Finder won't run

[Ja Di ksw]

Thanks to everyone that tries to help me with this. Last night I tried to install a new version of AIM (yes, I know it's a crappy program, but I was curious to see if they had changed anything). It downloaded successfully, and stuffit expander went to work on it, but then when I clicked the "install AIM" icon my Finder decided to punish me for downloading AIM and turned off. It's weird, everything works normally, all my applications, the dock, and the like, except the Finder is off. I can't open any folders, and all the icons on my desktop are missing. When I tried to export my photos from iPhoto onto my iPod so I wouldn't lose them, it immediately quit once the exporting was to happen. If I quit all applications, the bar at the top with File, Edit, etc disappears. When I control click the Finder in the dock (it has no little arrow under it, btw), it says either "Finder not running," or "Application not responding" if I clicked on it normally right before control clicking it. I really, REALLY don't want to reinstall OS X and lose all my photos and other things. Far too much stuff that I can't replace (pictures of trips, cat while she was a kitten, etc). Does anyone know how I can fix this? Thanks for any tips

-Tim

 

[patrick0brien]

-Ja Di ksw

That's a new one on me, and therefore cannot offer any advice specific to this issue.

However, I do know that reinstalling to solve this is probably not necessary.

An example: My home machine, a 766 Quicksilver is a multiple user account machine, and I had some very wierd problems that could only be solved by, not a reinstall, but an "Archive and Install"

Quite seamless actually, all the net settings, aliases, prefs, of all the accounts were moved, to a fresh 10.2 install. There were some quirks, but that was mainly in the root account, namely I had to rebuild it.

(root needing to be rebuilt is a misnomer, it actually still exsisted in the archive. The new install just dosen't migrate any root settings)

So if you feel you have to, try not to make yourself nervous. An Archive and Install should do you just fine with little pain.

 

[Ja Di ksw]

how?

Hey, thank you for the reply. Are you sure this won't delete all my pictures, music, movies, etc, though? And my big problem is, since the Finder won't work, I can't open any windows to get to cd's I put in. Any suggestions on how to run the cd to do an archive and install? I'm trying to learn how to do things with Terminal, but I've never done anything with it besides mess around, so I'm still unsure of how to do pretty much everything with it, though shouldn't there be some way to work the cd with it? Thanks.

 

[alset]

Do you have two machines that can be linked with FireWire? Can you get a friend to bring a laptop over for this?

Boot you Mac with the FW connection and hold dow the T key (target disk mode). This will boot your drive to the host machine and allow you to backup your files. Sorry that I can't help you get the Finder running, but I really have no idea.

Good luck!
Dan

 

[zarathustra]

This might sound obvious, but have you tried clicking the finder icon? Or just a restart (control-EJECT)? I have had the Finder quit, and not relaunch, and the desktop would disappear (just like you said) - I would click the finder, and just start it like an application.

You can also try to press command-shift-Q. This will log you out, where you can restart or relog back in.

 

[rainman::|:|]

I'm assuming you tried running the Finder by clicking on it, and also tried rebooting. You're not going to be able to do much at all without the Finder, as all application open/save dialog boxes and a whole host of other things won't be operational.

Unless someone has some really good advice, i'd say archive and install. Sounds like the Finder went corrupt, or one of it's support files, so you're gonna have to reinstall that.

The other option would be to boot from a CD or external HD (or network machine if network functions still work) and access the HD: You can then try deleting preferences, repairing permissions (now that i say that, TRY IT, that will probably fix your problems) or actually reinstalling the Finder app if that doesn't work...

pnw

 

[benixau]

dont flame - i am answering before reading.

when you select archive and install:
after clicking the HDD you want to install it on. make sure you click option down the bottom of the window. it is there. i know. i missed it once. then check the option for transfering user accounts, prefs, network settings, etc.

hope it helps. good luck

 

[patrick0brien]

Re: how?

Originally posted by Ja Di ksw
Are you sure this won't delete all my pictures, music, movies, etc, though?

Absolutely.

Originally posted by Ja Di ksw
Any suggestions on how to run the cd to do an archive and install?

Put the OS X install disk in the drive,

Restart,

Right at the completion of the startup "Bong", hold the "c" key,

Follow the instructions!

 

[Ja Di ksw]

Hey all, thanks a ton for your help. Everything is working now. I was freaking out when it happened, but it looks like it's going to be fine. Thanks again, I really, really mean that.

-Tim