Hi, for the longest time I haven't been able to open System Preference. And when I'm on a different account, other than the Administrator, there's an icon on the dock saying "System Preference" but it's a ? as the icon. How do I get it back so I can open it?
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System Preferences is ?
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What "disk" do you mean?
You can try Pacifist or the Show Hidden Files Terminal command to extract System Preferences from the installation/restore DVD.
Have other people access to your computer and might have deleted System Preferences? Maybe it's in the Trash.
One can also restrict access to some applications and other files via Parental Controls.
Try the attachment, it's a packed .zip file with System Preferences for Mac OS X 10.6.3.
Also Pacifist can extract applications from the installation DVD and you have to open the package (.pkg, .mpkg) file on the restore / installation DVD that came with the Mac or you have bought.
Also Pacifist can extract applications from the installation DVD and you have to open the package (.pkg, .mpkg) file on the restore / installation DVD that came with the Mac or you have bought.
Then it goes deeper.
Have you tried repairing permissions via Disk Utility, maybe best when booted from the restore / installation DVD?
Can you backup your data? If so, you can always try to reinstall your Mac OS X, with Snow Leopard you won't even need to delete everything, it will just work like an update, so everything stays the same, but hopefully the error goes away. But backing up data is always a good idea.
Have you tried repairing permissions via Disk Utility, maybe best when booted from the restore / installation DVD?
Can you backup your data? If so, you can always try to reinstall your Mac OS X, with Snow Leopard you won't even need to delete everything, it will just work like an update, so everything stays the same, but hopefully the error goes away. But backing up data is always a good idea.
When you buy Macs first hand (not used) you get gray restore DVDs with them, DVD 1 contains the system, DVD 2 contains iLife.
They look like this:
If you have bought a Mac since September 2009, it will have come with Mac OS X 10.6, also called Snow Leopard.
Or you could have bought the 29USD "Upgrade" DVD for an older Mac, which looks like this:
To find out which Mac OS X version and what Mac (machine model) you have use ABOUT THIS MAC and Applications > Utilities > System Profiler (or About This Mac > More Info...).
Ahh, all the picture search for nothing. I just saw that you have Mac OS X 10.5.8.
You can do an Archive & Install with that. It moves all your files into a folder called Previous System.