All of iphoto and itunes library disappeared

Question

So I shut down the computer 2 days ago, and re started. The dock moved from the left ( where I had put it ) to the bottom, there were more icons in the dock that I originally had, all libraries of music and photos are gone now. The desktop icons were tiny and the words were thru the center of the icons. I clicked on several photo icons from the pictures folder and some appear and others come up with an UNREADABLE FILE MESSAGE. Then I selected iphoto to read those files and a message of a corrupt file from iphoto appeared. What could have happened here?

Answer 1

You could try and see if using a second (make a new one, if need be) user account in your computer
eliminates the newer sound issue and any other not likely related to corrupt user preferences in your
original user name; you can restart, or login/logout from the different user files to access them. If you
make a second account, remember its password and give it Admin privileges, like your original. This
can give you a neutral and uncomplicated base from which to troubleshoot your main system; as the
new account will not see into your original account, but can be handy to see if odd quirks or defects
or other problems are only based in Software. Since software and some non-hardware problems can
be addressed, at times, even without a major reinstall.
There are several basic things, which I do on an automatic (to me) basis, and not on a crisis manage-
ment one. Preventative routines, such as the freeware GUI utility from Titanium Software by the name
of OnyX (correct version for each Mac OS X is available as a download; site found by easy search)
can keep your system running well. OnyX: http://www.titanium.free.fr/pgs2/english/download.html
You could see if 'restoring user account preferences' (or files?) could help. I have never lost mine,
so this is a hit and miss deal. Maybe Duane (here in forums) can provide a simple two sentence
reply to this... I did a google search and found several, in this following results link:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=restoringuser+account+preferences+OS+X10.4&btnG=Search
Repair disk permissions? From the Utilities folder (see GO in main menubar; click, see Utilities in
the dropdown list; choose it, Utilities folder will open. Scroll folder window to look for Disk Utility.
Double-click D.U. to launch it. Close background folder window; in Disk Utility, click to choose the
named item matching your hard disk drive icon on the desktop from the list. Choose Repair Disk
Utilities from the two items in the new window (forget Verify, as Repair will verify and repair.) If
the utility shows things that were repaired, and then finally is Done; re-run the same thing and
get a clean report, before quiting Disk Utility. This is all in the computer's OS. You can boot the
computer from the OSX installer disc and choose to run Disk Utility to Repair Disk. This will
check and repair the hard disk drive, and not just repair disk permissions.
A way to have the system checked and some repairs done on startup or restart is to hold the
Shift key down just after the startup tone (if you can hear them) and keep holding the key down
until well after the desktop starts to appear. I wait until I see a little box in the window that says
Mac OS X and the version number and then it goes to a SafeBoot login (in 10.4 and later) and
you have to supply your admin password for it to continue. Do that, and the computer will be
booted in a limited use mode. (Note, if you do not get the shift key pressed soon enough, the
computer may still start in a limited mode, but not in SafeBoot. Try the process again, and when
it starts in SafeBoot, it has checked some main system files and done some repairs on startup.
I sometimes, then, use the Disk Utility from in the computer's Utility folder, and repair disk perm-
issions; and after that, quit Disk Utility; close any folders; have the computer restart from the
menu below the Apple in the menubar. This may help in some small ways.
Hard to say why your user account access to certain application's files has stopped working;
but if using SafeBoot and Disk Utility's 'repair disk permissions' from in the computer's system
does not work, try booting from the OS X installer matching your current system, and then run
Disk Utility from the menu options in the top of the window once the computer is running from
the system on that bootable installer disc. Do Not use the Installer to re-install a system. Use
Disk Utility to "repair disk" (not permissions, necessarily or exclusively) and let it try and fix
whatever it finds. When it is done, quite Disk utility and chose the startup volume representing
the installed Operating system (already computer hard drive) to have the computer restart from it.
You can get and use a utility such as OnyX and choose most items in its Automation menu; this
utility, once installed (and I drag a link to it from the App to the Dock, so I can get to it any time)
it will ask for the Admin password to run. You can set main preferences in this utility so it can
automatically restart after it runs the chosen things in Automation, and if you habitually and
manually run 'repair disk permissions' and don't want OnyX to do that again (it can, as part of a
selected choice of options in that utility's preference) you can have it not run a verify or disk repair
on first run; it will only do what the main Automation list has check-boxed.
There are some good ideas to check over in MacAttorney's web site; most of what I could say, based
on some 10 years and 114 Macs in my own experience, may take more words than his. See:
"OS X Maintenance and Troubleshooting" http://www.macattorney.com/ts.html (Mac OS X 10.4 & before.)
If your machine were here, I could show you all these things; have it doing them time it took to write this!
(Helps to have copies of OnyX, clones of your system in a perfect state on a bootable external hard drive,
and a second computer to go online, if needed; on hand, as I do.)
The Apple web site has links to stores with repair departments; I have not looked in there lately because
Apple has no retail stores or company repair facilities in my home state. Apple retail store's link has a
way to check into all states (and other countries) stores and what they offer. If the Mac is out of warranty,
(likely, if it's a G4, etc) there may be some local options in your phone book who have authorized product
specialists on staff; an option where no local Apple Stores exist. Some are Specialists who know stuff.
Apple retail location search link: http://www.apple.com/retail/
Best of luck.