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Snow Leopard bug deletes all user data (Updated)

By Jason D. O'Grady | October 13, 2009, 8:42am PDT

Summary

Several posts on the Apple Support forums (1, 2) dating back to 12 September indicate that some users have been losing all their data due to a nasty bug in Snow Leopard, a.k.a. Mac OS 10.6.
On Saturday iTWire reported on the bug which rears its head when a user logs into their Mac’s Guest account [...]

Topics

Account, Guest Account, Apple Inc., User Data, Backups, Jason D. O'Grady

Blogger Info

Jason D. O'Grady

Biography

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady developed an affinity for Apple computers after using the original Lisa, and this affinity turned into a bona-fide obsession when he got the original 128 KB Macintosh in 1984.

He started writing one of the first Web sites about Apple (O'Grady's PowerPage) in 1995 and is considered to be one of the fathers of blogging. He has been a frequent speaker at the Macworld Expo conference and a member of the conference faculty. He also co-founded the first dedicated PowerBook User Group (PPUG) in the United States.

After winning a major legal battle with Apple in 2006, he set the precedent that independent journalists are entitled to the same protections under the First Amendment as members of the mainstream media.

O'Grady is the author of The Nexus One Pocket Guide, The Droid Pocket Guide, The Google Phone Pocket Guide, and The Garmin nuvi Pocket Guide (Peachpit Press), the author of Corporations That Changed the World: Apple Inc. (Greenwood Press), and a contributor to The Mac Bible (Peachpit Press). In addition, he has contributed to numerous Mac publications over the years, including MacWEEK, Macworld, and MacPower (Japan).

When he's not writing about Apple for ZDNet at The Apple Core, he enjoys spending time with his family in New Jersey.

David Morgenstern

Biography

David Morgenstern

David Morgenstern

David Morgenstern has covered the Mac market and other technology segments for 20 years. In the recent past, he founded Ziff-Davis' Storage Supersite, served as news editor for Ziff Davis Internet and held several executive editorial positions at eWEEK. In the 1990s, David was editor of Ziff Davis' award-winning MacWEEK news publication as well as its successor title, eMediaWEEKly, which focused on multiplatform professional content creation. His byline can be found online and in print publications including CreativePro.com, Peachpit Press' Mac Bible and Popular Photography.

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"I haz eat yur data!"

Several posts on the Apple Support forums (1, 2) dating back to 12 September indicate that some users have been losing all their data due to a nasty bug in Snow Leopard, a.k.a. Mac OS 10.6.

On Saturday iTWire reported on the bug which rears its head when a user logs into their Mac’s Guest account and then tries to log back into their regular account.

In some cases, users have reported finding their regular account empty of data, as though it were a brand new account… The home directory still exists under “/Users/username” but is completely empty.

Affected users report that data is unrecoverable and cannot be found on the hard drive. The only way to recover is from a backup on external media. You do make regular backups, right?

Apple acknowledged the problem on Monday stating:

We are aware of the issue, which occurs only in extremely rare cases, and we are working on a fix,” an Apple representative said in a prepared statement Monday.

CNet has posted a technique for restoring a lost home folder from a backup if you’ve been afflicted. A work around – until Apple releases a fix – is to disable the Guest account, or disable it and re-enable it as a native Snow Leopard account. It’s highly recommended that you perform and maintain a complete and bootable backup.

Tip: Neowin

Update: User “WalterDweller” on the Apple support forums claims that the bug may not be limited to Snow Leopard, saying “I had the same thing happen to me with Leopard 10.5… when I called Apple they said they had never heard of it happening before…”

Gratuitous Snow Leopard pic from Apple Scoop.

Jason D. O'Grady is a journalist and author specializing in mobile technology. He has published six books on Apple and mobile gadgets and his PowerPage blog has been publishing for over 15 years.

Disclosure

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason O'Grady is the creator and editor of O'Grady's PowerPage, which has been publishing mobile technology news since 1995. He maintains an advertising relationship with the following legacy advertisers on the PowerPage:

  • Amazon Associates
  • Google Adsense
  • Tekserve
  • Weaknees

Advertising on the PowerPage is brokered by a third-party agency (BackBeat Media) and he recuses himself from these negotiations. Jason also provides consulting services for AirTight Networks.

