My dad uninstalled Preview...

[Ivan P]

My dad has little knowledge of how to use OS X, and most of the time he can't retain any knowledge of what I tell him when he asks how to do things.

In a timeframe of about an hour when I wasn't using the Mac today, my dad was. When he finished and I opened my account, I noticed that Preview in the dock had been replaced with the obligatory question mark representing a missing/deleted application. I knew that my dad also had Preview in his dock, so I opened his account and there wasn't even the 'question mark', let alone the Preview icon or any indication that he had ever used Preview.

I'm under the impression that he thought that dragging an app from the Applications folder to the trash did the same as dragging it from the dock - that it removes it from view, but it's still on the computer; I don't think he realises that this is actually how you uninstall apps in OS X.

So is there any way that I can reinstall Preview?

 

[rdowns]

If the Trash was not emptied, you can just drag it out and place back inside your Applications folder.

Otherwise, you can download Pacifist and use your install discs to extract Preview for reinstallation.

 

[Ivan P]

Yeah, his Trash was empty - that was the first place I looked.

I'm checking out Pacifist now, thanks for the link

 

[OllyW]

Otherwise, you can download Pacifist and use your install discs to extract Preview for reinstallation.

Do you have a Time Machine backup?

If you do, open the Applications folder in Finder and then open Time Machine. Go back until Preview shows, select it and click Restore.

 

[Blue Velvet]

Perhaps it might be worth setting up your Dad another account with some restrictions on it.

 

[Ivan P]

Perhaps it might be worth setting up your Dad another account with some restrictions on it.

Haha. He really annoys me with it, but I guess it isn't his fault considering he's one of the era that got along fine before computers were used so much.

I mean, he became fascinated with Photo Booth and for a few months his profile picture was of him just sitting there staring at the screen looking like a hick He also drags out the window of every single application to fill up the screen, which just looks wrong on a beautiful iMac.

Just last week he had a bit of an "accident" where he dragged his Documents folder off of the dock and thought he had permanently deleted it -- for some reason he thinks small parts of a computer need to stay exactly the way they were when it was brought, otherwise the system will screw up (well, that is true to an extent, but not for things like moving folders from the dock )

 

[kolax]

Maybe an ideal Christmas present