Oh Lord! I messed it all up :( stuck on "Login window starting"

Have had a mess all week here. I did a CCC on my drive, reformated the partitions and now testing my backup from my ext. Hard Drive it jsut sits there forever on "Login window starting" and them eventually a blank blue screen.
I tried to do a fresh install of Panther, by installing 10.2 first but Panther CD won't work. Now after yet another format my Panther Upgrade CD still won't work
I am really screwed I think.

LOL, ok.
*I take it you cloned your internal HDD to an external HDD. Is that a Firewire External HDD? Did you do a complete backup of your entire internal HDD, OS and all?
- Yes I cloned the drive to an external Firewire drive. yes a complete clone/ made the HD bootable.
*Does reformatted partitions refer to the internal of external HDD.
- It referes to the internal HD since I reformetted and split the HD so I could install Panther on one and Tiger on the other in the end.
*"just sits there" refers to booting from internal of external HDD?
Ok, well both. a few days ago before I did yet another reformat. I had installed Tigar 1st, than I cloned back my Panther copy to the other partition.
I woud get the same exact problem when loading with the internal and external drive.
I assume there was an errore I did not notice when using CCC. Hope I have not made more confusion

Similar Messages

IMac purchased at garage sale help. Gets stuck at "Login Window Starting."

Hi all,
I recently purchased an iMac at a barn sale, and it turns on and everything, but then gets stuck at "Login Window starting" screen (http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt135/gpd2paul4/IMG_0251.jpg). When Goggling this problem, I see that I am not alone in thee problem, but I am alone in the fact that I don't even know what model it is (I think G3, but not sure), let alone have the original CDs or paperwork. I have tried holding 'shift' right after the startup chime to start up in safe mode, but it still gets stuck at "Login Window starting." I have attached a few pictures of the computer to help you veteran Mac users identify it, which might help you help me. Any help is appreciated. (Step-by-step instructions are best, I am good at using a Mac, but this is getting pretty technical.)
Thanks!!!
Photos:
http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt135/gpd2paul4/IMG_0253.jpg
http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt135/gpd2paul4/IMG_0254.jpg
http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt135/gpd2paul4/IMG_0255.jpg

Try holding down the shift key when powering on. This will skip a few programs from loading.
Hold down the shift key when booting into Mac OS X. this will check your file structure and do a repair. This will also leave off some files from being used.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1455
"What is Safe Boot, Safe Mode? (Mac OS X) "
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1564?viewlocale=en_US
Try holding down the option key when powering on. This will bring up the startup manager. Perhaps 9 is installed. Click on icon then click on right arrow.
This is an iMac g3 slot loader.
Your Mac won't start up in Mac OS X (Mac OS X 10.3.9 or earlier).
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1411?viewlocale=en_US
Which iMac Is It? OK here are some more comparison charts:
http://lowendmac.com/macdan/05/0202.html
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58669
You need to figure out the level of your firmware before installing 10.2 or greater. ( The PC name for firmware is BIOS. ) Installing 10.2 with a down level firmware will most likely make your iMac unusable and difficult to fix.
What is firmware?
The firmware software receives control when you poweron your machine. It does some hardware testing and some hardware configuration then passes control to your version of Mac OS. It reside on a PROM ( program read only memory ) chip on the logic board.
Open Firmware, boot into Open Firmware.
Power on your iMac while holding down commandoption+of
The first output line contains the firmware level. Mine reads:
Apple PowerMac4,1 4.1.9f1 BootRom built on 09/14/01 at 13.18.04
Copyright 1994-2001 Apple Computer Inc.
On my machine, I have 4.1.9f1.
What firmware do you need?
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86117
For a slot loading iMac, this article indicates that you need to be running 9.1 or later version of Mac OS Classic.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75130
"The iMac Firmware Update 4.1.9 will only run on iMac computers with lot-loading CD or DVD drives running Mac OS 9.1 or later from a local drive. If you are using Mac OS X you must boot from a local Mac OS 9.1 or later writeable partition (not a CD, or network disk) prior to following the update instructions."
You can download the Mac OS 9 updates from the Apple site.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1387?viewlocale=en_US
For tiger, you need 256meg of memory.
Mac OS X 10.4: System requirements
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1514
There is no need to partition. You can save hard drive space by doing a custom install. Leave out the print drivers you do not need and the languages you do not need. Doing so you will need about three gigabytes of space.
You need to get into single use mode.
This page will tell you how to get into single user mode.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1492
Basically, you hold down the command-s key then powering on your machine. The command key has a little apple symbol on the lower left. It is between the alt/option key and the space bar
When you are in single user mode, you are in Unix. you can try looking in the log files to see if you can find anything.
To see the current boot log you use the dmsg command.
dmsg
startup information is in /var/log/system.log
to display the last 500 lines use the tail command.
tail -n 500 /var/log/system.log | more
For these commands you will need to gain write access to your startup disk. There are some comments at the end of the startup process that list the needed commands.
mac $ ls -lF ~/zztemp.txt
ls: /Users/mac/zztemp.txt: No such file or directory
mac $ tail -n 500 /var/log/system.log | cat > ~/zztemp.txt
mac $ nano ~/zztemp.txt
mac $
I assume the message contained /Library/Logs/CrashReporter. Do a change directory:
cd /Library/Logs/CrashReporter
mac $ pwd
/Library/Logs/CrashReporter
mac $ ls
???.crash.log VoiceCenter.crash.log
Exited process.crash.log
mac $ tail -n 400 \?\?\?.crash.log
Host Name: ???
Date/Time: 2008-09-15 14:28:37.577 -0400
OS Version: 10.4.11 (Build 8S165)
Report Version: 4
Robert

