Help, I've lost my pictures/music!

My MBP is almost 1 month old now (still using Tiger) and has been great but just today I started getting an error message in Safari saying that it had an error with the Keychain (unfortunately I can't remember exactly what this message said). Having closed and reopened Safari a couple of times with the same error message I opened it again to find it had reset and lost my settings such as bookmarks, homepage etc. This was strange, so I tried to restart my computer, once I'd done that I found the dock settings had also now reset themselves to the default factory settings! I then checked my pictures/movies/documents folders etc and although my movies remain, all of my pictures, music and documents have gone! If I open iTunes or iPhoto all they act as if new, with none of my pictures etc. The extra programs I have installed (photoshop etc) are still there, but start as though freshly installed and have been lost from the dock.

I have tried resetting the P and VRAM, but now I'm stuck. If anyone has any advice I'd really appreciate the help. I have full applecare support but the call centers are closed until the morning (I'm in the UK).

Thanks in advance for any help and I hope that none of you have similar scary problems!

 

did you rename the home folder? have you tried a spotlight search for what it lost?

==el edit==

try this thread it might help a little bit

 

Oh, thanks for replying so quick! They do show up with spotlight, and I had renamed my home folder. Do you know how I can change things back to how they were?

 

yup. go into finder and click on macintosh hd. then click on users. you should see the name of the old home folder. go in there and there should be all your stuff.

 

Yeah, renaming your Home Folder will cause problems. This is a common mistake, seems harmless when you rename it but actually is a headache.

http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/renamehomerecovery.html

 

Isn't it great to use Time Machine for lost files?

Have you considered upgrading to Leopard? You don't have to...But just a heads up.

 

sam, i think that might deserve a plave in the switchers guide. like right at the bottom of the what to do when you get ur new mac section.

 

Thankyou all very much guys, your speedy replies are much appreciated, my girlfriend suggested you should get a share of the money I paid for applecare!

I am planning to upgrade to Leopard, I even have the cd sat here next to me...but was waiting to buy an external hard drive to back up to as, ironically, I was anxious about losing my files!! I promise never to tamper with filenames in future!

Thanks again!

 

Good idea. I'll add it when I have time, probably tonight. Actually, I think it will be better in the Troubleshooting section, with a "DID YOU RENAME YOUR HOME FOLDER? HUH? HUH? HUH? ANSWER ME!!!!!!111" title .

 

your girlfriend sounds cool. haha

no, i think we need a title that stands out more.

 

Haha, I just realized that my friend did the same thing. I have to tell him now. I might be too late though, and the support people couldn't help him either.

I'll let him know that his PC loving (less now) friend found out how to recover his files because of all you guys. I'm sure he'll be happy.

 

Apple should have never allowed anyone to easily rename the Home Folder except when using root access. Thankfully they have fixed this in Leopard so you can't do the wrong thing and get burned.

 

Maybe you should tell your friend to join NBR .

 

His girlfriend should join too. And there should be a welcome thread, and there should be pics of her too. And we shall celebrate.

 

Maybe, but I try to keep my social life and non-social life separate

 

Hey 00fez your .Mac web gallery looks cool, nice pics.

 

That's cool! lol. I am just being silly

Thanks! Just uploaded some pics 2 nights ago! A lot of them are very old, way back from 2001, the halloween album is from last thursday, i teach english at an elementary school and we had a party for the little kids, I was a disco mummy. lol by the end of the night the whole costume was falling apart though

 

"First Leg Shave" .

 

my thoughts exactaly

 

lol. yeah! at the time i was running track & field for the university of manitoba, i had shin splints, so they had to tape my legs all the time for races and training and stuff, but every time they had to take them off i would almost cry of pain so one day i just decide to shave. lol. now ive upgraded to waxing...lol, but thats more cause i do more swimming now, and vball SORRY TO THE OP! I just hijacked your thread with my boring waxing anecdotes

 

By the way, Fez, I like your cat!

And University of Manitoba? I thought you were in Venezuela! Uni of Manitoba = Canadian!

 

I am in venezuela now! But I lived in Canada from 2000 until 2006. I raced in BC once, probably saw you and didn't even know it! Anyway once I finish my computer engineering degree here I'll go back to canada, don't know what city yet. Winnipeg was too cold.

 

Vancouver! We're awesome . And Apple Store arriving possibly as soon as this spring. Too bad we don't already have an Apple Store though. We should've.