Finder not responding!!! In need serious help!!!!

[Brejrin]

Hi, my macbooks finder wont respond. Im running mac osx 10.5.8 and i cant access finder at all. The items on my desktop dont even show up and when i place my browser on the desktop i get the famous rainbow wheel.
Ive tried everything so far!!! nothing seems to work. And i really need help.
i believe it may be related to the fact i let my desktop get overly cluttered in the weeks prior to this problem. I wanted to do delete some of the files but this seems impossible without finder itself.
PLEASE HELP!!!

PS. i dont have the install disks, lets just say i lost them.

 

[Brejrin]

Re: Finder not responding!!! In need of serious help!!!!

please someone

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

Do you have another User Account you can log into?

What happens exactly when you boot your Mac, does it boot into your account?

Can you move the mouse cursor at all ?

About those Install Discs ... you will need them sooner or later so you should think about buying yourself some. You need a Full Retail Version (Universal Install) not an upgrade disc.

 

[Brejrin]

Do you have another User Account you can log into?

What happens exactly when you boot your Mac, does it boot into your account?

Can you move the mouse cursor at all ?

About those Install Discs ... you will need them sooner or later so you should think about buying yourself some. You need a Full Retail Version (Universal Install) not an upgrade disc.

when i boot up my mac i just enter my password and log into my account.
yes i can move the cursor...

yes i made a guest account since this happened. When i log on to it. the finder and everything works fine.

about the install disks, I dont really want to lose all my data you know. but yes i should get some asap.

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

Try booting up holding the Shift key just after you hear the Startup Chime and release it when you see the apple logo. This will boot you into Safe Boot and if Finder works as it should I suggest you run Disc Utility ( Applications ~> Utilities ~> Disc Utility) and Repair Permissions then reboot and report back with the results.

Having the Install media doesn't mean you lose your data it's just that in times like this, to get yourself out of very hot water, you need something to boot from other than your internal HD ...

 

[Brejrin]

Try booting up holding the Shift key just after you hear the Startup Chime and release it when you see the apple logo. This will boot you into Safe Boot and if Finder works as it should I suggest you run Disc Utility ( Applications ~> Utilities ~> Disc Utility) and Repair Permissions then reboot and report back with the results.

Having the Install media doesn't mean you lose your data it's just that in times like this, to get yourself out of very hot water, you need something to boot from other than your internal HD ...

hey sorry for my delayed response i was out of the country for a while...... my computer wont even go into safe mode..... it freezes every time i try..... i did repair permissions after finding disc utility through spotlight.... but there is no change.... what else can i do??

if i can borrow the install cd's from a friend with the same mac would that help solve the problem???

 

[Brejrin]

Any help??

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

I would strongly advise you see if you can mount an external hd and copy over your important data. You can try dual-layer dvd's or even single layer dvd's as an alternative.

I would also consider this:

Deleting a user account

It says it's for Snow Leopard but the method is identical for OS X 10.5.8. Note:

4. Click OK to save the user’s files on the computer

... and:

"If you saved the user’s files, they are stored in a disk image in the Deleted Users folder, in the Users folder.

To see the saved files, double-click the disk image in the Deleted Users folder.

To delete the user’s files, drag the disk image to the Trash."

Regarding the OS Install media, you need either the exact disc/s that were sold with your Mac OR a set of Full Retail (Universal) Install discs. "Full Install" NOT "Upgrade" is very important to note.

If you try to use your friends discs and they aren't "Full Install" (Large X on the disc's label) then you will see an error "You can't install (this) on this Mac". This is because the disc looks for something on the Mac first, an identifying code and if the disc doesn't find it you will get nowhere. The Universal discs are what you will need and you can buy them from eBay for example.

I strongly recommend you look to buying yourself a set ASAP as they will save your bacon!

 

[Kaveman]

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/8163.html fix for broken URL

 

[Brejrin]

I would strongly advise you see if you can mount an external hd and copy over your important data. You can try dual-layer dvd's or even single layer dvd's as an alternative.

I would also consider this:

Deleting a user account

It says it's for Snow Leopard but the method is identical for OS X 10.5.8. Note:



... and:



Regarding the OS Install media, you need either the exact disc/s that were sold with your Mac OR a set of Full Retail (Universal) Install discs. "Full Install" NOT "Upgrade" is very important to note.

If you try to use your friends discs and they aren't "Full Install" (Large X on the disc's label) then you will see an error "You can't install (this) on this Mac". This is because the disc looks for something on the Mac first, an identifying code and if the disc doesn't find it you will get nowhere. The Universal discs are what you will need and you can buy them from eBay for example.

I strongly recommend you look to buying yourself a set ASAP as they will save your bacon!

Firstly, how am I to transfer the files to an external HD if I cannot move them with finder? how else would I locate them to move them in other words??

If i can save all my files deleting the user account I believe this will be the best option. However when I go into my account settings. It does not give me the option to delete. Or at least I can't seem to find it. The (-) sign is shaded gray as it looks when you are unable to click it.

thanks for your help thus far. I really appreciate the time and effort you have given to helping me thus far

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

You need to be logged into a different account with Admin rights AND you must log out of the account to be deleted.

If you had access to another Mac you could try FireWire Target Disc Mode if both Macs meet the requirements.

 

[Brejrin]

I cant seem to delete my original account with the guest account... I must be doing something wrong but i Don't know what

 

[Kaveman]

No, you can't, a guess account has very few privileges. You need to make a new Admin Account to give you an Admin user and Password, and a Standard Account for your normal every day work. From either of those you can delete the original account.

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

I cant seem to delete my original account with the guest account... I must be doing something wrong but i Don't know what

.

You need to be logged into a different account with Admin rights AND you must log out of the account to be deleted.

 

[Brejrin]

ok thank you guys.... i now see how to delete the account.....
however it wont let me save my files as i dont have enough space...
is there any other way to delete files without using the finder???
i stumbled upon some files using the index.dat can i delete files from in there??
i need to free up some space cuz i have items i really cant lose..

 

[Kaveman]

however it wont let me save my files as i dont have enough space...

hmm, has the Mac been warning you about this?

If you've filled up your drive, then Finder and many other things won't run.
If you want to keep those files, you sure as hell don't want to delete that Account as thats exactly what you are doing, deleting all your files.