IMAC G3 Stuck On Login Window starting

I have a blue IMAC G3 with OS X Panther.
I was tampering with files years ago on this computer and deleted a file that stops the computer from going past "Login Window starting".
I have tried the trick where you reset everything on the computer except your files by using the commands
mount -uw /
and
rm /var/db/.applesetupdone
(if i didn't type right now, i did at the time and it says that it doesn't exist.)
I also tried going into safe mode and it was still stuck.
I tried pressing the option, apple, r, and p keys 3 times trick and it didn't work.
I bought the Mac OS X cds to rewipe it and the cd drive doesn't work.
I thought the cd drive had something in it so i tried a trick to use the emergency cd thing with a ruler and also tried to use a utility which both didn't work.
So since all that didn't work, I was wondering if someone could help me solve whats wrong in different ways then that.
Do you think I can wipe it with a usb containing Mac OS X Panther? If i could how would I do this.
When I bought this computer it completely worked, even the cd drive, after I tampered with it, it hasn't been the same. This is a dead loved ones machine and I would like it to work again for a two year memorial on 4/20.
Please get back fast so I can have it ready in two days.
Thanks!

Does this blue iMac have a slot-loading or tray-loading optical drive? If it's a slot-loading type and if the iMac has a FireWire port, an external FireWire optical drive should boot the computer for installation of the OS. Keep in mind that the slot-loading iMacs have shown a tendency to develop problems with the PAV board (the major power-providing component) with age. When this occurs, the wise thing is to retire the computer. There are no new PAV boards and the expertise level required for replacing one would be described as "very skilled," because of the potential for serious electrical shock or worse. Because of this, you should decide how much money you'd want to invest to get it up and running. An external FireWire DVD±RW drive is $99 at Other World Computing. You might find a suitable external FireWire drive at ebay — even an older CD-ROM, CD-RW, or DVD-ROM. For that matter, you might also find a used/pulled internal optical drive for the slot-loading iMacs, which would be a CD-ROM, CD-RW, or DVD-ROM drive. Pulled drives are also old and likely to have high mileage. The slipping problem with old slot-loading drives, wherein the disk needs a push on insertion or a yank on eject, is also very common and the result of dried out rubber rollers that have lost their natural capability to grip the disks.

Stuck on "Login window starting" screen

one night i was putting a big file, about 2-4 gb, into iphoto from my old imac and i forgot to make sure that it stayed on my external hard drive and there wasnt enough room on my main drive because they were small hard drives except for my external. iphoto said there wasnt enough room so i selected all the pics i just transfered and tried to put them back in my external but still in iphoto and then the screen dimmed a little and this message came up saying i need to restart my computer so i just turned it off because i was tired and thought i could deal with this some other time. then a week or 2 later i turned it back on and it got all the way to were it said "login window starting" and stopped about 98 percent. and i waited for a few minutes and decided to just leave it there and clean my room then i watched a movie and when it was done i checked back and it didnt move. whats wrong with it.

Hi Ian, and a warm welcome to the forums!
OSX will mess up the HD if space gets too low, Free space isn't really ours to use anymore.
Could be many things, we should start with this...
"Try Disk Utility
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
*Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.*
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Select your Mac OS X volume.
5. Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Then try a Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it completes.
(Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive.)
If perchance you can't find your install Disc, at least try it from the Safe Boot part onward.
If that doesn't do it let us know.
You need a minimum of 10 GB free space.

