Restoring user accounts from system install backup directory

Hi,
I had some kind of disk problem that forced me to reload tiger. When tiger intalled it backed up all of the user directries. After the new install booted up I can not figure out how to restore all of my user accounts from this backup directory. Maybe I am making it too hard (ex PC user). The migtration utility only wants to restore off a Mac or different volume. Any suggestions?
Thanks
imac g4 800 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

If you did an Archive & Install, then you should have selected the saving user and network settings. Otherwise, everything was put into the Previous System folder. IIRC, you need to recreate the users, using the exact same username and password combinations. Then, log into each account, open the corresponding folder within the Previous System/Users/ directory and transfer everything from the old account to current account.

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Restoring user accounts from TM?

I need to reinstall Leopard on one of my internal drives. I have hourly TM backups on another internal drive, with the most recent one from a few minutes ago.
I don't want to do a "total restore", because that might restore whatever files have been causing the systemic problems I've been experiencing (all three user accounts have had the problems).
Is there a way I can use TM to simply restore the user accounts to the freshly installed version of OS X, without bringing any other files over?
Thanks.

sw_i_t_t_e_rs,
OK, based on this, a few things do come to mind.
The first harkens back a long way; we don't see this as much as we used to, so it is no longer as obvious as it used to be, but fonts can still be corrupted, and can still cause problems. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me in the least to discover that a bad font, somewhere, is causing these GUI problems.
Based on the fact that all users are experiencing the problem, the most likely place is in the "main" fonts folder. Yep, the Migration Assistant is very likely to have transferred these to the new installation.
Caches can also cause the types of problems you are seeing. Do you know how to find and delete all cache files? Try removing as many as you can, and see where it leads.
The last thing I would look at, in your shoes, is a potential recurring disk error. Since the types of problems you have indicate a system-wide problem, the most obvious candidate would be some system component. That's why you reinstalled, and why anyone would be compelled to do so. Logic would dictate that a reinstallation, especially in conjunction with a format (erasure) of the hard drive, would fix such a problem.
In some cases, logic would be wrong. Let's assume that the problem began with a disk error, and some critical system files were damaged; call them "file A" and "file B." If said disk error was the result of a bad block on the hard drive, a standard format and reinstallation would not necessarily correct the problem. You see, the reinstallation would be most likely to write the same files to the same blocks on the hard drive. File A and file B would be written to the same bad block(s), and the problem would recur.
The answer, then, is to "zero" the drive, thereby "mapping out" any potential bad blocks. I once worked with a machine (an iMac) that had a bad installation. I was told by the owner that, upon running a specific update, the machine "crashed." OK, managed to make a backup of the user data, then I formatted the hard drive and reinstalled OS X with the intention of returning the user data. However, upon running all the updates myself, the machine failed at the exact same place that it had for the owner. Hmmm. My next step was to try again, only "zeroing" the drive this time. The machine still runs happily today.
The trick to getting those bad blocks mapped out is to select the entire drive (not the named volume that appears indented underneath the drive in Disk Utility), and to choose the "Zero All Data" option in the "Security Options..." dialogue sheet. I would only try this as a last resort, after I had ruled out bad fonts, bad cache files, etc.
Who knows, your sleep problems could be related, too.
Scott
EDIT: I'm going to add one more thing to my "before you format again" list... It wouldn't hurt to run the commands I have already given to correct any ownership problems. As I mentioned, caching could be involved in the types of problems you are seeing (Leopard's Finder makes heavy use of caching). The types of potential ownership problems that I am targeting with those commands (specifically, group ownership) could lead to trouble writing cache files properly. Run those commands before you do anything else.

