OSX not allowing me permission to my desktop. HELP!

Question

I am trying to access my desktop from the finder, but it says I do not have sufficent privledges. I tried restarting the computer, but that just removed everything off the desktop, except for the HD and .mac. Now, anytime I want to move files onto the desktop, I have to enter my password. It still won't let me have access to my desktop though. What do I do? I am the only person on the computer, and work as administrator.

Answer 1

Perhaps you've changed permissions on the Desktop folder. Navigate to your Home folder. Select the Desktop folder and press COMMAND-I to open the Get Info window. Open the Ownership and Permissions section at the bottom by clicking on the small triangle. Permissions should be: Owner=yourshortname w/read-write privileges; Group=yourshortname w/read-only privileges; Other w/read-only privileges. If they are not correct then change them.
If this isn't the problem then move to the root directory. Double-click on the Users folder. Select the Home folder (the one with your shortname) and open a Get Info window. Check that permissions are the same as above. Change them if they are not set correctly.
You may be asked to authenticate by entering your admin password.
I would also suggest doing the following:
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. Then 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 click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now shutdown the computer for a couple of minutes and then restart normally.
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.
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