Stuck at 'Login Window Starting'

I just downloaded the latest iPod and Security update. I restarted and have been stuck at the 'Login Window Starting' field.........Can anyone offer a fix for this issue
Powerbook G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Doug,
I have played with this a little bit and have a scheme for transferring the file via Target Disk Mode. This procedure has been a little bit tricky for me due to permissions issues. It looks like it is best to copy the file from the host computer directly to the directory where it needs to be on the target machine. So, here is a recipe, partly lifted from the Apple KB article:
1. Make sure that the target computer is turned off. If you are using a PowerBook or iBook as the target computer, you should also plug in its AC power adapter. The target computer is the one that is having the startup problem.
2. Use a FireWire cable (6-pin to 6-pin) to connect the target computer to a host computer. The host computer does not need to be turned off.
3. Start up the target computer and immediately press and hold down the T key until the FireWire icon appears. The hard disk of the target computer should become available to the host computer and will likely appear on its desktop.
4. Find the good file on the host computer. There are different ways to do this. The standard way would be to drill down through bunches of folders to find the one of interest. Another way is to select Finder>Go>Go to Folder. Copy and paste the following into the window that pops up:
/System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Fr
ameworks/CoreGraphics.framework/Versions/A/Resources
Note that there cannot be any spaces in this address. Once the folder opens, look for the libPDFRIP.A.dylib file.
5. Find the folder of interest on the target computer. The easiest way to do this may be to again select Finder>Go>Go to Folder. For me, I enter
/Volumes/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/
Frameworks/CoreGraphics.framework/Versions/A/Resources
Notice that this is almost the same name as used before except that it has the /Volumes/Macintosh HD in front of everything. This points you to the hard drive of the target computer, EXCEPT that you might have a different name for your hard drive. So, you might have to replace Macintosh HD with the name of the target hard drive as it shows on the desktop. Also, if the hard drive has two words in the name, there does need to be a space between them. I don't know how this will post, but for me, there has to be a space between Macintosh and HD.
6. If all goes well, you will have two folders named Resources on your desktop. Make sure not to confuse which is which. Drag libPDFRIP.A.dylib from the host folder to the target folder. You will be prompted to authenticate and you will have to do that and enter your password for this to work.
7. The libPDFRIP.A.dylib file that you transferred to the target machine will probably have you as the owner. It is root on the host machine and I definitely think it should be set to root. So, do a Control-click on the libPDFRIP.A.dylib file on the target machine and then select Get Info. Under Ownership and Permissions, click the triangle by Details so that it points down. Open the lock by owner, and then change ownership from you to the system. Close the lock again.
8. When you are finished copying files, drag the target computer's hard disk icon to the Trash or Eject from the File menu.
9. Press the target computer's power button to turn it off.
10. Unplug the FireWire cable.
I hope this works. If you do this and still have startup problems, I suppose that you could use the same procedure to copy over the entire CoreGraphics.framework folder. I would worry that the ownership of the files in this folder would all change, and I don't know how much of a hassle it would be to deal with that. Alternatively, you could back up your Home folder and any other files of interest via the Target Disk Mode and then do an Archive and Install on the problem computer.
Rich
EMAC G4 1.0 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.3)
[ Edited by Apple Discussions Moderator; wrap long lines ]

HELP! Stuck on "Login Window Starting"

Hey everyone...sorry if this is gonna be a long story, but I have to share everything in order for y'all to be able to help me.
Ok, so I went to start up my iMac G4 earlier this afternoon and it let me login and everything fine. I went to install the updates and then I restarted once finished. When it started back up the screen started to flash a little question mark "?" and it said it was missing a Mac version, so I put in my Mac OS X Panther version 10.3 Disc 1 and it started to load.
Once the first disk was finished--the computer restarted again, but then instead of asking for Disc 2--it went to the Start up page and started to load everything. The bar gets to about 98% full, but the stops at the "Login Window starting" part. It's just sitting there doing nothing. It doesn't even get me to the "User Login page"
PLEASE HELP!
I would like to get back into the desktop!!!
Thanks,
D

To The Apple Discussion Boards!
If you have an iMac G4 then you really need to repost over in the iMac (Flat Panel) Includes all iMac's with PowerPC G4 700 MHz, 800 MHz G4, 1GHz, and, 1.25 GHz G4 Forums where the G4 iMac users hang out.
This discussion area is for G5 iMac issues.

Computer won't successfully start - stuck at "Login Window Starting"

Hello, I'm having a problem and would appreciate any help. I recently was trying to uninstall QT 7.4.5 and revert to earlier vers bc 7.3.5 was adversely affecting an app I use. I was unsuccessful so eventually I just reinstalled 7.4.5.
However, now my computer won't start successfully. The screen gets stuck with a 99% full progress bar and the message "Login Window Starting". It stays at that status indefinitely.
Any ideas as to how I can get to my desktop? Any help is much appreciated!!!!!

