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You are here: MacNN Forums > Software - Troubleshooting and Discussion > macOS > Major bug in Snow Leopard deletes all user data

Major bug in Snow Leopard deletes all user data
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Andy8
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Oct 12, 2009, 10:44 AM
 
Major bug in Snow Leopard deletes all user data

Reports have been cropping up on the Apple Support forums that users have been losing all their data due to a nasty bug in Snow Leopard, Apple's latest Operating System. Many users are reporting that all settings are being reset and most data is gone, according to iTWire.

The problem, can easily be reproduced when a user logs into the 'guest' account, either on purpose or by accident, and when they log back out of the account and back into their normal one, they find that their account has been fully reset with all data wiped and lost - the account is like a brand new one. The home directory still exists under "/Users/username" but is completely empty.

Users are reporting that the data is unrecoverable and cannot be found anywhere on the hard drive, and the only way to restore it is if the user has been performing backups on a separate hard-drive. Apparently the problem has been present since a few days after launch, as the forum post dates back to 12th September, but as of yet, Apple has been silent.

It seems the only work around at this stage is to disable the Guest account, or at least disable it and then re-enabling it so that it's a native Snow Leopard account. Another suggestion is to create a new account and enforce parental controls, if you really need a temporary account.

It's not clear how many users are affected, but it seems like any user who had Leopard before the upgrade, and had the guest account enabled are affected and are at risk.
     
turtle777
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Oct 12, 2009, 11:34 AM
 


I never used guest accounts, but this is really crazy.

-t
     
The Final Dakar
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Oct 12, 2009, 01:40 PM
 
This is pretty much the worst kind of bug an OS can have.
     
Atheist
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Oct 12, 2009, 01:49 PM
 
Just read about this today. One thing they have been suggesting is to disable and then re-enable the Guest account if you have an enabled Guest account from a Leopard upgrade. That is if you insist on having a Guest account. Seems the safest bet is to leave it disabled. This really is a horrible bug.
     
slugslugslug
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Oct 12, 2009, 03:17 PM
 
I just used my Guest account for troubleshooting last night, then read about this on Engadget this morning. Really glad it didn’t hit me. Could’ve restored from Time Machine backup if it had, but still would’ve been a pain in the ass. Hope Apple figures this one out quick!
     
turtle777
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Oct 12, 2009, 03:18 PM
 
So, if the guest account is activated in SL (and not carried over from an older OS), then the problem doesn't exist ?

-t
     
dzp111
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Oct 12, 2009, 03:23 PM
 
Am I safe if I simply disable Guest Account?
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slugslugslug
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Oct 12, 2009, 05:07 PM
 
turtle777, mine was carried over from Leopard (the only older OS with that functionality), and I didn’t have the problem.
     
Eden Aurora
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Oct 12, 2009, 05:40 PM
 
I don't have guest account enabled, but i do have multiple accounts. is it possible that logging into a different account that isn't necessarily the 'guest' account could also delete data?
I eat turtle soup for breakfast
     
slugslugslug
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Oct 12, 2009, 07:00 PM
 
All of the reports that I’ve seen on the web only mention the Guest account. Kinda makes sense, since it’s the one that’s supposed to be replaced from scratch every time you log out of it. Maybe the OS applies that behavior to the wrong account when the Guest one is used.
     
slugslugslug
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Oct 12, 2009, 07:02 PM
 
Anyway, it just occurred to me that when I used the Guest account last night, I did it with Fast User Switching, so Snow Leopard wasn’t able to erase my real Home while I was doing so.

But I also logged out and back in after that and it was still okay.

At any rate, I’m going to avoid using it again until I hear of a fix.
     
CharlesS
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Oct 12, 2009, 07:44 PM
 
Yeah, I wish Apple would have given us even one day to laugh at Microsoft/Danger’s massive user data deletion disaster before going and doing the same damn thing themselves. Oh well.

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mattyb
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Oct 14, 2009, 04:23 AM
 
For those of us who have a 'only one person uses this Mac' type situation, can we just delete the Guest account? Does OS X need a Guest account to function?

BTW, I'm still using 10.5
     
slugslugslug
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Oct 14, 2009, 07:36 AM
 
You can turn it off in the Accounts Preference Pane (though I think it's off by default, so you may not have it enabled anyway).

If you have auto-login enabled, you probably don't see the login screen very often. But if you log out and there's no Guest listed at the login screen, then it's turned off.
     
Eug
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Oct 14, 2009, 12:04 PM
 
Hmm... Seems par for the course for Apple's major OS upgrades. I often seem to run into problems with major OS X upgrades, which is why now I always do a complete reinstall.

Well, maybe not par for the course. This bug is the worst I've ever seen. Most of the stuff from major Mac OS X upgrades I've seen are weird minor OS anomalies or 3rd party software issues, etc.
     
mattyb
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Oct 15, 2009, 10:31 AM
 
This is a real fµck up from Apple BUT, reading some quotes from Apple forum posters has me confused. People who upgrade their system without having a full working, tested backup of all docs, music, pictures, apps etc. don't have anything to loose. So why bitch when it goes tits up? And once you have upgraded whats the FIRST thing to do? Surf?, test? NO, do another backup. But don't overwrite your full, working etc backup from before the upgrade !!!! Why is this so complicated?

I don't get it.

My Guest account was already disabled, but I won't be upgrading to SL yet.
     
slugslugslug
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Oct 15, 2009, 02:29 PM
 
Even if you have a full working backup, it's still a pain in the ass to have to restore from it. It's not like the fact that I back stuff up means I don't care if it gets deleted totally unexpectedly.
     
Andy8  (op)
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Nov 10, 2009, 12:15 AM
 
     
   
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