The application Finder.app can't be opened.

The solution (type in terminal without the quotes BUT with the "&" at the end):

"/System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/Finder &"

(via: http://utvv.blogspot.com/2010/01/how-to-fix-application-finder-cant-be.html)

I booted off Snow Leopard DVD and ran Disk Utility/Repair Disk. Finder Works again on reboot. Hope this is of help to someone!

Sigh.

I don't know whether it's depressing or reassuring to Google one's weird technical problem and find a long long thread, dating back months, made up of other people struggling to solve the same, weird technical problem.

This just started happening to me on a 3 year old MacBook Pro, running 10.6.3, whose only external disk is the time machine backup disk it uses. And, when this happened yesterday, I was out and about, so the time machine disk was nowhere near to be attached to.

I did just rebuild my launch services database. I'll see if that makes any difference at all.

10.6.3 gave me a rift of new problems with time machine and external drives, whereas the only
problem encountered in 10.6.2 was the Finder error 36. So I restored 10.6.2 and installed the
10.6.3 Finder.app (/System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app) into 10.6.2. My machine is happily
running along with no issues, it seems the 10.6.3 finder is fully compatible and functions
perfectly well in 10.6.2 and it fixed all the Finder annoyances as well.

I can replicate this on 10.6.3. Every time I try create an alias (I assume that's really symlink in *nix) on a smb share, finder does this. (i.e. The application Finder.app can't be opened. -10810)

Thanks to CDColt - "/System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/Finder &" does work to restart (without rebooting).

Hope this helps. (do Apple developers look here?)

aL

Today I put my USB memory stick into my one month old MacBook Pro 15". I could not open up any of the documents in MS Word and I had to force quit several times. I started moving all my files from the USB key to the MacBook HD and found that they would then open fine. However, I clicked on a large file on the key with loads of photos inside and the Finder crashed. I tried to reboot Finder but the same error message came up. I restarted the computer but it didn't seem to want to, loading for about 10 minutes. I decided to hard shut down the machine and have just rebooted it.

I guess I just won't be using my memory key with my MacBook at all - which is very irritating.

This little episode will not have damaged my computer, though, will it?

Alan,
Based on my own experiences (with a perfectly healthy Mac Pro - running 10.5.x), I would blame the LaCie drive before blaming the also buggy OS 10.6.x. That is - in your particular case. My experience is that LaCie drives are a disappointment both in terms of longevity and in software implementation.

My take on LaCie is that they've gone the style over substance route and comparing prices with like products makes me even more certain of that.

That's not to say that other external drives are the answer to this Finder error problem in 10.6. That's obviously not true. But all things being equal, I have put LaCie at the bottom of the list of external hard drive suppliers.

Ollie,
While it's certainly not "good for" your Mac - generally, all that's needed after a hard shut down is to run a good repair utility. My personal preference is for DiskWarrior to do such repairs (for many years now) but others would also recommend TechToolPro.

You do not report any other symptoms after the hard shut down, based on that I'd say you're MacBook is probably OK.

As for that USB memory stick: I may be "odd" but I never try opening files on one of those or any other insertable drive (like SD memory cards in card readers). I always download files from the memory stick to my Mac before opening. Since you were able to get your files from the memory stick, it might be enough in your case to just avoid trying to open files before downloading. That's not a recommendation: it's a conjecture which others may want to comment on.

Regards

Thank you for this response.

Would ONYX not do a similar job as the TechToolPro or DiskWarrior applications? I am not too savvy on this sort of thing so I appreciate any help.

I will be sure to cross documents over to the Mac HD before opening in future so as to avoid any potential problems. I'm sure this little incident with the USB will not be too harmful to my MacBook Pro.

Thanks again.

Ollie,
I should explain that DiskWarrior is primarily for Directory repairs. When an application crashes (for example) or when an application is installed (any app), these create some minor derangement of the Directory. Likewise, hard shutdowns cause some directory damage. Directory damage is cumulative and it may take several such events to cause obvious symptoms to appear.

Hard shutdowns may cause other kinds of damage as well. So, I would say that, yes, you could use Onyx which covers a lot of things besides Directory damage.

Trying to clarify: I would still recommend running DiskWarrior because as I said there are several causes of Directory damage and that is cumulative over normal operations, over periods of time. Onyx could be used to supplement DiskWarrior by taking care of things other than Directory damage. I've used Onyx very little - recently used it to repair core services data base, for example.

What prompted my first post was that you didn't report any post-shutdown symptoms. I wanted just to point out that there may have been directory damage which (in early stages) causes no obvious symptoms. DiskWarrior will repair the Directory before it accumulates to the point where symptoms are noticed.

Hope this has helped you. 🙂

Ok, thank you. The explanation was helpful.

Am I correct in thinking you have to pay for DiskWarrior, macnoel?

I certainly agree with Macnoel that Lacie seem to have lost the plot recently. I would not put them bottom of the list, as I think that is firmly occupied by Western Digital's My Books (for Mac anyway - they may be fine on Windoze). I like Freecom and the new iOmega eGo FW800 drives are lightning fast. For travelling they are ideal, with no external wall wart required. That said I have got one of our 6 Freecom's that consistently misbehaves. Replaced by Amazon and the replacement also misbehaves. It is a 1TB bog standard external FW drive and checks out perfectly on all the tools. Our Freecom Datatanks, have been faultless apart from one external power supply failure, which Freecom replaced FOC, even though it was well out of warranty - excellent service.

Onyx is fine as an internal HD checker but it cannot repair your boot disc, which has to be done from an external storage or DVD boot device (internal or external). I carry a bootable SD card for when I want to travel light. I have until recently, been a fan of Disk Warrior. Their latest iteration (4.2) seems to have issues. Some Slow Leopard machines will boot off it; some will not. I am hoping that 4.3 comes out soon. Tech Tools is not great at repairs but is a good tool for looking for bad sectors on a disc.

Wilson

Yes, the Alsoft price is $99 USD, I think. Domestic U.S. aftermarket prices range from $84.99 to $94 - but you should be careful to get the right version and be "confident" of the seller's integrity.

Wilson,
You're quite right - I had never even considered Western Digital drives when searching for either external or internal drives for my Macs. I have taken note of your comments on Freecom and iOmega eGo drives for future reference.

My own personal preference for drives of either kind has been for the Hitachi line. I've bought a number of these and some have been running at least 5 years (attached to my 7 year-old eMac) -inside a FireWire 400 enclosure sold by OWC (www.macsales.com). I'm planning on replacing the LaCie external drive attached to my Mac Pro before long - because of afore mentioned problems. I will certainly look into the alternative brands you mention but I'm "pretty sure" I'll end up buying another Hitachi from OWC (adding of course, a FireWire 800 enclosure).

Thanks for your added notes on DiskWarrior and Onyx. I was not aware that DW was having problems on Macs running 10.6. I suspect you agree that's more because of 10.6 than because of any fault with Alsoft and their DiskWarrior product.

BTW - my sincere sympathy is with you, you are one of the early reporters of this Finder error problem. You have been on this thread waay too long and through no fault of your own.

Macnoel,

Just to be sure that I was not giving out of date info, I downloaded the latest Disk Warrior V4.2 1001 build update and burnt it onto a CD today. This will not boot in my late 2009 13" MacBook Pro. You can hear it try to fire up but it soon gives up and then nothing happens.

Wilson