Open hidden configuration files without using Terminal

I made some changes to my .profile which corrupted the Terminal app. I can launch terminal but I no longer get a prompt. I can't show hidden files in order to delete the .profile or .bashrc files.

How do I go about showing hidden files without using the terminal?

Solution 1:

Press Cmd-Shift-. in an Open File dialog. This'll show hidden files and folders. Open your broken files, and edit them e.g. in TextEdit or the plain text editor of your choice.

In the same file dialog, you can press Cmd-Shift-G to go to a specific folder, which is useful for all those hidden Unix folders like /etc.

Solution 2:

I'd create another user account, then login as that account, and get admin privileges via "sudo" and use that to modify your hidden files in question.

Solution 3:

You can use secrets.prefpane to show hidden files in Finder and a lot more.

http://secrets.blacktree.com/