Biography

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady developed an affinity for Apple computers after using the original Lisa, and this affinity turned into a bona-fide obsession when he got the original 128 KB Macintosh in 1984.

He started writing one of the first Web sites about Apple (O'Grady's PowerPage) in 1995 and is considered to be one of the fathers of blogging. He has been a frequent speaker at the Macworld Expo conference and a member of the conference faculty. He also co-founded the first dedicated PowerBook User Group (PPUG) in the United States.

After winning a major legal battle with Apple in 2006, he set the precedent that independent journalists are entitled to the same protections under the First Amendment as members of the mainstream media.

O'Grady is the author of The Nexus One Pocket Guide, The Droid Pocket Guide, The Google Phone Pocket Guide, and The Garmin nuvi Pocket Guide (Peachpit Press), the author of Corporations That Changed the World: Apple Inc. (Greenwood Press), and a contributor to The Mac Bible (Peachpit Press). In addition, he has contributed to numerous Mac publications over the years, including MacWEEK, Macworld, and MacPower (Japan).

When he's not writing about Apple for ZDNet at The Apple Core, he enjoys spending time with his family in New Jersey.

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Talkback Most Recent of 113 Talkback(s)

  • Proves Apple is not perfect
    I know many ABMers that bashed Microsoft when a bug that only affected a very small user base came on in Windows 7 Release Candidate and said that Microsoft should pay and how can they release software with bugs. All software has bugs I don't care who makes it. Hopefully apple is right and it only happens in rare cases.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    bobiroc
    10/13/2009 09:14 AM
  • Those ABMers...
    Never trust people who Always Buy Microsoft, they tend to be unaware of their lack of skills.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    The Mentalist
    10/13/2009 09:24 AM
  • So funny
    Now my post was not insulting in any way and all I did was point out that All software has bugs.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    bobiroc
    10/13/2009 09:29 AM
  • No one said it was insulting, as a matter of fact I agree with you...
    and posted something supporting your view. So why are you complaining?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    The Mentalist
    (Edited: 10/13/2009 09:43 AM)
  • Because ABMers
    stands for Anything But Microsoft
    ZDNet Gravatar
    bobiroc
    10/13/2009 09:45 AM
  • I beg to disagree!
    It stands for Always Buy Microsoft
    ZDNet Gravatar
    The Mentalist
    10/13/2009 09:50 AM
    • Flagged
  • Don't respond to this troll.
    The mods will ban him shortly just like they have all his previous accounts.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Sleeper Service
    10/13/2009 09:57 AM
  • @Sleeper: Self-referencing statements add nothing to the discussion
    Do you have anything useful to contribute or will just just present us with more of your usual drivel?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    The Mentalist
    10/13/2009 10:10 AM
  • Disingenuous much?
    Why pretend like you actually were trying to say something useful?

    Yesterday someone called you a troll with nothing useful to say, ever. I almost agreed, and then disagreed, because you do occasionally say some sensible, reasonable things.

    But in cases like these, it's not hard to see why antagonism without provocation would lead people to see you as a troll.

    Oh, and this is for you.

    5 phrases that diminish the credibility of Linux, Mac, and Windows users
    http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/tr-out-loud/?p=1173
    ZDNet Gravatar
    PlayFair
    10/13/2009 11:37 AM
  • re: Banning Trolls
    Funny, they haven't banned NonZealot, yet.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    WarhavenSC
    10/13/2009 12:19 PM
  • And I imagine that an NBMer
    would mean Never Buy Microsoft?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    GuidingLight
    10/13/2009 01:10 PM
  • NBM stands for...
    Nothing But Microsoft, I just googled it.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    The Mentalist
    10/13/2009 02:16 PM
  • You're an idiot.
    nt
    ZDNet Gravatar
    tbensen@...
    10/14/2009 08:02 AM
  • Oh he knows that
    And I suspect he is probably only like 12 years old because he likes to call people names like Fartgoblin and somehow figured out how to get internet on his Leap Frog My First Computer.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    bobiroc
    10/14/2009 09:00 AM
  • re: Those ABMers...
    Indeed, only true computer geniuses buy Macs.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    dave.prucha@...
    10/14/2009 01:11 PM
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