Replacing corrupted admin user profile

[maclover9771]

My iMac is running Sonoma 14.4.1. I've been battling all kinds of issues for months, one of which that the MS OneDrive (I use Office 365) will not run on my profile...it runs fine under my wife's profile. Combined with the other issues (e.g. horribly slow and/or incomplete reboots) and on advice from others, I think I have a corrupted user profile (I've had it for years so not surprised).

Given that I'm the admin on the computer, and I'd prefer (if possible) to have the replacement profiles have the same name as the existing profile, what's the best way to go about this? For one thing I can't find a means to rename a profile (after I create the new one, I'd like to then delete the old one then rename the new one to match the old one....but I can't figure out how). What other issues need I be concerned about? I don't want to screw this up...

Thanks!

 

[vansmith]

I suspect that it might be easier to fix the OneDrive problem. What happens when you try to launch OneDrive? Does it give you an error message or does it just die?

I've found OneDrive to be fickle at times and not that helpful with error messages so if it doesn't throw up an error, any description of what does happen will be helpful.

 

[Jimmysb]

I have onedrive, and the edition that comes with office is different from the one that is stand alone for the App Store. Long story short, if you have the app store one, which is the one that works, and update to office will over write it, and then it does not work. After lost of googling and "mucking around" it did not work. Deleted everything onedrive, and re-installed from the App Store and all is well.

 

[MacInWin]

My iMac is running Sonoma 14.4.1. I've been battling all kinds of issues for months, one of which that the MS OneDrive (I use Office 365) will not run on my profile...it runs fine under my wife's profile. Combined with the other issues (e.g. horribly slow and/or incomplete reboots) and on advice from others, I think I have a corrupted user profile (I've had it for years so not surprised).

Given that I'm the admin on the computer, and I'd prefer (if possible) to have the replacement profiles have the same name as the existing profile, what's the best way to go about this? For one thing I can't find a means to rename a profile (after I create the new one, I'd like to then delete the old one then rename the new one to match the old one....but I can't figure out how). What other issues need I be concerned about? I don't want to screw this up...

Thanks!

Be very, very careful. While you use names for accounts, internally the system identifies users by number, a number which is assigned to the account when it is created. So, for example, if you create an account for "Alice" it may be assigned user number 501, then a new account for "Bob" will be account 502. But if you now decide to change the "Alice" account to be "Bob" instead, the system retains the 501 number and the new "Bob" won't be able to access any of the original "Bob" files because the security of the system goes by user number. All of which can lead to HUGE issues if you end up with the only Admin account not being able to access anything it needs to actually manage the system. The only recovery from that mess would be a complete reinstallation and recreation of the system fresh, which means that you would then have to restore everything from a backup. (You do have backups, right?)

I agree with @Jimmysb, let's get One Drive sorted out. It's running fine for me on Sonoma 14.6.1.

 

[maclover9771]

I fought the OneDrive issue with MS Tech support multiple times over several weeks, including phone call where they attempted to talk me through troubleshooting and reinstallation. Nothing worked. They never mentioned that OneDrive was available on the App Store. I just downloaded it and it appears to be syncing. We'll see. Thanks for the hint.

 

[maclover9771]

Be very, very careful. While you use names for accounts, internally the system identifies users by number, a number which is assigned to the account when it is created. So, for example, if you create an account for "Alice" it may be assigned user number 501, then a new account for "Bob" will be account 502. But if you now decide to change the "Alice" account to be "Bob" instead, the system retains the 501 number and the new "Bob" won't be able to access any of the original "Bob" files because the security of the system goes by user number. All of which can lead to HUGE issues if you end up with the only Admin account not being able to access anything it needs to actually manage the system. The only recovery from that mess would be a complete reinstallation and recreation of the system fresh, which means that you would then have to restore everything from a backup. (You do have backups, right?)

I agree with @Jimmysb, let's get One Drive sorted out. It's running fine for me on Sonoma 14.6.1.

We'll see, but I have other issues as well (See other post "iCloud email mistakenly connected to my gmail account" as another example). If I get OneDrive to work I may be able to postpone a new profile (I've curated mine over several years; the thought of starting over is daunting), but I suspect it will be required eventually.

I'm confused though by your statement "if you now decide to change the 'Alice' account to be 'Bob'"...I haven't found a way to change one (that was kinda implied in my original question). If/when I create a new profile, I'd like it to have the same name as the old one (paranoia...I have so many things tied to that username). I guess I could create a new one, copy over any files from the old one to the new one, then delete the old. The recreate yet another new one using the original name, copy everything back over to THAT profile, then delete the interim profile (or keep it as a backup admin profile just in case). A lot of work and I'm concerned about file permissions being carried over...

 

[MacInWin]

I guess I could create a new one, copy over any files from the old one to the new one, then delete the old.

That should not be practical, as the permissions on the old will block the new from access. I guess you could log in as the old, change the permissions of everything you need to allow the new access (including folders for the entire path to the things), and then copy them over, but the owner/creator of the stuff will still be the old account. A lot of risky work for little gain, IMHO.

Maybe it would help if you defined what you think a "profile" is in macOS. That's not a term I have seen used. Do you mean user "account," which is how Apple refers to it? Or is it something else?

EDIT: Oh, if you want to change the user name, here is how to do that:

Change the name of your macOS user account and home folder - Apple Support

You can rename your macOS user account and home folder, which were named when the account was created.

support.apple.com

 

[maclover9771]

User account. But that link to rename an account would simplify matters greatly, thanks!