DANGER: Do Not Change Hard Drive Ownership and Permissions

DANGER: Do Not Change Hard Drive Ownership and Permissions (Unless you know what you are doing... I didn't!)
FIRST, THE REPAIR PERMISSIONS SOLUTION:
Use Disk Utilities on the "Sofware Install and Restore" DVD that came with your computer to set the permissions back to the defaults. Not the MacOSX Installation Disk. (This worked in MacOS 10.3.9)
MY SCREW UP
In my Hard Drive's "Get Info" dialog I switched the permissions of the Owner to my username and all others to no access. I had not yet closed the dialog and decided that it was probably dangerous so I started changing them back. I first changed the owner back to system. It asked for authentication.
After entering my password I assumed that I would be able to go back and change the others as well. Nope! The dialog disappeared, my desktop disappeared and I couldn't do anything. I was locked out.
After ten minutes of the beachball I restarted to the "Panther Installation disk" and tried repairing permissioins using disk utility. Evertime it "lost contact" with the system and would not work. Restarting (without CD) took me to a root user login (black sreen). My username and password did nothing.
THE SOLUTION
I then restarted to the "Software Install and Restore" DVD that came with my computer and used its Disk Utility to repair permissions. IT WORKED! It set permissions back to the default. THANK GOD.
NOTE: I wonder, will using the Install and Restore DVD to repair permissions reset any computer's files to the defaults? Is that a backdoor into someones currently restricted files and folders? (Assuming that you have physical access and the computer specific DVD)

Using the Repair Permissions function will not change the permissions on an account's home folder or anything in it, but there are at least two other ways in which someone with a Mac OS X 10.4 installation disk can get access to an account's files or folders unless some or all of those files are encrypted.
(19285)

Similar Messages

  • How to change external hard drive sharing and permissions

    I have two new hard drive that are formatted NTFS. The sharing and permissions is et to ready only so I can only read the drives I can't edit any files on these two drives.
    Both drives are connected via USB to my iMac running OS X 10.9.5
    I have other drives on my network that under sharing and permission I have  'Custom Access' for file sharing. Both these drive are NTFS format.
    How can I change the other two drive sharing and permission settings to 'Custom Access'
    Thanks

    There is no permissions you can change. OS X can only read from an NTFS formatted drive. If you need to read from and write to an NTFS formatted drive you will need to use a utility such as Tuxera NTFS 2012.3.4. Alternatively, re-partition and reformat the drive for a Mac.
    Drive Preparation
    1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
    2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
    3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
    4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
    5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
    6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
    Steps 4-6 are optional but should be used on a drive that has never been formatted before, if the format type is not Mac OS Extended, if the partition scheme has been changed, or if a different operating system (not OS X) has been installed on the drive.

  • Hard drive access and permissions

    Hello people who know.
    I must admit to not fully understanding the whole permissions thing yet, and having just brought back a drive partition that disappeared due to a permissions error I feel I need some clarification. I lost an external FW partition from my desktop but I knew it was still there. I could see it in disk utility. Thanks to searching this forum I managed to get it back using terminal prompt.
    I have an external 300GB firewire drive partitioned with 4 splits. A partion each for the iMacs 2 users. A scratch partition and a Backup partition. The scratch never has data put on it and the Backup is used purly for backing up my Mac HD.
    One of the user partions is mine and I am the admin of the system. The other user partition is my partners. I would like it that I can read and write to her partition and she can read and write to mine, but I don't want anyone to be able to access the Backup (read or write) other than myself. The scratch disk I want to behave as just that, for whoever is logged in, using whatever app is set up to use it.
    So, how should all my permissions be set in the Get Info window for each drive and if anyone has the time, why are they set that way?
    I should have asked this question ages ago just didn't get round to it.
    Thanks in advance.

