iPhoto: uninstalling and reinstalling

[Aussie]

I was having one or two minor issues with iPhoto 08 and making long story short i decided to have a go at uninstalling 08 and reinstalling 06, i also do things like this sometimes as a means to learn.
I uninstalled 08 by putting it in the trash and then emptied the trash. Everything seemed to go.
I have the disc for 06 and had had no problems previously so planned to install it and import photos again, however i cannot install 06 as it is not a "live" choice on the iLife disc any more. It is dimmed out and when i thought i would still give it a go it comes up saying" Oops something has happened".
The disc verifies as OK and other choices were available to install but not iPhoto.
Eventually i put 08 back on and although it had been trashed it came back fully with all photos intact.
08 was annoying because when i would want to use the Help menu it could never be opened.."Help Viewer cannot open this Content".. or words to that effect. I thought it wasn't right.
If possible i would like to know why i have no choice in this matter and can't install a version i had previously even after uninstalling the 08 and believing i was starting again.
I have 10.6.8 iMac4,1 ......
Thank you.

 

[oldscribe]

Hi,

I uninstalled 08 by putting it in the trash and then emptied the trash. Everything seemed to go.

I doubt it as there would be files like the com.apple.iphoto file etc.

First as you have reinstalled version 8, and as a quick troubleshooting step create a new user on the machine and see if the app works fine there. If it does, then there is corruption in the users area.
If it is tied to the user, delete the com.apple.iphoto.plist file from the user/Library/Preferences/ folder. But If system-wide, try repairing permissions and repairing the disk.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Unfortunately, just trashing the iPhoto app doesn't completely remove it from the system. The support files, preferences, and receipts are still in the main system Library, which is why you couldn't install (dimmed) iPhoto 6 from iLife '06. In addition, since your iPhoto Library was upgraded to iPhoto 7 from iLife '08, it wouldn't be able to be read/opened with an older version, so there's no need/way to go back to iPhoto '06. Also, when you trash the app or do a manual uninstall, it leaves your iPhoto Library in the Pictures folder, which is why all your photos remained after you reinstalled.

To fix the issues you are having with iPhoto Help and such, you will need to uninstall completely and then reinstall and run all the updates.

***NOTE*** Make sure you have a Time Machine or other backup of your software before proceeding.

To do a complete manual uninstall of iPhoto, delete (drag to Trash) the following files/folders in bold:

Macintosh HD > Applications > iPhoto (app)
Macintosh HD > Library > Application Support > iPhoto (folder)
Macintosh HD > Library > Caches > com.apple.iPhoto (folder)
Macintosh HD > Library > Receipts > anything with iPhoto in the name, if there are any
Macintosh HD > Users > yourusername > Library > Caches > com.apple.iPhoto (folder)
Macintosh HD > Users > yourusername > Library > Preferences > com.apple.iPhoto.plist
Macintosh HD > Users > yourusername > Library > Preferences > com.apple.iPhoto.LSSharedFileList.plist

Some of these items may not actually exist, so you can skip them. Once you delete these files, insert your iLife '08 disc and install iPhoto. If successful, make sure you run Software Update and install all updates until it tells you there are none. Then you can open iPhoto.

If the Help issue isn't resolved, then it may be a corrupted install of the entire iLife '08 suite of apps. We can tackle that at a later time. Let us know what the original issues you were having with iPhoto before all this started as well.

C

 

[Aussie]

Hi,


I doubt it as there would be files like the com.apple.iphoto file etc.

First as you have reinstalled version 8, and as a quick troubleshooting step create a new user on the machine and see if the app works fine there. If it does, then there is corruption in the users area.
If it is tied to the user, delete the com.apple.iphoto.plist file from the user/Library/Preferences/ folder. But If system-wide, try repairing permissions and repairing the disk.

Yes i also "doubted it" but didn't know what else had to be deleted and didn't know what to look for. I need to read the other answers and think about it. I don't have the knowledge you people have. How is the iphoto.plist deleted.. any tricks to it? Won't be rushing into just yet tho.
I did check the disk through disk utility and it came up as appearing ok, i think repairing permissions wasn't available to me but i will need to look again, this is something i do know to do and would have followed through if i could have but will check again.
Off hand i think it is unlikely to be corruption in the users area but i base that only on the fact the computer has very little on it and isn't asked to do much.
I do already have another user name set up but have never used it. I could try that. Thanks.

 

[Aussie]

Unfortunately, just trashing the iPhoto app doesn't completely remove it from the system. The support files, preferences, and receipts are still in the main system Library, which is why you couldn't install (dimmed) iPhoto 6 from iLife '06. In addition, since your iPhoto Library was upgraded to iPhoto 7 from iLife '08, it wouldn't be able to be read/opened with an older version, so there's no need/way to go back to iPhoto '06. Also, when you trash the app or do a manual uninstall, it leaves your iPhoto Library in the Pictures folder, which is why all your photos remained after you reinstalled.

To fix the issues you are having with iPhoto Help and such, you will need to uninstall completely and then reinstall and run all the updates.

***NOTE*** Make sure you have a Time Machine or other backup of your software before proceeding.

To do a complete manual uninstall of iPhoto, delete (drag to Trash) the following files/folders in bold:

Macintosh HD > Applications > iPhoto (app)
Macintosh HD > Library > Application Support > iPhoto (folder)
Macintosh HD > Library > Caches > com.apple.iPhoto (folder)
Macintosh HD > Library > Receipts > anything with iPhoto in the name, if there are any
Macintosh HD > Users > yourusername > Library > Caches > com.apple.iPhoto (folder)
Macintosh HD > Users > yourusername > Library > Preferences > com.apple.iPhoto.plist
Macintosh HD > Users > yourusername > Library > Preferences > com.apple.iPhoto.LSSharedFileList.plist

Some of these items may not actually exist, so you can skip them. Once you delete these files, insert your iLife '08 disc and install iPhoto. If successful, make sure you run Software Update and install all updates until it tells you there are none. Then you can open iPhoto.

If the Help issue isn't resolved, then it may be a corrupted install of the entire iLife '08 suite of apps. We can tackle that at a later time. Let us know what the original issues you were having with iPhoto before all this started as well.

C

 

[Aussie]

Thank you for these details. I had read somewhere that you couldn't go back to a previous version but didn't know why and thought as i had both disks i would give it a go. At least i now know why i couldn't reinstall 06. With the iLife 08 i had only installed iPhoto and nothing else. I bought it second hand. I will have all the steps you give printed out for reference but need to give real thought as to how far i will go with this. I assume the Help Viewer that will not work for me should be able to work?