Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Can't drag and drop icons

C

chrysalid

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 2, 2010
12
0
Hello!

I have a Mac running OSX.
This morning we could no longer drag and drop icons anywhere on the desktop.
I googled, and have tried a few things - ran 'Repair Permissions' under disk utility, deleted the /Library/Caches/com.apple.dock.iconcache#username#, but neither things works.
Any other suggestions??

Thanks!
Amber
 
You could try relaunching the Finder, although that's probably going to do the same thing as restarting the whole computer.
 
was short on time.... now also!

find 'em in Home/Library/Preferences

ONE AT A TIME:
Move file to the Desktop
Restart
Test
 
I have the same problem...

Can't drag icons or selected texts (nor print, don't know if this may be related...). I have tried deleting all suggested "com.apple" preference files to no avail...

Maybe upgrading to snow leopard 10.6.2 would do the trick. I'm now using 10.5.8
 
DanDLyon said:
Can't drag icons or selected texts (nor print, don't know if this may be related...). I have tried deleting all suggested "com.apple" preference files to no avail...

Maybe upgrading to snow leopard 10.6.2 would do the trick. I'm now using 10.5.8
Click to expand...

Naw. Sounds more like a problem with the mouse then. What mouse are you using?
 
The track pad has the same issues with the mouse unplugged. The first thing I tried was mouse and track pad preferences to no avail. The odd thing is is that I can still drag windows around and double click to open icons... just can't drag icons or text.
 
Maybe you have too much on your hardrive? The same thing was happening to me today. I couldnt drag and drop anything...I couldnt even move folders on my desktop. I cleared a whole bunch of pics and videos and put them on an external hardrive...and then I erased them from my computers hardrive once I knew the files were safe. It did the trick! I can now drag and drop.
 
How do I upgrade?

Sorry if that's a stupid question - I never deal with Macs - just PCs!

Thanks,
Amber
 
My system is a MacBook Intel duo core, 2 gigahertz. It seemed the problem was some sort of bug with the operating system, and indeed upgrading to Mac OS 10.6 fixed all the dragging and printing problems. I was lucky to already have a purchased five pack Snow Leopard (10.6.0) system disc. It was very easy to follow the simple instructions to start the process and then it took care of itself for about an hour. Then another hour to download the latest version, 10.6.4 from apple.com.

If your mac is not intel based you may want to upgrade to 10.4 or 10.5. (depends on what you've got). Not sure where to get these older versions...

You can order Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard) online for under $30. Good luck to you.
 
the system is a Mac OSX 10.28 (6R73)
Boot Volume Untitled_1
Hardware
Machine speed 800MHZ
bus speed 133 MHZ
Number of processors 1
L2 Cache size 256 K
Machine model eMac version = 2.1

Thanks :)
Amber
 
chrysalid said:
the system is a Mac OSX 10.28 (6R73)

Number of processors 1

Machine model eMac version = 2.1
Click to expand...

I think you mean 10.2.8

It's the kind of processor that is key. Yours is not an Intel Core 2 Duo, which is too new to be in an eMac. Someone else might know, but is it a G3, G4 ??

There must be a way to search Apple's site to determine the last compatible OS for your machine. It's probably going to be 10.3 or 10.4, but that's just a guess.

You can't get those older OSes at a stor. You'll have to try eBay or some web site like that. You would need to find a "retail" disc, which will have graphics with a big X on it. You do not want to buy a gray disc that just has text on it. Those are machine specific and will not work unless it's for your model.
 
So to upgrade to 10.3 or 10.4 I need to purchase a new OS?
I assumed by upgrade, you meant a downloadable update to the current OS...If I was purchasing a new OS, wouldn't I just buy the newest?
And it's doubtful that purchasing a new OS in an option for these guys...

Thanks,
Amber
 
It's free to download upgrades at apple.com within your system version, though 10.2.8 is the highest upgrade before 10.3, it's not free to move to the next level.

You might try calling or emailing apple support, they may take care of this for you for free or for a small charge, doesn't hurt to try... 1-800-MY-APPLE (1-800-692-7753), 1-800-APL-CARE (1-800-275-2273) or https://expresslane.apple.com/GetproductgroupList.do

They took care of me on an older G4 power pc upgrade to system 10.4 for like $16. Unfortunately they don't sell the older operating systems online, just the latest version.
 
I ended up having to pay Mac a $59 fee for support, but we did resolve it.
Apparently some corruption on the OS install disk.
I had to move all my data off the disk, erase and reinstall my OS.

It's all good now :)

Thanks again for all your help.
Amber
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back