System preferences window is stuck and unresponsive

[monkeyjenn]

I really hope someone can help me before I throw my computer out the window.

My system preferences window is stuck on the left side of my screen. I can only view half of it and can't move it. I also can't select anything on the sys pref window. Please check out the image.
Somehow I opened up Mobile Me and got a separate pop up and I am unable to close or move that as well.
I have OS 10.5.8 and using a Microsoft Natural wireless 6000 mouse.

I searched this forum, but only found 1 slightly similar issue. The solution was to delete the com.apple.dock.plist. I tried that and restarted, but nothing changed.

In case it will be helpful, I have included the chain of events that led to this problem:
- First, my mouse stopped letting me double-click to select a word or any text. I altered the settings and things just got worse.
-I reset it to default set up and restarted. That didn't change anything.
-I opened the system preferences window again and it was unresponsive. I cannot click on anything. When I click on my mouse icon, a menu appears with a "Remove" option.
-I repaired my disk permissions and restarted. No change.
-I opened the sys pref window and moved it. Then the cursor was stuck to it and as I moved the cursor around, the sys pref window moved with it. I couldn't click on anything anymore and had to do a hard restart. When it came back up, I clicked on restart and waited.
-When I opened the sys pref window again it was stuck on the left side of my screen and only half visible. Since then, I haven't been able to click on it to move it or select anything. I have no idea how I was able to open Mobile Me.
-My computer is pretty much unusable until I can solve this. My mouse is so messed up that I can barely use it.

I will extremely grateful to anyone who can help me figure this out! Thank you!

 

[Gregg2]

Can you get System Preferences to the front using Command-Tab? If so, can you then get to the SP Menu in the Menu Bar and Quit?

If that works, try opening SP again and see if it's doing the same thing. If it is, then get out of it again.

Now log in under a different User Account and try SP again. Any difference?

Throwing the computer out the window will not solve this problem.

 

[monkeyjenn]

Can you get System Preferences to the front using Command-Tab? If so, can you then get to the SP Menu in the Menu Bar and Quit?

If that works, try opening SP again and see if it's doing the same thing. If it is, then get out of it again.

I am able to get SP in the menu bar(using Command-tab) and quit, but when I reopen it, it shows up exactly where it was before and I still can't do anything with it.

Now log in under a different User Account and try SP again. Any difference?

Yes, it works like it's supposed to when I log into a different user account.

Throwing the computer out the window will not solve this problem.

Lol, I know, but it would make me feel better momentarily!
Thanks for your suggestions though.


I forgot to mention that the SP is no longer open to Mobile Me. It is now back to the main SP menu.

 

[Gregg2]

Yes, it works like it's supposed to when I log into a different user account.

Thanks for your suggestions though.

You're welcome. That's good news! But the bad news is your other account is hosed. You could spend hours trying to figure out what's wrong with it, but it might be easier to just get rid of it.

There's some good info in Mac Help about migrating from one User Account to another. Just look under Accounts. Take it one step at a time. You don't want to lose your Documents!

 

[monkeyjenn]

You're welcome. That's good news! But the bad news is your other account is hosed. You could spend hours trying to figure out what's wrong with it, but it might be easier to just get rid of it.

There's some good info in Mac Help about migrating from one User Account to another. Just look under Accounts. Take it one step at a time. You don't want to lose your Documents!

I deleted the com.apple.systempreferences.plist and that fixed part of the problem. The menu opens in the middle of the screen instead of partially to the side!
It's still unresponsive and won't let me click on anything though. Sigh.

I will try migrating to another user account. Before I do that though, do you know if there is a way to delete my user preferences? Do you think that would even fix anything?

I feel like I should just give up trying to resolve this problem and just migrate like you suggest. Trying to fix this is just taking up too much of my time.

Thank you for your help! I really appreciate it.

 

[Gregg2]

...do you know if there is a way to delete my user preferences?

You did that:

I deleted the com.apple.systempreferences.plist and that fixed part of the problem.

That was from your Home folder's Library/Preferences. That's tied to the user account with the problems.

I feel like I should just give up trying to resolve this problem and just migrate like you suggest.

I agree. If the Mac Help article is not clear, come back with questions. I'm sure someone following this will know the answers if I don't.

Thank you for your help! I really appreciate it.

You're quite welcome.