desktop, dock, and finder all disappeared (replaced by a black screen and cursor)

[crueelwhencomplete]

Hey! So I was trying to speed up my MacBook Pro(running Sierra OS) in order to avoid some lag issues I was having with Steam games. I entered the terminal commands listed in the article linked below (under the "Disable OS X Features You Never Use" section):

http://lifehacker.com/how-to-optimize-your-mac-for-gaming-1451773588

After entering those commands, my dock immediately disappeared, and when I minimized the browser, there was nothing but a black screen behind it, i.e. no desktop and no way to use finder. I reset the computer and the problem remained, googled around for answers and tried a few fixes, but nothing solved the issue. Running safe mode or logging in as a different user brings everything back, but I would like to work under my primary user account without safe mode (obviously). Does anyone have any idea what I would need to do to set things back to normal? Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[honestone]

Have you been making backups to an external device? Restoring your Mac from such a recent backup would be the best way to go.

Additionally, the entry of Terminal Commands must be done precisely as stated. Any little mistake can really mess things up! Not saying you did that, but it is a possibility.

Whenever I decide to "enter" Terminal Commands, I'll typically copy and paste them from the article/site/link where they are being discussed. That way, I am sure not to make any typing errors.

But a backup is always required when doing such things (in fact, doing most things).

 

[crueelwhencomplete]

Unfortunately, I was hit with the simultaneous problem of a failed external hd, so no backup is possible. Some people are saying that I could just enter the same terminal commands but change the values from YES to NO to undo it, but I can't even open terminal(even in safe mode) to do that now...

 

[honestone]

That's too bad. Do you have access to another Mac? If your MacBook Pro and the other Mac have Thunderbolt/Firewire 800 ports, you could boot your MacBook Pro in Target Disk Mode. What will happen is that your MacBook Pro's internal drive will appear on the desktop of that other Mac, and you could use whatever "tools" are available on that other Mac and try and fix things on your MacBook Pro.