Help would be greatly appreciated. When I try to open iphoto I get the message " you cannot open the application iphoto because it may be damaged or incomplete. I have tried re-installing it from disc and this appears to work but each time i try to open the application I get the same message. Any ideas?
iphoto "damaged or incomplete
- Thread starter rugbarian
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Spawn_Dooley
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Hello rugbrian ... what version of Mac OS X are you running? Before re-installing from disc, did you delete the iPhoto preference/s? Did you try to install the disc version alongside the damaged one on your hard drive or have you deleted the damaged iPhoto from the Applications folder already?
Also did you move the app (iPhoto) from its original location at any time prior to the error message appearing? I've known this message to appear after a user had moved an application from the system folder to a user account folder .... had you done something along these lines?
What worries me most is your photo library ... have you a back up of your precious pics?
Also did you move the app (iPhoto) from its original location at any time prior to the error message appearing? I've known this message to appear after a user had moved an application from the system folder to a user account folder .... had you done something along these lines?
What worries me most is your photo library ... have you a back up of your precious pics?
karazelle
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Be aware that your photos are usually not lost. If you find the iPhoto library in your Pictures folder you can Ctrl+Click or Right click it and choose "Open package content". There you will find folders with your photos intact.
thanks for your replies, I am running 10.4.11 on a G4 flat screen. What I did in hindsight was very silly, however In answer to your questions, I wanted to free up hard disc space so I dragged iphoto onto an external harddrive,eventually realising what I had done I dragged it back but it refuses to open.I didn't delete the old iphoto before installing the new as i assumed it would overwrite it.All of my photos are safe but it means I cant access my photos within itunes or delete or add new photos from my iphone. Hope this is enough information, I look forward to some suggestions.
Spawn_Dooley
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Well what you could try is this:
Click on the iPhoto icon to launch it but hold down the Option button as well.
[URL="
Create a Library by pressing the appropriate button in the above dialogue window that will appear on your Desktop.
The default name for the newly created library should be iPhoto Library 1 and it will sit in your Pictures directory underneath your original library.
If all this is successful then quit iPhoto and try to re-launch it. It will open the last library you had open which will be the newly created library.
Let us know whether or not iPhoto still refuses to open.
Click on the iPhoto icon to launch it but hold down the Option button as well.
[URL="
Create a Library by pressing the appropriate button in the above dialogue window that will appear on your Desktop.
The default name for the newly created library should be iPhoto Library 1 and it will sit in your Pictures directory underneath your original library.
If all this is successful then quit iPhoto and try to re-launch it. It will open the last library you had open which will be the newly created library.
Let us know whether or not iPhoto still refuses to open.
Spawn_Dooley
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Have you tried removing the plist file?
You'll find it at
Move it to your Desktop and then log out then back in and check if iPhoto will behave itself ...
Let me know how it goes
You'll find it at
YourUserAccount ~> Library ~> Preferences ~> com.apple.iphoto.plist
Move it to your Desktop and then log out then back in and check if iPhoto will behave itself ...
Let me know how it goes
Spawn_Dooley
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Don't be disheartened rugbarian, can you remember when you were at
whether or not there were any other preferences with iPhoto in it's name?
Have you a backup of your photos? Have you tried creating a new account if you don't already have one, and seeing if iPhoto will behave itself?
I'm wondering if a clean install rather than an archive and install is the remedy?
The thing about iPhoto is that within it's library structure, it keeps 2 distinct folders; one containing your Original Photos, and the other which contains any modified photos, ones you had edited withing the iPhoto.app. This is because that at any time if you decide you don't like a particular modified photo, you can 'revert to the original'. This makes it difficult when you need to rescue your photos ... you would pull out the "Original" folder along with the "Modified" folder and then you end up with duplicates of certain 'modified' images ... not a disaster by any means, just a recipe for a lil' confusion ...
I'm watching this space with keen interest ...
YourUserAccount ~> Library ~> Preferences
whether or not there were any other preferences with iPhoto in it's name?
Have you a backup of your photos? Have you tried creating a new account if you don't already have one, and seeing if iPhoto will behave itself?
I'm wondering if a clean install rather than an archive and install is the remedy?
The thing about iPhoto is that within it's library structure, it keeps 2 distinct folders; one containing your Original Photos, and the other which contains any modified photos, ones you had edited withing the iPhoto.app. This is because that at any time if you decide you don't like a particular modified photo, you can 'revert to the original'. This makes it difficult when you need to rescue your photos ... you would pull out the "Original" folder along with the "Modified" folder and then you end up with duplicates of certain 'modified' images ... not a disaster by any means, just a recipe for a lil' confusion ...
I'm watching this space with keen interest ...
hello again spawn, I hadn't even heard of a plist before a couple of days ago, I have just checked and I have approx 170 of them. However, as far as I can tell only the one has iphoto in the title. All my photos are backed up on a lacie 500Gb hard-drive as well as dvd's, so I'm not worried about losing them.I haven't tried creating a new a/c however i did try to access them from my partners a/c and it doesn't work from there either. I am perfectly willing to do an archive and install, I just assumed that that wouldn't work.I am sure that I Got Iphoto with my machine, but I have been checking plenty of forums and they suggest that Iphoto didn't come with tiger, that you need an ilife 06 disc, which i don't have. I have been chasing this problem for a couple of weeks now and am at my wits end, I am actually considering buying a new mac, although am not crazy about spending £1500!!!
karazelle
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I realise this post comes late, but I thought I would give a more detailed explanation for future readers. When none of the aforementioned options have worked, its possible that an update of iPhoto somehow failed that damaged the iPhoto application itself.
You should get your iLife DVD or your recovery disks that came with the Mac depending on how you got iPhoto (upgrade purchase or bundled with the Mac). If you bought it through the Mac App store, quit that application. If you got it from DVD or bundled with the Mac, make sure that you can find install options for iPhoto in either of these, then trash iPhoto from your harddrives Application folder and reinstall from the disk. If you bought it from the Mac App store, open the app, go to the Purchased tab and behind iPhotos name, click Install or Update as applicable. This should put the app back.
Immideately after run Software Update from the Apple menu as many times as possible until it stops giving iPhoto updates. Note that you may not get any updates if you used the Mac App store.
Now, hold down Alt or the Option key as mentioned in the previous post and navigate to your iPhoto Library folder and you should be back in action.
You should get your iLife DVD or your recovery disks that came with the Mac depending on how you got iPhoto (upgrade purchase or bundled with the Mac). If you bought it through the Mac App store, quit that application. If you got it from DVD or bundled with the Mac, make sure that you can find install options for iPhoto in either of these, then trash iPhoto from your harddrives Application folder and reinstall from the disk. If you bought it from the Mac App store, open the app, go to the Purchased tab and behind iPhotos name, click Install or Update as applicable. This should put the app back.
Immideately after run Software Update from the Apple menu as many times as possible until it stops giving iPhoto updates. Note that you may not get any updates if you used the Mac App store.
Now, hold down Alt or the Option key as mentioned in the previous post and navigate to your iPhoto Library folder and you should be back in action.