My desktop keeps refreshing automatically. Even if I'm not doing anything on it, after about 1 minute, all of the icons will disappear then they all apear again like nothing happend. Nothing else seems affected by this, but if I have a Finder window open, it gets closed. When I am on another program and when it refreshes, it brings me onto the finder instead of program I am on, which gets annoying after a while. If I am trying to copy some files on the finder (like from one folder to another), when it refreshes, it stops the copying. Can someone help to to figure out what is causing this and how to fix it??
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
HELP! Desktop / Finder keeps refreshing!
- Thread starter hysteryck
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Finder Crashing
Open your system preferences panel and check to see if you have Stuffit AVR at the bottom in the "other" section. If you do, and you recently installed the new version of Quicktime, click once on Stuffit AVR, and click the stop button. I had this same problem and it fixed it immediately. Good luck.
Open your system preferences panel and check to see if you have Stuffit AVR at the bottom in the "other" section. If you do, and you recently installed the new version of Quicktime, click once on Stuffit AVR, and click the stop button. I had this same problem and it fixed it immediately. Good luck.
Finder Crash
Open your system preferences panel and check to see if you have Stuffit AVR at the bottom in the "other" section. If you do, and you recently installed the new version of Quicktime, click once on Stuffit AVR, and click the stop button. I had this same problem and it fixed it immediately. Good luck.
Open your system preferences panel and check to see if you have Stuffit AVR at the bottom in the "other" section. If you do, and you recently installed the new version of Quicktime, click once on Stuffit AVR, and click the stop button. I had this same problem and it fixed it immediately. Good luck.
Apple finder crash
Thank you, thank you, thank you... Your Stuffit AVR suggestion did work. So far ten minutes have passed and no refreshing has occurred. Keeping my fingers crossed...
Thank you, thank you, thank you... Your Stuffit AVR suggestion did work. So far ten minutes have passed and no refreshing has occurred. Keeping my fingers crossed...
susanbrowning's solution worked!
bless you, susanbrowning! this problem was driving me *crazy*, and i had *no* idea what to do about it!
thank you for posting this solution!!
bless you, susanbrowning! this problem was driving me *crazy*, and i had *no* idea what to do about it!
thank you for posting this solution!!
Susan Browning for President in 2016
Susan:
"Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all." (Proverbs)
Please answer one question: How in the world did you figure this out? Have been dealing with hysteryck's exact same problem for several days and had nearly exhausted all of the forum "fixes" before I found yours.
THANKS!
Bryan in Dallas
Susan:
"Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all." (Proverbs)
Please answer one question: How in the world did you figure this out? Have been dealing with hysteryck's exact same problem for several days and had nearly exhausted all of the forum "fixes" before I found yours.
THANKS!
Bryan in Dallas
I wanted to let people who are experiencing the problem that do not have Stuffit AVR installed that they should also check for another preferences pane called "Yep Folders".
I discovered today in the course of troubleshooting another system with the problem that disabling Yep Folders in the Login Items list will eliminate the problem if Stuffit AVR is not present.
In either case, starting up with a "Safe Boot" (holding down the Shift key just after the startup sound and holding it until the "rotating gear" appears then releasing it) will allow the Mac to boot to the desktop without the problem so that changes can be made. That was necessary because the one I worked on today with Yep Folders crashed the finder about every 5 seconds after hitting the desktop, not allowing enough time to disable the program before the finder would crash again!
I discovered today in the course of troubleshooting another system with the problem that disabling Yep Folders in the Login Items list will eliminate the problem if Stuffit AVR is not present.
In either case, starting up with a "Safe Boot" (holding down the Shift key just after the startup sound and holding it until the "rotating gear" appears then releasing it) will allow the Mac to boot to the desktop without the problem so that changes can be made. That was necessary because the one I worked on today with Yep Folders crashed the finder about every 5 seconds after hitting the desktop, not allowing enough time to disable the program before the finder would crash again!
Many thanks from me too - I spent hours trying to solve this rebooting, starting in safe mode, zapping the PRAM, trashing prefs etc.
So how did you find this solution?
Best,
Tony
Omg - Thanks To The Internet For This Solution
i was having this same problem and i simply typed in google "desktop keeps refreshing" and here it was, the solution and everything.
at any rate, thanks guys for the help....i remember that i also too just upgraded the newest version of quicktime and started having the same problem, so this fix is a livesaver.
quicktime need to fix this crap, that's for sure.
but like i said, thank GOD for the internet.......its amazing to know how much the internet has changed the days of yesterday when you had to call apple or send your computer to your most local repair center for something so simple.
I LOVE THE INTERNET!
i was having this same problem and i simply typed in google "desktop keeps refreshing" and here it was, the solution and everything.
at any rate, thanks guys for the help....i remember that i also too just upgraded the newest version of quicktime and started having the same problem, so this fix is a livesaver.
quicktime need to fix this crap, that's for sure.
but like i said, thank GOD for the internet.......its amazing to know how much the internet has changed the days of yesterday when you had to call apple or send your computer to your most local repair center for something so simple.
