root user login

[wout]

Hello all,

I posted a problem with installing apps involving access privileges before.
I solved this with the help of this forum by logging in as root user and installing the apps in this mode.
It seems now that my default login account is rather buggy. Problems with installing and printing are popping up.
So I wanted to know; is it adviseable to always login as root user by default, and adjusting this root user mode to my preferences,
what are the pros and cons?(my machine and apps seem to run a bit slower in root user mode, but this could be my imagination..)

again, any advice would be appreciated,
greetings wout

 

[jsw]

It is NEVER advisable to log on as root user by default (I assume you don't mean as a user with administrative privs but actually as 'root').

Save that account for the rare times you need it (usually, exceedingly rare times). Most often, one can accomplish anything needed via the 'sudo' command in Terminal.

 

[caribiner23]

As jsw said, you need to be judicious in your use of the root account. I've been watching another forum where a guy was insisting on using it, followed by postings of "my trackpad is broken!!" only because he messed with stuff he never should have touched.

If your default user profile is causing all sorts of trouble, create a new user profile and move your activities there. Once you've confirmed it's all working, get rid of the old default user profile.

 

[wout]

Thank you, I will indeed move my activities to a new account,
and hope it will all work out.
Will post my progress here later.
Good thing I double checked it here, don't mess with the root is the message!

 

[ElectricSheep]

The group membership for your current account might be screwed up, causing problems like that. A quick way to check is to open up Terminal and type groups [username] where [username] is your short user name.

If 'admin' is not listed in the output, this will give you access privilege problems.

 

[wout]

"If 'admin' is not listed in the output, this will give you access privilege problems."

tried this, but admin is actually in the output.
The most sensible thing to do now would be to make a new admin account I think. Just one problem; all of my personal files are linked to my old, buggy, admin account(like site definitions in Dreamweaver, mail settings in Entourage etc). Is there an easy way to get them linked to the new admin account or do I have to reinstall/reset my apps?