    Each of the two user partitions should have their permissions set up as follows:
    Owner: The account associated with that partition
    Group: A group containing both your and your partner's accounts. If no group exists with that membership, see below.
    Owner permissions: Read & Write
    Group permissions: Read & Write
    Other permissions: Read Only
    The backup partition should be set up as follows:
    Owner: Your account
    Group: Your group
    Owner permissions: Read & Write
    Group permissions: Read Only
    Other permissions: Read Only
    On all of the preceding three partitions, every item at the top level of them should have No Access for the accounts you don't want to have access to the drive. Using No Access on a disk or partition often causes it to disappear from the Finder for any account.
    The scratch partition should be set up as follows:
    Owner: Any account
    Group: Any group
    Owner permissions: Read & Write
    Group permissions: Read & Write
    Other permissions: Read & Write
    To create a new group in Mac OS X, open the NetInfo Manager in the /Applications/Utilities/ folder, duplicate the admin group, and change the duplicate's membership to the accounts you want in the group. Choose a new name for that group, and change the gid from 80 to 400 or another number in the 400-499 range which isn't in use.
    (18998)

  • Have a MBP mid 2009, had mavericks, changed hard drive and now have 10.6.8 and can't update to mavericks again. Any help?

    Hi,
    I Have a MBP mid 2009, 8 Gb RAM, had mavericks, changed hard drive to get more space (500Gb) and couldn't restart from time machine so had to install Snow Leopard, now have OS 10.6.8 and can't update to mavericks again. Any help?

    You did not contact us. This is just a user to user forum where we try to help each other out. No one here works for Apple and as far as we know Apple do not even come here. Ring back the number you originally called on and ask for an explanation.
    Cheers
    Pete

  • Can anyone help me to transfer everything I have on my Ipad on to a new computer.  my hard drive crashed and a new one was installed and I do not want to loose all my apps or music.  Please help

    Hi everyone,
    I am looking for help and maybe someone can help me please.  My hard drive crashed and dell installed a new one.  I have two iphones and an ipad with all my apps, music, amd photos.  Can anyone indicate me what to do so I do not lose everything when I plug in my phone.  Thanks

    Naturally you should have a recent backup of your "crashed" hard drive. If you don't, well, hopefully you've learned a lesson but that doesn't solve your current problem.
    If all your apps and media were purchased from the iTunes App Store, don't worry about them. Redownload all your apps and media, then allow iTunes to sync with and wipe your iOS devices - which will also put all the apps and media on them. You'll lose your settings, and any data which resided only on the iOS devices, and of course you'll need to organize your iOS folders and home screens and whatnot. But you won't really lose much, and without a backup this is your best choice.
    If you have media from sources other than the iTunes App Store, look at Senuti or similar applications designed to copy media from iOS devices to computers. Use that first, then sync as I described in my second paragraph above. (I mention Senuti because it's popular. There are other options which work just as well, and some are even free.)

  • My mac had to have its hard drive replaced and now iPhoto is not on my computer. how do i get it back with no charge?

    my macbook pro's hard drive crashed and a new one had to be put in. due to these circumstances, i lost everything. when i bought my computer, iphoto was already installed and i did not have to pay for it. i am wondering if there is a way i can reinstall it with no charge since it was not my error that cause the computer to malfunction.

    You will find all the iLife applications are in the Optional Software installer folder on the OS X installer DVDs that came with your computer when it was new.

  • MY hard drive crashed and I had to replace it. Now when I try to sync my iPod with iTunes it says that I have to replace the old library (that is lost forever) with the new library to sync. I do not want to lose all the songs on my iPod! What can I do?

    MY hard drive crashed and I had to replace it. Now when I try to sync my iPod with iTunes it says that I have to replace the old library (that is lost forever) with the new library to sync. I do not want to lose all the songs on my iPod! What can I do?

    Copy all the content on your iPod back to your PC and into iTunes. Then go ahead and sync the iPod with your new library.
    See this older post from another forum member Zevoneer covering the different methods and software available to assist you with the task of copying content from your iPod back to your PC and into iTunes.
    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2452022?start=0&tstart=0
    B-rock

  • Time Machine appears to be doing back-ups, but they do not appear on the external hard drive. The last one I can find is June 30.  I did a utility scan of the hard drive disk and it is fine.

    Time Machine appears to be doing back-ups, but they do not appear on the external hard drive. The last one I can find is June 30.  I did a utility scan of the hard drive disk and it is fine. What do I do?

    Click the Time Machine icon in the menu bar. The time of the last backup is shown in the drop down.

  • Need to reinstall Photoshop elements on my iMac - hard drive crash and do not have a back-up copy.  How do I get another copy?

    Need to reinstall Photoshop elements on my iMac - hard drive crash and do not have a back-up copy.  How do I get another copy?

