Desktop not responding to click

Question

Level 1

46 points

Desktop not responding to click

After a Restart, clicking on the desktop no longer makes Finder active. The files that were shown on the desktop are now only visible in a Finder window. Changing what to display (disks, etc.) in Finder Preferences has no effect. Thoughts anyone?

PB/G4, 10.4.11

PowerBook G4, G4 (Graphite), iBook G3, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Mar 12, 2008 12:22 PM

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Answer 1

Steve M.

Level 5

4,758 points

Mar 12, 2008 9:15 PM in response to John Sandell

You should go to Disk Utility in System Preferences and repair permissions and then click on verify disk. If problems are found you will need to startup from your install CD/DVD and repair disk using Disk Utility.

Post back if this doesn't help.

Regards,
Steve M.

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Answer 2

John Sandell Author

Level 1

46 points

Mar 13, 2008 2:45 AM in response to Steve M.

Thanks Steve. Unfortunately no change after verifying/repairing disk - there were just a couple of small errors, so worth doing anyway. I'd already repaired permissions, but nothing significant showed up.

This is really weird. All I did was Restart (because I thought I had a problem with a USB port, which turned out to be something set wrong in the app that was using it) and everything on the desktop had disappeared. I can get to the Finder through the dock, or by clicking a Finder window, but I can't drag to it. It makes the desktop look cleaner than it usually does, but that's not what I want!

Best regards
John

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Answer 3

Dakota

Level 3

970 points

Mar 13, 2008 4:08 AM in response to John Sandell

You might want to login as another User and see if same problem, if not maybe trash the problem User finder preference. Also a search here should bring up more detailed info.

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Answer 4

John Sandell Author

Level 1

46 points

Mar 13, 2008 4:52 AM in response to Dakota

Thanks. I've created a new user and logged in, and the problem is not there - the desktop behaves as normal. Returning to my normal (admin) account, the problem returns. Not sure what this means...

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Answer 5

John Sandell Author

Level 1

46 points

Mar 13, 2008 6:49 AM in response to John Sandell

Ha! Problem solved. I used TinkerTool to look more closely at Finder prefs and discovered that the "Disable Desktop features" checkbox was checked.

It wasn't me, honest. I haven't used TinkerTool for a few weeks, and only to show hidden files.

Thanks for the suggestions, and best regards
John

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Answer 6

Dakota

Level 3

970 points

Mar 13, 2008 7:20 PM in response to John Sandell

the "Disable Desktop features" checkbox was checked. It wasn't me, honest.

Maybe one of the Finder preference bits got turned off or on by something. 🙂

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