Issues with an imac

[Guitar218]

Hi.

I am working on an older imac at my job with OS 10.6. When I started the computer today, the screen came up to the desktop, but all the menu items in the top bar on the right are not visible, nor are any files I left on the desktop.
I have a Wacom Bamboo tablet and it attempts to load an upgrade every morning, then informs me that it can't complete it. I usually just work around that. But today the desktop seems to be stuck on that part. Nothing else shows on the desktop. The dock is there and I can use the software and get online, but the icons for everything aren't there. And the stylus doesn't work.

I have on icons on my desktop. I've restarted several times but it only comes up to the screensaver image. The dock is there and I can access my software, and use it, but everything on the screen is blank.

Any ideas?

 

[Bomb Bloke]

What sort of icons are you missing? Programs, drives...?

With Finder active, select the Go menu up the top of your screen, then Home. The window which appears should, among other things, list a Desktop folder. What do you see when you attempt to open that?

 

[Bomb Bloke]

Finder's likely to blame, or more precisely, some bit of software that's trying to "add-on" to Finder - old versions of Dropbox and Mackeeper are notorious for this sort of thing, though they aren't the only possibilities.

To help narrow things down a little, try a safe boot - any different?