Restoring my iMac with Time Machine

Question

Hello everyone,
I was unable to install an Skype update on my Boot Drive and was shown an error saying that I did not have the necessary permissions to perform the operation. This error has occurred after I recently performed a clean installation of OSX.6.1 during which I partitioned the internal HD and created a Boot Drive for apps only and a Data Drive for everything else including User Accounts. I used Terminal to manually move the User Accounts. The computer was working correctly once I set up all my personal folders. Other app updates worked without error so I'm not sure what I did to initiate the error with the Skype update.
The first time I got an error citing permissions, after installing OSX.6.1, was from the external drive and the remedy I used was to open the Get Info window and “apply all privileges” for User (me). It took a long time to complete that operation as there was a lot of data on the external drive.
I tried this remedy with the Boot Drive for this Skype update before doing any research into the effect. The process of applying privileges was over in a few seconds as the Boot Drive only had 14 Gigs of apps including the OS. I shut down the iMac and restarted and the gray screen with the Apple logo came up and stayed on. The Snow Leopard boot time is usually just under 30 seconds but the gray screen just stayed on for more than 10 minutes and it was clear that it wasn't going to boot up.
I tried booting from the Leopard install disc and use Disk Utility to repair permissions but got the error: “The underlying task reported failure on exit.” I also tried the other options of verifying disc and repair disc and they ran successfully and reported “all ok” but did not help to get the computer started. I also used the Startup Disc selection to select the Boot Drive but get the same hanging result.
Time Machine has a full backup that was made just a few hours before I made my mistake. I have read Glenn Carter's tips for TM use. As I have two partitions on my HD I need to “select a destination” for TM to use but know this can't be right in my case as the whole drive is required and I need to restore the two partitions. Only the Data Drive is big enough to select and that will leave the other partition useless.
It looks like I may have to erase the internal HD with Disk Utility to allow TM to completely restore my computer. If I do this will TM be able to restore the clean internal HD with two partitions from my TM backup? The TM backup is small as it is just all the newly restored apps and User accounts, almost no data – just a few emails.
Does anyone know a remedy to this issue using Terminal to restore the correct permissions?
I think I understand my mistake – the OS can't see the Boot Drive because I removed the system's permissions to access.
Thank you

Answer 1

Hello again Pondini,
I just want to explain the reasons for partitioning the disc: I bought the iMac when Leopard was introduced to the market in 2007. That was my switch from 12 years of Microsoft **** where we always partitioned our drives out of necessity.
I carried some Windows habits with me to the Mac OS, the main one being intense scrutiny of the computer's performance. I was told not to bother about a drive partition for the iMac so I left the computer as it was but I noticed a small, slow drop off in performance over the last two years. I must say it was only barely noticeable and came from the testing of a large number of photo-editing apps. All the time I used Macaroni to maintain the computer. Macaroni works well.
During this time I was speaking to other people doing similar work and noticed that they had partitioned drives to achieve optimum performance. I understood that from the Windows point-of-view.
I had planned to do a clean installation of Snow Leopard as I think that if you upgrade your OS it should always be a clean installation. After doing some research I decided to go with the partition. It was clear that some people said it was not necessary.
Once my current setup is complete I am going to use this iMac for Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop only so the setup will not change, no new apps or anything else...
It was through my inexperience that I made this mistake with the Boot Drive. Once corrected I should be good to go.
Thank you again for your assistance.
Message was edited by: Phonima