Migration problem: migration assistant won't migrate both user accounts from time machine backup

My Mac was formatted due to some technical issues. Before handing to the lab- I backed it up using time machine ( and only that ).
I had two user accounts on the Mac before handing it to the lab.
One of them I never actually used -I'll call it the secondary.
The second one was the main one - which I used all the time - the principal account. All my data is there on that account.
The Mac was formatted at the lab.
Using the setup assistant I migrated one user from the Time Machine Backup.
Only later I realized it was actually the account I never used.
Since I never used it - I couldn't remember the login password and had to reset it, took a while.
I then tried to to migrate the principal account - the one I actually wanted to migrate, in the fist place, during the setup procedure - using the migration assistant.
At the relevant window I tick the principal account- the mac does some thinking and then in the login window my only options are the secondary account and guest account, the principal account is not to be seen.
I'm really really stressed and worried.
BTW -when looking into the actual external disk used for the Time Machine at this path: computer name--> backups-->macintosh HD -->users--> principal account - I see all the folders and files with a 'no entry' icon next to them.
clicking on the folders - I get the following notice - 'the folder xxx can't be opened because you don't have permission to see the contents''
What's going on?
I'm running on a 2.9Ghz intel core i5
16GB RAM 1600MHz DDR3
SW version: 10.9.4
would appreciate any kind of help,
Thanks
Dana

thanks,
the thing is the Mac was behaving strangely - that's why I sent it to the lab in the first place.
This Mac is just over a year old but it's content was initially migrated from the older mac.
And it (the new Mac) wasn't working properly from the get go..
It took ages for it to start up and wouldn't start up if any external disk was attached (via USB).
I had to start it up and only then connect external disks.
In the lab - They couldn't find and HW issues.
So they formatted and reinstalled the OS - I think that's all they've sone in the lab
The idea was to start afresh and slowly reinstall softwares - only those necessary.
So, having said all that- does that change your answer?

HT201250 How to restore email accounts from time machine backup?

I'm attempting to recover email accounts that were lost in a clean install. I have opened mail, launched time machine and accessed the latest backup. I selected restore. It appears that all of the archived mail on my mac was recovered, but not the accounts (there are three.) Do I have to recreate the accounts manually or is there a way to restore them?

Hi, I just had a similar problem. You can try this post here:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/19491975#19491975
Fixed it for me!

Restore Filevault enabled user account from Timecapsule?

My imac running Snow Leopard crashed but was backed up to my Time Capsule.
The guy at the Apple store just erased & re-loaded the OS and said my timecapsule was still in tact after the crash.
I tried using migration assistant at home to re-load my mac as it was before the crash from Timecapsule but it says I cannot transfer my user account because it was encrypted with filevault???
PLEASE HELP! My entire life is on this computer and the ONLY reason i got a timecapsule with the new imac was so I could restore everything with one click after a crash!
(as a side note my 5 1/2 year old macbook running OS X Lion crashed with the latest update and subsequently it's hard drive died at the same time! so I'm completely screwed if I can't restore my user account from time capsule.
HELP!!!

KingaMLK wrote:
I tried repairing disk permissions, repairing disk
But did you repair your backups?
That's a different thing. If they're corrupted, it could explain the problem you're having; if we can repair them, the full system restore may work.
The difficulty here is, you can repair an internal or external HD by starting from your Snow Leopard Install disc and using Disk Utility. But to repair the sparse bundle on a Time Capsule, you must be able to log on to your Mac with a (any) user account, and locate the sparse bundle via the Finder to mount it first.
Since you apparently have a restore attempt running now, don't interrupt it.
But if it doesn't work, or you can't find all your data, and if you can log on to your Mac with any account, try repairing the backups per #A5 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.

Create Oracle USER Account from Third Party System

Hi there
We have requirment to create Oracle USER Account through third party system.
How can we achive this?
I know ORacle Provide FND_USER_PKG.CREATEUSER API to create user
Is there any special thing we have to do to create Oracle USER from another system?
Thanks
ASIM

Hi,
Is there any special thing we have to do to create Oracle USER from another system?I believe you need to check the third party manual or contact the vendor for other considerations when creating user accounts from this system.
For FND_USER_PKG, please see the links referenced in this thread.
change password of EBS user
Re: change password of EBS user
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Hussein

How to transfer user accounts from Active Directory to Open Directory

Please help me , want to tranfer user accounts from Active Directory (Windows server 2012 ) to Open Directory (OS X server 10..2.9)

