Permissions issues after migration

Question

I've just got hold of a new retina MBP, and have had a number of issues since using setup assistant to transfer everything over from my old MBP to my new MBP.
I suspect these are all permissions based - but would appreciate some help from an expert.  My conviction that they are all permissions related is because initially I had an issue with not being able to access certain folders and applications (including Mail), which was resolved by my adding my user name to the Sharing and Permissions info section of the Home and Applications folders, and applying changes to all contents.
However these issues still remain:
TopSites in Safari not updating to show that the websites have changed.
     - This despite me trashing the TopSites plist from library, and emptying the cache.
My Epson scanner won't open.
     - When I plug it in and open the application it tells me it cannot 'write to file', and then shuts itself down.
When I open iPhoto I always get the welcome message, and I can't find an option not to show this on start-up.
     - It's like the MBP doesn't register that I'm not using iPhoto for the first time, even though everything else works fine.
I always get a file - cache.db - sitting on the top of my Home file.
     - I can trash it but it always pops back.
My Address Book won't update.
     - iCal updates fine, and my updates are changed on iCloud but I can't get the Address Book to pick up changes on my MBP.
When I reboot and open Mail it always opens the latest email at the time of my original migration
     - and not the latest or the unread at the top.
I'd be grateful if any experts out there could offer up any solutions to these riddles.

Answer 1

The procedure below will reset the permissions of a home folder in OS X 10.7.4 or later. If you're running an earlier version of 10.7, update to the current version first. This procedure should not be used in OS X versions older than 10.7.4.
Back up all data.
Click the Finder icon in the Dock, then press the following key combinations, in the order given:
Command-3
Shift-command-H
Command-I
The Info window of your home folder will open. Click the lock icon in the lower right corner and authenticate with the name and login password of an administrator on the system. If you have only one user account, you are the administrator.
In the Sharing & Permissions section of the window, verify that you have "Read & Write" privileges. If not, use the "+" and "-" buttons in the lower left corner to make the necessary changes.
By default, the groups "staff" and "everyone" have "Read Only" privileges. With those settings, the files at the top level of your home folder will be readable by other local users. You can change the privileges to "No Access" if you wish, but then your Public and Drop Box folders will be inaccessible to others, and Personal Web Sharing won't work. Most likely, you don't need to change these settings.
If there are entries in the Sharing & Permissions list for users or groups besides "me," "staff," and "everyone," delete them.
Click the gear icon at the bottom of the Info window and select Apply to enclosed items... from the drop-down menu. Confirm. The operation may take several minutes to complete. When it does, close the Info window.