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Major Snow Leopard Bug Said To Delete User Data

Posted by kdawson on from the clean-as-the-driven-snow dept.

inglishmayjer was one of several readers to send in the news of a major bug in Apple's new OS, 10.6 Snow Leopard, that can wipe out all user data for the administrator account. It is said to be triggered — not every time — by logging in to the Guest account and then back in to the admin account. Some users are reporting that all settings have been reset and most data is gone. The article links to a number of Apple forum threads up to a month old bemoaning the problem. MacFixIt suggests disabling login on the Guest account and, if you need that functionality, creating a non-administrative account named something like Visitor. (The Guest account is special in that its settings are wiped clean after logout.) CNet reports that Apple has acknowledged the bug and is working on a fix.

28 of 353 comments (clear)

  1. Oh. by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 5, Funny

    Would I be a bad person if I were to suggest that this would be a perfect time to upsell Time Capsules to worried Snow Leopard customers?

    1. Re:Oh. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yes, yes, you would. Because there's an issue with Time Capsule power supplies crapping out ;-)

    2. Re:Oh. by causality · · Score: 4, Funny

      There's an article [gizmodo.com] claiming that users of time capsules [timecapsuledead.org] have a lifespan of 17 months and 17 days.

      So people who use that software only live less than a year and a half afterwards? Now THAT is some malware...

      --
      It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. - Einstein
    3. Re:Oh. by moon3 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Great marketing, let me tell you, our Apple drones are so upset over this, they are planing to buy another Mac, just in case one got erased.

    4. Re:Oh. by atheistmonk · · Score: 2, Funny

      Sounds like the best way to protect data from its natural predator; the Snow Leopard.

    5. Re:Oh. by Tobenisstinky · · Score: 4, Funny

      The evolution of language is a female dog?

      --
      wha'? where am i?
  2. Hi, I'm a Mac! by joocemann · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... and I'm prone to alzheimers!

    1. Re:Hi, I'm a Mac! by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 5, Funny

      I have heard strange legends, from the lands beyond civilization, were barbarous beast-men devour one another, of places where there are more people than there are computers. Apparently, they are sometimes forced to share computers....

    2. Re:Hi, I'm a Mac! by saleenS281 · · Score: 2, Funny

      ...and I'm... who am I again?

    3. Re:Hi, I'm a Mac! by grcumb · · Score: 3, Funny

      I have heard strange legends, from the lands beyond civilization, were barbarous beast-men devour one another, of places where there are more people than there are computers. Apparently, they are sometimes forced to share computers....

      Hello from cannibal-land beyond civilization!

      Just wanted to let you know: Problem solved! We just ate everyone who didn't want to share.

      Course, now we have too many computers. And those things taste like shit...

      --
      Crumb's Corollary: Never bring a knife to a bun fight.
  3. A big thank by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    to all early adopters for beta testing Snow Leopard for me.

  4. Hi, I'm a Mac! by langelgjm · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... and I'm prone to alzheimers!

    --
    "Anyone who [rips a CD] is probably engaging in copyright infringement." - David O. Carson
  5. Hi, I'm a Mac! by bughunter · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... and I'm, uhh... who are you again?

    --
    I can see the fnords!
  6. Re:Mac OS stole naming convention by Ethanol-fueled · · Score: 5, Funny

    Leopard and Snow leopard are like Metallica's Load and Re-load: you know it's gonna suck when they start running out of names. I wouldn't be surprised if they named 10.7 "Def Leopard".

  7. Well.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    They did say that Snow Leopard frees up an extra 7GB for you...

  8. What's the big deal? by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1, Funny

    Unix, Linux, Mac, even Windows lovers all agree that the biggest security hole in any operating system is the USER! Delete the worthless user, and the system will be much more secure! Mac needs to capitalize on this feature.

    "Your users are compromising your security? Can't get a handle on all those backdoors? Now, you can delete the user, AND his data! Upgrade to OSX 10.666 now."

    --
    "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
  9. Re:This is a bad bug, yes, but... by cptdondo · · Score: 3, Funny

    Hey wait a minute, maybe the T-Mobile and Danger/MS guys tried to port their stuff to Macs....

    I think MS showed us how to lose user data in a big way...

    (Ducking and running for cover) :-)

  10. Ha-ha Windows users by HangingChad · · Score: 4, Funny

    We can't get a virus or trojans or....hey, where did my data go?

    --
    That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
  11. Re:Mac OS stole naming convention by maugle · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm waiting for OSX 10.14 ("Common Housecat").

  12. Re:This is a bad bug, yes, but... by garoush · · Score: 2, Funny

    No one is playing the holy wars game here. However, us Mac users and /. readers, are blaming this on a developer recently hired by Apple, on compassionate ground to support the developer and his family. Rumors have it that this developer used to work for MS, on the Windows.

    --

    Karma stuck at 50? Add 2-5 inches.. err.. 2-5x Karmas Count to your pen1es.. err.. Karma all naturally and private
  13. The cloud! by Gudeldar · · Score: 4, Funny

    If their data had been in the cloud this wouldn't have ... oh damn never mind.

  14. Is not a bug, it is a feature by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    That's how it frees 7 GB of disk space

  15. Re:Mac OS stole naming convention by catdriver · · Score: 2, Funny

    More like:

    Mac OS X 10.7 Liger

    "It's pretty much my favorite animal."
    - Steve Jobs

  16. This isn't a bug... It's iClean! by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 3, Funny

    Steve Jobs clearly intended for this to happen, as it's called iClean and is a service whereby the clutter of the Administrative account is eliminated. You do not need any functionality or data beyond which Apple already supplies, so in an effort to keep your computer healthy iClean will auto-scrub your account.

    --
    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
  17. Re:Apple.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    A couple of years ago a I was doing some work for a government departments publishing division. They had both macs and windows, I was in there to fix a windows problem and they were complaining about how they wished it was more like there macs which were much more reliable and stable as they had to restart windows almost every day. While I was there I saw 2 macs get the old cars crashing on your screen and of course then proceed to restart, I pointed it out to the users in there and they said I quote "oh that, Macs do that every hour or so and after a minute or so the screen comes back". I was stunned and dumbfounded, never underestimate the stupidity of a mac user or the willingness to endure agony as long as they get a pretty shiny picture.

  18. Re:This is a bad bug, yes, but... by NateTech · · Score: 2, Funny

    Ahh, I see you've never used Outlook...

    --
    +++OK ATH
  19. Re:Mac OS stole naming convention by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Only Mac users pay for pussies.

  20. Re: What comes around comes around by silent_artichoke · · Score: 2, Funny

    make a new plan, Stan