Dock went back to original setting after forced shut-down?!

[gloryunited]

I was using iPhoto and all of a sudden a grey screen appeared with multi-language alert asking me to "restart the computer by holding down the power button until it shuts down and turning it back on".

After I restart the computer, first thing I notice is the dock reverting back to the original setting. The 4-corner (Expose feature) setting is gone. The language/input setting is reset and everything seems to be reset. It doesn't feel like my Mac. please help

How can I get back my normal personal settings like a few minutes ago?
I have Time Machine backup, what can I do?

thanks a lot in advance.

 

[Jolly Jimmy]

First thing to try would be to repair permissions in disk utility.

 

[gloryunited]

First thing to try would be to repair permissions in disk utility.

may I ask why and what it does?

Does that restart alert mean the harddrive got problems?
or the OS got problem?

My files are all here and everything is working fine, it's just the dock and some other settings are not "my settings". I can always manually adjust them again, but can I restore them easily?

thanks

 

[Jolly Jimmy]

Read this support page concerning the error you encountered.

This one is about disk permissions.

Repairing disk permissions is the one of the first things you should try when experiencing problems. It can't do any harm.

 

[gloryunited]

Thanks. I've read those pages and done repairing disk permissions.

So what should I do next? I just want to get my old settings back, if there is a way. I wonder if Time Machine backs up the "settings" and I can simply restore them.

Otherwise, I can just add and remove apps on my dock, and re-adjust some of my personal settings. The whole process won't take much time anyway, I am just wondering what caused this to happen and how can I avoid it from happening again.

 

[Jolly Jimmy]

I wonder if Time Machine backs up the "settings" and I can simply restore them.

This is always an option. Look for com.apple.dock.plist in ~/Library/Preferences. What other settings did you lose?

 

[gloryunited]

This is always an option. Look for com.apple.dock.plist in ~/Library/Preferences. What other settings did you lose?

I think I only lost the settings of the Dock, Expose (those 4 corner shortcuts) and Language/Input Source. I will dig through my Time Machine later to find the files you mentioned when I connect to my external drive.

Do you have any idea why those settings are lost under a "kernel panic"? and is this (kernel panic and/or loss of dock settings) a common thing that happens to many Mac users?

I really want to know why that happens and what problems my MBA might have. (I am relatively new to Macs...)

 

[JediMeister]

Here's what a kernel panic is according to Apple's support pages. No idea why it affected only those settings unless they were the most recently modified. A kernel panic is not a common issue by any means, but how frequently a kernel panic occurs should match your level of concern. If it's happening once in a blue moon, probably no need for concern. If happening daily, you can run the Apple Hardware Test, and if it doesn't report an error, reinstalling the OS may improve the situation.

 

[gloryunited]

Here's what a kernel panic is according to Apple's support pages. No idea why it affected only those settings unless they were the most recently modified. A kernel panic is not a common issue by any means, but how frequently a kernel panic occurs should match your level of concern. If it's happening once in a blue moon, probably no need for concern. If happening daily, you can run the Apple Hardware Test, and if it doesn't report an error, reinstalling the OS may improve the situation.

I have been using this computer for 5.5 months and this is the first and only "kernel panic" I have experienced. and that's why I didn't know it IS a kernel panic until I asked and searched about the alert message.

For the sake of discussion, those settings were not recently modified. In fact, I have added/removed apps to/from the dock, changed the size of icons and switched on magnification right when I received and started using this mac. and yet, after the kernel panic, the dock (apps in the dock and the settings) appeared to be one with the factory settings.

I guess I can't do much right now, and hope it doesn't happen again.

 

[gloryunited]

This is always an option. Look for com.apple.dock.plist in ~/Library/Preferences. What other settings did you lose?

I have restored that dock.plist file from TM and run the command line "killall Dock". Everything in the dock is back to normal now.

And surprisingly, the Expose preferences (those screen corner actions) were also restored, which implies they are stored in the dock.plist as well.

At least I've learned something about those preference files and that command line, from this kernel panic experience.

Thanks a lot Jolly Jimmy!!