, move it and so on. saying the same thing about permissions ....
i simply created a new movies folder and moved the content there. then it was accessable again.
maybe u can work with this??
good luck
asking permission to leave