I would reinstall OS X. If the hard drive is OK you can do this:
How to Perform an Archive and Install
1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.
Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior (4.0 for Tiger) and/or TechTool Pro (4.5.2 for Tiger) to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.
3. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.
4. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.
5. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.
6. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update.

Stuck on "login window starting"

My computer will not get to the login window. It's stuck trying to bring the login window up. Help!

What type of Mac mini is it - PPC or Intel? When did it start suffering this problem? Does it 'hang up' in the grey screen with Apple logo, the plain blue screen or the blue screen with progress bar?
The fact that the system begins the startup process is a relatively good sign, since that means it is at least getting past the power-on self test, so thus the basic hardware is OK. However, depending on where exactly the startup is hanging, it's possible you have a 'damaged' copy of MacOS on your hard drive, or that the drive itself has a problem.
The first thing I'd try in this situation is to insert the system's original install disk, and then reboot, holding the C key down to force it to start from the install disk rather than the internal hard drive. If that works, not only does it show the system is basically healthy, but also give you access to Disk Utility, which will allow you to check the drive to make sure it's OK. If you can run that and select the internal drive, then click "repair drive' it will report if there are any problems and try and fix any it finds. If there are errors and it fixes them, the system may then boot normally. If if doesn't, or finds errors and reports 'error on exit' it means the drive is corrupt and may need to be reformatted. (Beware, doing so will loose all your data).
The install disk also allows the system to be fully reinstalled, should that be necessary, but do not take that step unless and until you have checked the drive with Disk Utility!

Stuck in login window after upgrading to Mavericks

I am unable to login with my (admin) account after upgrading to Mavericks yesterday.
This was very unfortunate considering that I didn't backup my data !!
On reboot (I do not remember whether it was the first or second time) I couldn't login anymore as I usually did.
I tried different procedures (entering secure mode, repair permissions, reinstall 2 times Mavericks) but cannot solve the stuck.
Then I thought it could be a nice idea to create a new admin user and followed this instructions (http://www.hackmac.org/tutorials/how-to-create-a-new-administrator-account/).
After that I was able to login with the new user, I backed-up my data but I was still in stuck on login window with the old user.
I tried to delete
com.apple.loginwindow.plist
com.apple.recentitems.plist
from /Users/XXX//Library/Preferences/ and tried to restart but nothing.
Now I wonder how my old and important user can start working again.
Thank you very much.
Giuliano

Restart and hold down the Command and R keys during startup.
On top, in the Menu Bar click the Utilities item then select Terminal.
In the Terminal window, type resetpassword and hit Return.
The Password reset utility launches/
Reset password.
Restart

Stuck on "Login Window Loading" screen

one night i was putting a big file, about 2-4 gb, into iphoto from my old imac and i forgot to make sure that it stayed on my external hard drive and there wasnt enough room on my main drive because they were small hard drives except for my external. iphoto said there wasnt enough room so i selected all the pics i just transfered and tried to put them back in my external but still in iphoto and then the screen dimmed a little and this message came up saying i need to restart my computer so i just turned it off because i was tired and thought i could deal with this some other time. then a week or 2 later i turned it back on and it got all the way to were it said "login window starting" and stopped about 98 percent. and i waited for a few minutes and decided to just leave it there and clean my room then i watched a movie and when it was done i checked back and it didnt move. whats wrong with it.

Hi Ian,
What they don't tell you is that Free Space on your Hard Drive is NOT YOUR Free Space, you need at the very minimum about 10% or 10GB at the very minimum, & in my experience, less than 40% will slow OSX down to one degree or another.
Very Important, how much Free Space is on your Hard Drive first of all? Click on the Macintosh HD on the Desktop, then do a Get Info on it.
Once you delete a few big files & empty the Trash, especially any on te Desktop that use 3 times the resources...
How much free space is on the HD, where has all the space gone?
OmniDiskSweeper is now free, and likely the best/easiest...
http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnidisksweeper/

Powerbook G4 gets stuck in Login window

My PB is having trouble starting up, sometimes it starts and most of the time it doesn´t. The only two times I have been able to start it , when I type my username in the Login window it gets stuck, it freezes...
I don´t have a clue what is going on both with the starting , turning on , and getting freezed in the login window
any ideas? thanks

