What Solution(s) Exist to Rectify A Corrupt User Account in OS X? [closed]

Question

Closed. This question needs details or clarity. It is not currently accepting answers.

---

Want to improve this question? Add details and clarify the problem by editing this post.

Closed 6 years ago.

Improve this question

This is a theoretical question, which hasn't happened to me (yet), but could affect many people.

Assuming one has only one admin user account and apart from wiping the hard drive and doing a fresh install of OS X:

What Solution(s) Exist to Rectify A Corrupt User Account in OS X?

Answer 1

Wiping the entire system seems extreme if one user account is corrupt.

You could:

• restore that user from a backup
• analyze what precisely has become corrupt and remedy that item
• make a new user account to verify that the system is fine
• use the new user account to either hand migrate or run Migration Assistant to bring back the user contents

Answer 2

In addition and to reinforce bmike's answer the following may also help:

Delete Cache Files From Safe Mode:

If you don’t have a spare admin account, try rebooting your Mac into Safe Mode and removing some cache files that may be the source of the problem.

To boot into safe mode, shut off the computer. Press the power button. After you hear the start-up tone, press and hold the Shift key. Release when you see the gray Apple icon and a spinning-gear loading icon.

Once loaded, open a Finder window and press Cmd-Shift-G. Type in “~/Library/Caches” minus the quotation marks to go to the caches folder.

Removing these might work, but deleting the cache is generally inadvisable. Instead, try saving a backup of all the cache files before deleting them. This way, if something happens, you can restore the old files.

Finally reboot the computer.

Find the Bad Preference File:

This one is much more tedious and time-consuming, but it’s better than having a broken computer. Reboot into Safe Mode, open a Finder window, press Cmd-Shift-G, and go to ~/Library/Preferences.

From there, start moving preference files somewhere else (like the desktop). Reboot and see if it’s fixed. If you think you know which app caused the problem, try starting there. If not… well, there are a lot of files to try.

AppleCare:

If you have the AppleCare warranty, take your Mac along to the Genius Bat at your local Apple Store. Hopefully they will be able to sort things out in a short period of time (hopefully).

Just maybe even if the computer is out of warranty, you may still be able to get it fixed (See How to Get Free Repairs Without a Valid Warranty).

If the worst comes to the worst.....

Hard Reset:

There’s always the nuclear option. Restart your computer and hold Cmd-R as it boots. Make sure you’re connected to the internet via WiFi or Ethernet cable, choose the menu option to reinstall OS X and follow the installer from there.

Always:

Be prepared. Regularly back up your files, keep a spare administrator account, and have a spare machine to look up fixes if something happens.

Answer 3

For root password recovery on Unix like systems, one is advised to perform recovery using single user mode, which is available on osx as well, I would use this: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1492

The other thing I would advise all users is to make sure that they don't just have one admin account, I always have a backup (completely standard admin account) for emergencies when my primary account becomes corrupt (or if for some reason I cannot remember my main password and cannot retrieve or access my password store/secure keychain.