    Unfortunately, you're in the wrong forum.  This is not the Elements forum.
    Here's the link to the forum you want:
    https://forums.adobe.com/community/photoshop_elements/content

  • My hard drive crashed on my Imac 24" 2009, i put in a new hard drive 2TB and a SSD drive 240 GB and removed the opticdrive. What external DVD can I get to work with the IMac? The Apple super drive is not compatible.

    My hard drive crashed on my Imac 24" 2009,  I installed a new hard drive 2TB and a SSD drive 240 GB and removed the optical drive.
    What external DVD can I get to work with the IMac?                              The Apple super drive is not compatible.

    Virtually any DVD burner that can connect to your Mac will work. They start at $40 on Amazon.

  • My hard drive went and when i got my computer back from being fixed my itunes had been deleted, so i re installed it however my ipad wont connect to the itunes as its not registered to this itune, also all my songs arent on here what do i do?

    My hard drive went and when i got my computer back from being fixed my itunes had been deleted, so i re installed it however my ipad wont connect to the itunes as its not registered to this itune, also all my songs arent on here what do i do?

    There is no such thing as an "SG3" or "SG4".  Did you possibly mean a 3GS and iPhone4?
    It has always been very basic to ensure that a backup exists of your media and other important files.  Computers fail, hard drives crashes... things happen.  Do you not have a backup?  The iPhone, like all iDevices is NOT a backup of your media, but rather a mirror of the content in the iTunes library on your computer.
    If your contacts, pics, etc are not on your computer, no backups of the iPhone exist, and they are not on the phone, they are gone.
    No one can magically make them re-appear.

  • Can someone please help a friend of mine get a permanent registration key (not a trial key that expires in 30 days) to replace his lost registration key for Adobe Photoshop CS2? His previous hard drive crashed and he no longer has his registration key. Th

    Can someone please help a friend of mine get a permanent registration key (not a trial key that expires in 30 days) to replace his lost registration key for Adobe Photoshop CS2? His previous hard drive crashed and he no longer has his registration key. This is vital for his wedding business.

    Thanks to everyone for the tips on my CS2 question. It turns out in the end it was some plug-in filter software that was causing the glitch, not a lack of an Adobe registration key. As for why he still uses CS2, it does the job for him, so that's all he needs.

  • I've been using Adobe Acrobat 7 for many years. I updated my full version of Acrobat 5 to get to 7. My hard drive crashed and I've been trying to reinstall Acrobat and it will not install. Adobe will not help because 7 is no longer supported. Does anyone

    I've been using Adobe Acrobat 7 for many years. I updated my full version of Acrobat 5 to get to 7. My hard drive crashed and I've been trying to reinstall Acrobat and it will not install. Adobe will not help because 7 is no longer supported. Does anyone know where I can go for help?

    You won't be able to install your original Acrobat 7 at all, or use your original serial number. The server which used to allow this was switched off.
    But assuming you have a compatible system, like Mac OS 5 or Windows XP, licensed users of Acrobat 7 can download a replacement and get a replacement serial number.
    Error: Activation Server Unavailable | CS2, Acrobat 7, Audition 3

  • My Hard Drive crashed and I am trying to retrieve a audio book that was not on my ipod

    How do I get a audio book I purchased from itunes to my ipod or my itunes?  I can see where I purchased it but can not figure out where it is.  My Hard drive crashed and I lost everything.

    It will only be where you put it.
    If for some reason you have failed to backup your computer, then it is gone.

  • All my hard drives (internal and external) have a small lock in the lower left corner of the icon and I don't have permissions to access. Permissions are set to 'Custom' in the get info window and I can't change them.

    All my hard drives (internal and external) have a small lock in the lower left corner of the icon and I don't have permissions to access. I have 3 user accounts set up and I cannot access any of them.   Permissions are set to 'Custom' in the get info window and I can't change them. Originally I had Snow Leopard installed on one hard drive and 10.5.8 installed on another.   I started to have some problems accessing data between them and so I tried changing the permissions on ONE hard drive partition.   The next thing I know, all my drives are locked (except the ones with the systems on them), the small lock appeared in the lower left corner of the drive icons and I don't have permissions to access any of them.   In the get info window, permissions are set to 'Custom' and I can't change them.

    There is suddenly a lock icon on my external backup drive!
    Custom Permissions

Maybe you are looking for