Hello,
Sounds to me like a possible hard disk drive problem.
I would suggest booting from the Mac OS X disk by holding down 'C' with the disk in the drive.
From the file menu, I would select disk utilities and run disk repair on your hard drive.
Once that's done, reboot and log back into Mac OS X.
Best of Luck

I forgot my username and am stuck on login window

is there a wway to see it in single user mode

Use the following command in Single User mode:
ls /Users/
Disregard the Shared entry and try the others until one works or you run out of options.
(69435)

Stuck on login window at start up

Hello. I attempted installing a security update and when I restarted my computer (G5 dual 1.8 OSx.3) it stoped loading at "login window." I tried a safe-mode restart but it still froze up at the same time. I cannot open my DVD drive to insert a disc so I was wondering what I should do? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
G5 dual 1.8 Mac OS X (10.3)

If you can boot into single-user mode then you might try the following:
You will need to type some Unix commands. If you are not comfortable with this, I don't know of anything other than a re-install. But if you are careful, you should be OK. I recommend you print this out in a largish mono-spaced font so you don't miss any spaces (or add extra ones). Note that case is important.
Be careful. Some of these commands are dangerous, since you are going to be root.
Start up in Single-User mode by restarting the computer. After the chime press and hold down the COMMAND-S keys. You can let go the keys when you see white text on a black background. When this has finished you will see a prompt ending in '#', although there may be other messages. Type:
/sbin/fsck -fy
followed by a return, at the prompt and wait a few seconds for 8-10 lines of output. If the last line says repairs were carried out, repeat this command until you get a message 'The volume <yourdiskname> appears to be OK'. (If you do not get an OK message after re-running the command seven times, then the drive cannot be repaired. Do not proceed until you are able to repair the drive.) Then continue with the following lines pressing return at the end of each:
/sbin/mount -uw /
cd /Library/Preferences
rm com.apple.loginwindow.plist
rm com.apple.windowserver.plist
cd /Library/Caches
rm -r *
cd /System/Library
rm Extensions.kextcache
cd /System/Library/Caches
rm -r *
reboot
This should now take you to a proper login screen after the normal boot sequence. You should then Repair Permissions by using Disk Utility (in your /Applications/Utilities folder).

Parental time limits on has a bug that gets stuck at login window

I put time limits on my daughters account, both a bedtime and a maximum number of hours per day. No other parental controls activated. It worked for a while, then developed a bug where once it reaches the "you're out of time" window, logging in just comes up with another login window ad nauseam until I restart and deactivate time limits in system preferences. It does so if I authorize her for another hour and then she logs in, and it also does so even if I simply try to log into my own account, and it even does so after a restart, if I again authorize her for another hour.
Any suggestions? Trash the preferences file? Where exactly is the pfile to trash?

I put time limits on my daughters account, both a bedtime and a maximum number of hours per day. No other parental controls activated. It worked for a while, then developed a bug where once it reaches the "you're out of time" window, logging in just comes up with another login window ad nauseam until I restart and deactivate time limits in system preferences. It does so if I authorize her for another hour and then she logs in, and it also does so even if I simply try to log into my own account, and it even does so after a restart, if I again authorize her for another hour.
Any suggestions? Trash the preferences file? Where exactly is the pfile to trash?

Stuck at login window, help?

I adjusted some stuff with my iTunes folders tonight, and went to restart my computer.
I only have one user account on the computer so it usually just restarts and puts me into that one account.
Tonight when I did a restart, it booted to a login pane that has boxes where I can enter a username and password (not even select an account like when you sign out).
Can anyone help me figure out how to log in? Thank you in advance.

Start with...
Boot from the installer disk, select language if applicable, choose utilities, run Disk Utility and verify (and repair if necessary) the drive. You can verify a drive from DU on your main drive while booted but I have found this can result in incorrect reporting of errors. To repair your drive you have to run it from a drive other than the boot drive anyway.
Next, boot from your drive in [Safe Mode|http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107393] and repair permissions. You can repair permissions while booted from the installer disc but this uses the permissions configuration on the installer disc which may be out of date if you have run any updates on your computer. Booting your computer to Safe Mode restricts the number of things running on your computer while permissions are being run and done a bit of spring cleaning at the same time.
[Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck|http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214]
[Using Disk Utility in Mac OS X 10.4.3 or later|http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302672]
[Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions|http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25751]
From BDaqua (couldn't have said it better):
"Try Disk Utility
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc that came with your computer (Edit: Do not use this disc if it is not the same general version as what you have currently on your computer, e.g. use a Tiger disc for a Tiger drive, not a Panther disc), then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
5. Select your Mac OS X volume.
6. Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk.
Then Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it completes."

Oh Lord! I messed it all up :( stuck on "Login window starting"

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