How to manually relaunch Finder when it refuses to get killed?

I am, indeed, moderately comfortable with command line. Just moderately, because OS X is pretty different from Ubuntu, and used the sudo killall Locum

As far as WebDAV goes, the capability seems built into OS X (as well as Ubuntu) since a long time. It's hard to point what I may be doing wrong; I'm just using the computer the way it's intended to. There's a capability in Finder to connect to WebDAV servers, so I'm using it.
I do run a good bit of applications at the same time (When Finder refused to cleanly get killed: Safari, Skype, NeoOffice, iCal, Console, iTunes, and one Finder window), but always wait when one needs power. In fact, the CPU % use was hovering around 15% when Finder (sort of) crashed, most of which was due to Safari, which is very sensitive to script usage.

Incidentaly, I wasn't running any Trash-related task at this time; when I do and I know that deleted data is not very sensitive, I just empty it, without "securely" emptying it.

This computer was installed on a fully formatted hard drive like, 2 weeks ago, but the drive was not zeroed, just formatted. The rationale to it is it would have taken more than a night to zero a 160GB drive, and since I'm the only user of this machine, privacy for previous data is not in the point here.

If I'm forced to reinstall Leopard from scratch every two weeks AND zero the drive each time, that's not what I call stable.

As for permission repair, an Apple Genius told me that since updates can change permissions on files, in order to improve stability or others, it is advisable to use Disk Utility from inside OS X, not the Install Disc. Is that correct?

Hi Thomas,

in fact, I spent about 2 hours with Apple Care iPod and MacBook specialists on the line,, alternating between both of them, either in French or English (a bit more difficult for me as phones don't transmit pronunciation accurately). I initially called for the Remote application not pairing with my computer, but asked about the Finder issue as well, and in no case they had a clue. I talked about it because problems happen whenever I'm using the AirPort interface (i.e. most of the time).

They made me repair permissions, then repair disk. No issue was found.

As for WebDAV, I don't know precisely how it works (I'm an end-user, after all), just how it behaves in OS X and Ubuntu. It's a marvel when it works properly, as a way to seamlessly send files back and forth to the online storage space (Think a reduced functionality MobileMe).

For the other issue with Remote, everything points out to a hardware issue, although the MacBook unib is completely stock. Apple engineering department is currently on the issue, and I specifically asked to get called any time of the day, since I may need to go out of the country in a very short while, and will need a reliable machine for the trip and after.

BTW, I installed and looked for a .plist file having the "WebDAV" string in its name, and there isn't any. Only a .fs, .kext and .tc files.

Well, I reinstalled the OS since it is strongly recommended when a computer undergoes a significatn hardware change (Changed motherboard because of a defective audio port). I don't see any valid reason why a 6-month old computer would have a failing hard drive such as it contains bad blocks, or why it would have been manufactured with such a bad drive.

The point is, I don't really have that many hours to wait "downtime" until the drive finishes zeroing + reinstalling everything from scratch and configuring again, as I'm not sure it will solve anything.

Some updated content:

When I try to relaunch Finder while connected to this WebDAV share, it gives the error I previously described.

This share is pretty constant in making Finder bug: it does bug whenever it's connected through wifi or Ethernet.

Precisely, bugs happen when I try to delete a file from the shared folder; it then hangs without seeming to do anything except wait for something it doesn'T specify. During this time, the CPU is idle.

One way I found to get the Finder relaunched is by briefly putting the MacBook to sleep by closing its lid.

This makes sense.

However, I don't want Apple to get messed by my multiple problems, so is this really a good idea to open two cases?

The first one being that the Remote application doesn't work on WiFi on my MacBook (consistently across all iPods Touch tried). Waiting for a callback on this one, or a plain exchange if not done in time. Considering the problems I got with the MacBook unibody, I'm seiously considering asking for a white MacBook replacement, upgraded to match unib's original price.

The second case would be this one with this WebDAV server. In fact, when I'm connecting to another WebDAV account I have access to, there's no issue. So far, I can't tell for sure about a distant server bug or a Finder bug.

I will try the same WebDAV share on another Mac, because the first thing Apple Care agents ask is to go test the computer in store if problem can't be solved

Well, they haven't told me the case number, or I didn't understood it, wich is not so likely.

Maybe the guy simply forgot to tell it. I will ask them about it.

Meanwhile, I checked another Mac OS 10.5.6 (white MacBook), and the WebDAV share exhibited the same problem: Finder was stuck trying to delete some files.

So I wrote to the WebDAV tech support, and he didn't understood why I have the problem, but he doesn't (using the same OS X), and moreover, I was the only Mac user to report this problem.

Not conclusive so far.

In the end, I would like to be able just to use my computer, and not have to worry about issues from a computer released too soon on the market.