sarahk%

Q: About This Mac - has disappeared from iMac

G'day

 

So, i am no good with difficult stuff on my iMac (read only knows the basics) however, for the past month (and a bit) I have not been able to access About this Mac.

 

It does not matter how many times I click on the apple in the top left hand corner of my screen, when I click on About This Mac the icon flickers but does not load or display About This Mac.

 

When i click on the apple icon, I get the following options:

 

About This Mac (which does not work, period, the end, fullstop)

System Preferences

App Store

Recent Items

Force Quit

Sleep

Restart

Shut Down

and

Log out

 

Everything else above works fine, no problems - but I cannot get About this Mac to initialise, work, open, nothing, nada.

 

Can anyone help me to fix this problem on my iMac.

 

Thanking you in advance.

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10.4)

Posted on Jun 3, 2016 5:13 PM

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Q: About This Mac - has disappeared from iMac

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Carolyn Samit,

    Carolyn Samit Carolyn Samit Jun 3, 2016 5:20 PM in response to sarahk%
    Level 10 (121,990 points)
    Apple Music
    Jun 3, 2016 5:20 PM in response to sarahk%

    Hi,

     

    Your profile indicates your Mac is running v10.10.4. There is a v10.10.5 update available.

     

     

    It may be a matter of updating OS X.

     

    Open System Preferences > App Store then click:  Check Now

  • by theratter,

    theratter theratter Jun 3, 2016 5:23 PM in response to sarahk%
    Level 4 (3,907 points)
    Desktops
    Jun 3, 2016 5:23 PM in response to sarahk%

    First try this:

     

    Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM

    Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)

     

    Boot into Safe Mode. While in safe mode reinstall OS X.

     

    Reinstall OS X Without Erasing the Drive

     

           Make sure you have a current backup.

     

    1. Restart the computer and after the chime hold down the Command and R keys until the Utility Menu appears.
    2. Choose Disk Utility from the Utility Menu and click on the Continue button.
    3. After Disk Utility loads select the indented (usually, Macintosh HD) entry from the side list.  Click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If Disk Utility reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button.
    4. When the process finishes, quit Disk Utility and return to the Utility Menu.
    5. Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Continue button.

     

    You will need to input the password for your Apple ID. Be sure to write it down before proceeding with the installation.

     

    If this doesn't fix the problem, then you will need to perform an Erase and Install:

     

    Install Yosemite or El Capitan from Scratch

     

    Restart the computer. Immediately after the chime hold down the Command and R keys until the Apple logo appears. When the Utility Menu appears:

     

    1. Select Disk Utility from the Utility Menu and click on Continue button.
    2. When Disk Utility loads select the volume (indented entry, usually Macintosh HD) from the side list.
    3. Click on the Erase icon in Disk Utility's main window. A panel will drop down.
    4. Set the Format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.)
    5. Click on the Apply button, then wait for the Done button to activate and click on it.
    6. Quit Disk Utility and return to the Utility Menu.
    7. Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Continue button.

     

    [Permission to use part or all of the above has been granted by Kappy, exclusively, to theratter.]

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Jun 4, 2016 8:30 AM in response to sarahk%
    Level 9 (71,155 points)
    iTunes
    Jun 4, 2016 8:30 AM in response to sarahk%

    Try running the combo update.

     

    10.10.5 Combo Update

  • by Duane,Helpful

    Duane Duane Jun 4, 2016 7:15 PM in response to sarahk%
    Level 10 (124,018 points)
    Jun 4, 2016 7:15 PM in response to sarahk%

    Is the application 'System Information' in the /Applications/Utilities folder?

  • by sarahk%,

    sarahk% sarahk% Jun 4, 2016 7:17 PM in response to Carolyn Samit
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 4, 2016 7:17 PM in response to Carolyn Samit

    Thank you so much for your prompt reply Carolyn.

     

    I have updated to the latest version and unfortunately it has had no effect on About This Mac :-(

     

    Cheers

    Sarah

  • by sarahk%,

    sarahk% sarahk% Jun 4, 2016 7:22 PM in response to theratter
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 4, 2016 7:22 PM in response to theratter

    Hi

     

    Thank you for replying to my question.

     

    Your solution looks a little scary because I am scared that i will stuff it up.  But it also looks as though it may be the only answer that will help me to return my mac to running About This Mac correctly.

     

    Thanks again, I will eventually (read after I have had incredible amounts of caffeine and a little touch of bravado) I will try to use the information you provided.

     

    Sarah

  • by theratter,

    theratter theratter Jun 4, 2016 10:57 PM in response to sarahk%
    Level 4 (3,907 points)
    Desktops
    Jun 4, 2016 10:57 PM in response to sarahk%

    Just make a backup now. Then no matter how badly things go you can always restore your backup. The simplest way to make a backup if you don't have one is to use the Restore option in Disk Utility. Such a backup is bootable and includes a backup of the Recovery HD.

     

    Restart the computer. After the chime press and hold down the Command and R keys until the Apple logo and progress bar appear. Wait until the Utility Menu appears on the screen.

     

         1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu then press the Continue

             button.

         2. Select the destination volume from the Devices list.

         3. Click on the Restore tab in the Disk Utility main window.

         4. Select the destination volume from the Devices list and drag it

             to the Destination entry field.

         5. Select the source volume from the Devices list and drag it to

             the Source entry field.

         6. Click on the Restore button.

     

    Destination means the external backup drive. Source means the internal startup disk.

     

    [Permission to use part or all of the above has been granted by Kappy, exclusively, to theratter.]