When I have had a problem that is just inexplicable and can't be resolved, I wipe the HD with a seven-pass secure erase, which gets rid of remnants of everything, it does not just erase the directory. That is under 'Options' in the Disk Utility 'Erase' tab. It is a good idea to run disk utility for VERIFY DISK, not check directory before this to make sure your HD structure is good. (You should export your browser bookmarks to a file to make it easier to reinstall them before wiping the drive.) It can take about 12 hours for the seven pass wipe to complete. Then I install the system with the disks, do the updates, there are more than just the combined update for 10.6.8, there are a slew of updates that only come up if you keep going back to 'Check for Updates' under the Apple menu. Next I install my programs from the installer disks, not dragging over, and I drag not the entire user folder but the individual user files, those residing in the Desktop folder, the Documents folder, etc and then re-import my bookmarks and run disk utility again to both verify the disk and fix permissions, you may have to run Disk Permission more than once and the first time, it will take a very long time to complete. Everything is clean now, including any hidden files that may have corrupted and you would never know about. The process takes an overnight wipe of the drive and half a day of reinstalling, but works.
Time Machine will then run run a very long time because it will either do what is needed to compare the changes or start a new backup folder. There is a complete explanation of this that Ganbustein did to see why and how to access older backups if it did create a new folder or how to make more room on your Time Machine drive if it becomes full. I cannot locate the link right now but perhaps someone else can and copy and paste that explanation.
Last edited by slolerner; 06/10/14 02:01 PM. Reason: clarity