I LOVE THE INTERNET!
Thanks you so much...!
Thank you for your simple solution for such an annoying problem. At first I thought there's something wrong with the system and luckily I found your post in this forum.
Thank you for your simple solution for such an annoying problem. At first I thought there's something wrong with the system and luckily I found your post in this forum. Thank you for your help.
I had accepted the update and then my computer continued to refresh... couldn't work on my projects or even back up files. This solution worked perfect.
Thank you so much for figuring it out and posting here.
Greatly appreciated!
I had accepted the update and then my computer continued to refresh... couldn't work on my projects or even back up files. This solution worked perfect.
Thank you so much for figuring it out and posting here.
Greatly appreciated!
This fixed the Finder Refreshing Problem
This is the fix! Thanks very much susanbrowning!
And thanks to this Forum at MacRumors!
This is the fix! Thanks very much susanbrowning!
And thanks to this Forum at MacRumors!
Thank you Susan!
I noticed this problem happening recently with my 9 year old iMac. The thing is I don't use it that much so I didn't really notice it until last night. I started wondering if this was the end....my iMac has been around for a while! Anyway, I did a google search about the desktop refreshing itself and it directed me to this forum. Thank you so much Susan for the fix. You saved me so much troubleshooting time! The iMac is running fine now!
I noticed this problem happening recently with my 9 year old iMac. The thing is I don't use it that much so I didn't really notice it until last night. I started wondering if this was the end....my iMac has been around for a while! Anyway, I did a google search about the desktop refreshing itself and it directed me to this forum. Thank you so much Susan for the fix. You saved me so much troubleshooting time! The iMac is running fine now!
refresh problem, but i don't have stuffit
hi all...hoping someone can help. i have had this same finder refresh problem (occurs at least once every second) ever since last night when i (arrrrhhhhgg!) installed a qt update and a security update.
the fix suggested sounds great...and i have read the same in other threads...BUT, i do NOT see stuffit in my preferences panel, so i am unable to implement the suggested fix.
to further complicate things, i cannot access anything via my finder because it crashes so quickly.....so other suggestions that entail going into apps, etc. i cannot do because frankly, i cannot figure out how to navigate there.
any ideas?
thanks.
hi all...hoping someone can help. i have had this same finder refresh problem (occurs at least once every second) ever since last night when i (arrrrhhhhgg!) installed a qt update and a security update.
the fix suggested sounds great...and i have read the same in other threads...BUT, i do NOT see stuffit in my preferences panel, so i am unable to implement the suggested fix.
to further complicate things, i cannot access anything via my finder because it crashes so quickly.....so other suggestions that entail going into apps, etc. i cannot do because frankly, i cannot figure out how to navigate there.
any ideas?
thanks.
Finder refresh issue w/o Stuffit!
I need help do to the fact I am a Mac newbie.
I too have the same issue as Toonces4444.
I however did create a new account and the Finder for that account works fine.
I did restore the privileges for the dedicated drive but when I go back to my original account I still have the refresh issue.
I need help do to the fact I am a Mac newbie.
I too have the same issue as Toonces4444.
I however did create a new account and the Finder for that account works fine.
I did restore the privileges for the dedicated drive but when I go back to my original account I still have the refresh issue.
In my case none of the solutions provided were relevant. When the Finder refreshes it is usually caused by some kind of crash. I noticed this when I had Activity Monitor open and when the refresh happened I saw the Crash Log process run for a moment (not the correct name of the process but you'll know it when you see it).
This made me look in the Console for Crash Reports. I found the problem straight away. I use an app called Forklift and it puts an icon in the Menu Bar. The program behind the icon is called ForkLiftMini. In the Console > Crash Reports I see ForkLiftMini crashing every 1-4 minutes. Because the process automatically restarts and the icon has to be drawn up on the Menu Bar, this impacts the Finder and the whole screen refreshes!
I don't use the ForkLift Menu Bar much, so I disabled it in ForkLift Preferences. Problem solved. No more screen refreshes.
So, to find the process or program causing the screen refresh, look in your Console > Crash Logs and see which programs crash most frequently and that will point you in the right direction.
Good luck.
This made me look in the Console for Crash Reports. I found the problem straight away. I use an app called Forklift and it puts an icon in the Menu Bar. The program behind the icon is called ForkLiftMini. In the Console > Crash Reports I see ForkLiftMini crashing every 1-4 minutes. Because the process automatically restarts and the icon has to be drawn up on the Menu Bar, this impacts the Finder and the whole screen refreshes!
I don't use the ForkLift Menu Bar much, so I disabled it in ForkLift Preferences. Problem solved. No more screen refreshes.
So, to find the process or program causing the screen refresh, look in your Console > Crash Logs and see which programs crash most frequently and that will point you in the right direction.
Good luck.