[peterrigg]

i have a major problem, after successfully installing tiger 10.4 everything was fine until i tried using file vault, it crashed when it was almost finished so i had restart my computer which is when i found tiger would no longer start.
after the log on screen it would just stay on the blue background and would not display the desktop
i have managed to get 10.3 back on but most programs no longer work (iphoto, safari)
i have tried most things including holding command, option, p and r keys at start-up and using the hardware test and reinstalling tiger but it just wont get most the log on screen.

Is there anything i can do to get tiger back up and working again (i have all my work backed up thank god so resetting the hard drive wouldn't be that much of a problem)

[OptimusG4]

Back everything up, try an archive and install, or just erase and install.

[an0therdumbsn]

this happened to me when i first upgraded to panther, i lost everything (luckily i had just gotten my powerbook a few weeks ago) but ever since then i havent touched file vault, i dont need it.

[CharlesS]

Don't think an Archive and Install will help here. Your system files are fine - your problem is that your user folder is a corrupted disk image. I'd probably single-user mode in and delete the .AppleSetupDone file so that the setup assistant runs again. You can make another admin account with a different user name than your existing one and use it to get rid of the corrupted disk image. Unfortunately, you'll probably lose all the data that was in your home folder.