Hi,
Go to the advanced administration for the OSX Server:
https://help.apple.com/advancedserveradmin/mac/3.1/#apd6D7FE39D-32AA-400C-91E1-5 0ABC15655C8
This pretty easy way of connecting your server to the Windows server should give AD users access to OD services. That will be a good start.
Read up on this as well:
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH15469
Do you want to import them all or just the Mac users?
Goodluck!
Jeffrey

Restoring specific things from Time Machine backup

Earlier today I had a new hard drive installed (larger size)
I have a current TM backup of my previous system, but I don't want to do a full restore because my old system was being very slow and I don't want to risk it happening again. I plan on just bringing back the items that I need.
However, I would like to keep my old user settings. I know it's possible to keep them because it happened when I did an archive install a few months ago.
But I don't know which files I need to restore from the backup to restore my user settings. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
I also want to bring back all my emails, but again I don't know where to look for them.
Thanks
Chris

Install Leopard on the new drive from the install DVD, update it to 10.5.6, install applications, then use Migration Assistant (Utilities folder) to restore your user account from the Time Machine backup.

Restoring user accounts after Leopard installation

I'm sure this has been asked before, but I'm not sure what to search for in these forums.
Prior to installing Leopard, I made a clone of my Tiger system on my external HD. I did an erase&install and used migration assistant to transfer my user account from Tiger and all the apps, documents, settings, etc, back to my computer. I thought I could just write over the new user account that was made when Leopard was installed, but I was prompted to change the name of the old account (as it was the same as my new user account on Leopard). So the old one is now "myname1" and the new one is "myname".
How do I remove the new "myname" account permanently and give full administrator privileges to the "myname1" account that I transferred from my external HD? Furthermore, once this is done, is it possible to rename "myname1" back to "myname"?
I tried doing this in the users panel, but all I could think of doing was removing admin privileges from the new "myname" Leopard account and giving them to the "myname1" account. What's the next step?
Thank you!

Shannon,
We can "restore" backed up users to a new installation very easily. First, you should create any accounts you will be restoring using the exact same usernames and user short names as the old accounts. Then, enable the "root" account and log in as root. Follow the instructions on manual restoration of user data that you will find in this kbase article.
Basically, you have the right idea, but you need to follow the instructions I have given to avoid any problems.
Note: The commands listed in this article (two of them) to run in Terminal when restoring data to a new installation apply to accounts created in 10.2 only. For restoring data to accounts created in 10.3 (Panther) and 10.4 (Tiger), use the following single command instead of the two separate ones listed in the article:
chown -R username:username /Users/username
In the above command, you will replace all instances of "username" with your own short name. So, if your short name is "fred," for example, you will type the following exactly:
chown -R fred:fred /Users/fred
If you have further questions, just ask.
Scott

How do I run a user account from an external HD?

How do I run a user account from an external HD? I will be away from my desktop iMac and want to use our MacBook Pro overseas for two months with my iMac user account copied to an external drive.

1. WARNING: This procedure is for advanced users only. Some third-party software may not work as expected, or may not work at all, if the home folder is moved.
2. Back up all data.
3. Copy your home folder to the desired location, which must be on a volume of type "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" with file ownership enabled, as shown in the Finder Info dialog. Encryption is optional. The volume must be on a local storage device, not on the network, and it must be mounted automatically at startup — before any user logs in. A disk image will not work.
The name of your home folder is your short user name. Do not rename it. Do not copy the "Users" folder.
5. Select
 ▹ System Preferences ▹ Users & Groups
Click the lock icon and authenticate. Right-click or control-click your name in the account list, and select Advanced options from the popup menu. In the sheet that opens, change the location of the home directory. Log out and log back in.
6. Test. If you have problems, reverse the above steps. If you got this far, you should have no trouble doing that. If everything works as you expect, delete the original home folder.

