Completely reset user permissions

Question

I drug a user folder from one 10.7 computer to another computer also running 10.7.  Now I have insufficient rights to save files.  I have done this via the root user account on 10.6 without issue.  Also, Textedit and Preview do not open.  I have given the user account /Users/name read&write and applied to enclosed items.  I have also booted to the recovery partition and reset permissions and ACL.  Neither of these resolve the issue.  Preview and Textedit still will not open and I can't write to my home folder.  Help Please!  Dave

Answer 1

Terminology can vary from one manufacturer to another one. When referred to "user permissions", this would normally imply the permissions that OSX requires to work correctly:
In plain English:
You wish to access your relatives locked room to retrieve your life-saving medication; if you break the lock without permission, you are in trouble, although you could not operate without the medication. Similarly, OSX (and other applications!) require the "correct" read and write permissions to "unlock" certain parts of your Operating system. Without this, it will malfunction or even crash.
Does that explain?
Disk utility is a good tool (albeit simple) and you should use it prior and after any software update or installation as a matter of rule. In 10.6.x (SL) it will not take long to conduct and you should rarely (if at all) need to run it from the install disk (you should be able to happily run it whilst logged in).
NB: use macjack's detailed instructions should you require the option mentioned earlier.
Message was edited by: Alexandre