Mac OS 10.3.6 - Finder shortcuts keep disappearing

[ant_s]

This is a really strange problem that I have just started to encounter on my PowerBook. Following re-loading my profile because applications kept unexpectedly quitting, every time I reboot the machine (or simply log out and back in), any shortcuts that are in the left-hand side of the Finder windows disappear.

This has totally confused myself and a friend of mine who is really good on Macs. So - once again - any help greatly appreciated!!

 

[wrldwzrd89]

This is a really strange problem that I have just started to encounter on my PowerBook. Following re-loading my profile because applications kept unexpectedly quitting, every time I reboot the machine (or simply log out and back in), any shortcuts that are in the left-hand side of the Finder windows disappear.

This has totally confused myself and a friend of mine who is really good on Macs. So - once again - any help greatly appreciated!!

This sounds like a classic corrupted preferences file problem. These are easy to fix; just go to ~/Library/Preferences (where ~ is a shortcut to your home directory that's built in to Mac OS X) and delete the offending file(s). The one you want to trash is com.apple.sidebarlists.plist.

 

[ant_s]

Interesting - that file's not there. When I had bad problems, I deleted all the com.apple plist files (as recommended by another user of this forum), and everything on my profile (other than files) was pretty much reset, which cured the problem. So shall I just copy that plist file from another account then edit the sidebar accordingly?

 

[wrldwzrd89]

Interesting - that file's not there. When I had bad problems, I deleted all the com.apple plist files (as recommended by another user of this forum), and everything on my profile (other than files) was pretty much reset, which cured the problem. So shall I just copy that plist file from another account then edit the sidebar accordingly?

Hmm...I don't know what to say. I'm not at my Mac right now...so that filename I gave you was just a guess. Do you see something similar to it in your Preferences folder or the Preferences folder of another account?

 

[ant_s]

Nah I just got a friend to send theirs - and now each time I log out/in I get their list of prefs instead - no matter what I do to the sidebar. I've checked permissions and I can read/write - it just doesn't look like the OS is making any changes?

 

[wrldwzrd89]

Nah I just got a friend to send theirs - and now each time I log out/in I get their list of prefs instead - no matter what I do to the sidebar. I've checked permissions and I can read/write - it just doesn't look like the OS is making any changes?

That happened to me once - the only way to fix it that I found was to revert to a backup copy of my profile or reinstall Mac OS X (Archive and Install without the Preserve Users and Network Settings option or Erase and Install will do the trick). Mac OS X gets very confused when most of the plist files in ~/Library/Preferences get deleted and starts acting strangely.

 

[ant_s]

Ahh well - I'll perhaps give it a clean install over the holidays when I'm not so busy. Thanks for your help though!