Migration Assistant Won't Migrate User Account from Time Machine

I am trying to move my wife's user account from a Time Machine backup using Migration Assistant. Migration assistant chugs along for 2 1/2 hours and says everything was transfered hunkie-dorie. However, when I try to log her on, I can't. When I log on as me, I went to System Prefs --> Accounts, her username is there. However, when I look inside the Users folder, none of her information is there.
thanks in advance,
tim

No Filevault on my computer and hers.
Doesn't work in Save Boot, either. That is the puzzle. Her account appears at the login screen--even the flower pic. that was migrated from from the Time Machine backup. The login screen will not accept any password. I know I'm typing it correctly. Her account appears in System Prefs --> Users, but it's not in the Users folder on my disk drive.
tim

Excluding temporary user accounts from Time Machine back-ups

I have some temporary user accounts in addition to the default Guest account on my iMac. I currently have Time Machine backing up my entire system (the default TM setup). However, I'd like back up only my admin and permanent user accounts from now on.
Having done a little research, I believe I have the answer but want to make sure I'm including all the relevant directories. I believe the answer is to add the specific user folders to TM Preferences > Options > Do Not Backup. e.g., if my hard disk is named "MacintoshHD" and I want Users 'Account1' and 'Account2' to be excluded from all future TM backups, I would add these folders to the Do Not Backup folder:
/MachintoshHD/Users/Account1
/MachintoshHD/Users/Account2
So 2 questions:
1. Are these the right folders to make sure Account1 and Account2 are never backed up in the future?
2. Are there any other folders that i am overlooking?
Is that correct? Thanks in advance for your help!

Jeff Hwang wrote:
I have some temporary user accounts in addition to the default Guest account on my iMac. I currently have Time Machine backing up my entire system (the default TM setup). However, I'd like back up only my admin and permanent user accounts from now on.
Having done a little research, I believe I have the answer but want to make sure I'm including all the relevant directories. I believe the answer is to add the specific user folders to TM Preferences > Options > Do Not Backup. e.g., if my hard disk is named "MacintoshHD" and I want Users 'Account1' and 'Account2' to be excluded from all future TM backups, I would add these folders to the Do Not Backup folder:
/MachintoshHD/Users/Account1
/MachintoshHD/Users/Account2
So 2 questions:
1. Are these the right folders to make sure Account1 and Account2 are never backed up in the future?
yes.
2. Are there any other folders that i am overlooking?
no, those are the only folders you need to exclude.
Is that correct? Thanks in advance for your help!

How to stop the removing a user account and saving the home directory to a disk image?

I tried to delete one of two administers on my iMac (10.10.1). After more than 12 hours it will not let me quit System Preferences for it "is removing a user account and saving the home directory to a disk image". How do I finish deleting the administer and quit System Preferences?

I would recommend asking them in C# forums: https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/vstudio/en-US/home?forum=csharpgeneral&filter=alltypes&sort=lastpostdesc
This posting is provided AS IS with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights.
Ahmed MALEK
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Copy a user account from one disk to another

I replaced the hard drive in my G5 imac, and for one reason or another, using restore failed to create a bootable disk. Instead, I reinstalled Leopard. I would like to copy the old user account from the old hard drive so I can seamlessly continue using my computer. I created a secondary account on the new drive with the same name as the old one, and then copied the contents, but that didn't work very well.
Can you advise how to restore the account from an old disk for use on a new one?

Well, the desktop picture was generic, opening firefox gave me the error along the lines of "cannot open firefox, firefox is already open." Trying to download a new firefox tells me that there's no room on the disk. That's about where I stopped. Pretty much everything isn't working right.

My dad and i have the same icloud id,when i updated the software (to ios 8.1.3) i have my dad´s photos on my iphone.And want my photos back (i tried restoring my phone from the last backup) but still have my dad´s photos on my device.

My dad and i,have the same icloud id,when i updated the software (to ios 8.1.3) i have my dad´s photos on my iphone.And want my photos back (i tried by restoring my phone from my last backup)but still have my dad´s photos in my device

And that's exactly the problem, because everyone should have their own account for iCloud. You can share an Apple ID for iTunes & App Store purchases, but you shouldn't do that for iCloud (Mail, Calendar, Contacts etc. ... ...and Photos). The problem of using the same account together could mean that only your dad's photos were stored.

Restoring user accounts from system install backup directory

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