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Finder and Safari problems

O

Ossyrial

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 22, 2010
26
0
Hello there,
Since today, my finder is doing strange, as well as safari. Here's a screenshot of how my dock looks like, after restarting its preferences (attachment 1)
I installed an application called Docker a few days ago, and then deleted it and deleted the dock.plist, as it was doing strange. I can't open Safari, and Finder has a 'second icon'.
Thanks in advance.
 

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First, I would recommend a program to delete all the file associations along with the app when you delete an app such as App Delete. There are others. Second, restart if you have not already done so. Third, use Disc Utility to repair permissions and repair disk. Fourth, get Disk Warrior and use it to repair your directory structure. Fifth, do you have a bootable backup? If not, once this issue gets resolved you need to create and maintain at least two. Take Control of Backing Up Your Mac by Joe Kissell provides some excellent advice. Good luck.
 
wessew said:
First, I would recommend a program to delete all the file associations along with the app when you delete an app such as App Delete. There are others.
Click to expand...

I use an app called AppCleaner and it's also very effective at uninstalling apps completely and it's free.
 
Thanks for your replies.
App Cleaner did the Docker job for me, however the Finder (and Safari) problem still went on. Disc Utility has a little problem: I can't Repair Disk. To Repair Disk, I need to Verify Disk, and that gets an error. I have a Time Capsule, so everything is backed up. I don't have Disk Warrior, which might do the job, and it's (possibly) my last chance.
 
Last edited:
There are so many other options. It isn't your Disk. It isn't prefs. It is a jacked up 3rd party extension. Your "remover" did not get everything. Most of them don't. They only get Application Support, .plist, and the app itself. Fairly worthless unless you are really lazy.

Create a new account and log into that account. How is everything there?
 
Exactly the same problem;
Finder crashes by searching,
Safari isn't opening.
 
Best bet would be an archive and install. It will keep all your home folder data and just re-installs the root system folders. Takes some time but you can be doing other things. Something in root Volumes/HD is jacked. Either something you installed or something bugged out. The lack of correct app icons usually means a resource was stripped. It will be back with re-install.
 
GGJstudios said:
No, it's not. In most cases, app removal software doesn't do a thorough job of deleting files/folders related to deleted apps. For more information, read this.

The most effective method for complete app removal is manual deletion:
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, but since this problem started, Finder crashes when I search, so this is impossible to do :(

----------

And maybe it's helpful to note that I can't open my trash, however I can on my other account. When I click on 'Get Info' and close that tab, Finder crashes, and finally when I hold my mouse on 'More', which you can find when clicking with the secondary mouse button. The last thing only happens when I'm on the desktop.
 
Ossyrial said:
Thanks for the info, but since this problem started, Finder crashes when I search
Click to expand...
Try deleting the following file, then relaunch Finder:
/Users/username/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist​
To relaunch Finder, Command-Option-Esc then select Finder and click "Relaunch"
 
GGJstudios said:
Try deleting the following file, then relaunch Finder:
/Users/username/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist​
To relaunch Finder, Command-Option-Esc then select Finder and click "Relaunch"
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, it didn't work. It might be so because Finder isn't the regular app, but some strange-looking app. (See Attached Images) Also, when in the Force Quit window, Finder can't Relaunch, but instead is just Force Quit, just like any other application (See Attached Thumbnails).
 

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Ossyrial said:
Unfortunately, it didn't work. It might be so because Finder isn't the regular app, but some strange-looking app. (See Attached Images) Also, when in the Force Quit window, Finder can't Relaunch, but instead is just Force Quit, just like any other application (See Attached Thumbnails).
Click to expand...
That explains a lot. You need to reinstall Finder. If you're pre-Lion, install Pacifist to extract the app from your Mac OS X install disk. If you're on Lion, this may help: OS X Lion: About Lion Recovery
 
GGJstudios said:
That explains a lot. You need to reinstall Finder. If you're pre-Lion, install Pacifist to extract the app from your Mac OS X install disk.[/URL]
Click to expand...

I know that it might sound strange, but where can I find Finder on my Install Disk? All I see is Contents of OSInstall.mpkg
 
Just reinstall already. I thought you had other issues than only Finder? You'll have to re-install every one of them by hand or just run the installer and done. Or wait another week...
 
derbothaus said:
Just reinstall already. I thought you had other issues than only Finder? You'll have to re-install every one of them by hand or just run the installer and done. Or wait another week...
Click to expand...

I don't have any other issues than Finder. How long does reinstalling approximately take?
 
Ossyrial said:
I don't have any other issues than Finder. How long does reinstalling approximately take?
Click to expand...

About 30min to 1 hour. But if Finder is fixed and you have no more issues with Safari. Maybe wait. I thought there was more going on.
 
derbothaus said:
About 30min to 1 hour. But if Finder is fixed and you have no more issues with Safari. Maybe wait. I thought there was more going on.
Click to expand...

There were issues with Safari, but after reinstalling that, the Safari problem was gone. Finder is indeed the only problem.
 
Hi Ossyrial

The 'Finder' is in: HD/System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app.
Check if it has the proper Icon like this:
If the Icon is as you showed, that's a 'generic' icon & the Finder has to be fixed.
You'll have to re-install it.
Unfortunately the 'Finder' can't be extracted from 10.5 or 10.6 DVD with 'Pacifist' (at least not with v2.6), you'll have to re-install the OS. (I just tried to do that with both DVDs).
If you have the 'Install DVD' then you can reinstall the 'Mac OS' only (installer will not change anything else).
If you're still on SL then you should download (& keep) all the updates, like this:
If you have any of the updates then it'll fix the Finder.
 

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This is quite irritating indeed.

I did an Archive and Install, and Finder is fixed. However, I previously had 10.5.8, now I have 10.5.2.
All my documents, programs, and everything else is back to standard. I've got completely no idea how to set everything back to normal. Time Machine apparently backed up only the programs and Macintosh HD., however I can't back up my programs or anything else, because, strangely, I've got only 1.62 Gigabytes free. This means that (hopefully), my documents and other things are stored somewhere on my computer. Also, in Macintosh HD, I've got a new folder: Previous Systems. In there are indeed some things I remember, but now is the question; how do I transfer those files onto the computer itself?
Thanks
 
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