Preview does not work....

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Level 1

9 points

Preview does not work....

I am experiencing 3 strange problems with my iMac.

#1) Preview no longer works. When I try and view a JPG or run Preview directly I get an error that says "The application Preview can't be opened." -600. I have copied preview from my second iMac and tried to run it with no success.

#2) Sporadic print errors when printing remotely to my second iMac's shared HP Laserjet. Sometimes it prints. Sometimes it doesn't. No error message and nothing stuck in the print queue of the iMac I am printing from.

#3 My networked Canon printer just started having scanning issues for no apparent reason. I have re-installed the scanner application but it just flat doesn't want to work. I am not sure if this issue is related to the other 2 or not - just thought I'd mention it.

I have also had problems printing and viewing PDF files.

From what I can look up on Google, it seems that the consensus is that the iMAc OS needs to be reinstalled. Whereas an OS reinstall on a Windows PC keeps all of your settings and applications, that does not seem to be the case with OSX.

If I have to copy everything off of the iMac and do a complete wipe and reinstall that will be a major headache. Is there another way to fix these issues?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.5)

Posted on Mar 2, 2011 7:28 AM

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Answer 1

Limnos

Level 10

411,193 points

Mar 2, 2011 7:39 AM in response to cerksees

For the general issues I would boot from your installer disc, run Disk Utility, then First Aid to verify the drive. Repair if necessary. Once all is reported okay, boot normally, then tun Disk Utility in your Applications > Utilities and repair permissions. Note, you can not repair a disc which is the one from which you are presently booted which is why you need to boot from the installer disc. However, it is best to run permissions repair from disc utility on the computer which is why you should do this as a second step when booted from the computer.

[Mac OS X 10.6 Help - Repairing a disk|http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/8492.html]

From what I can look up on Google, it seems that the consensus is that the iMAc OS needs to be reinstalled. Whereas an OS reinstall on a Windows PC keeps all of your settings and applications, that does not seem to be the case with OSX.

No, you can reinstall your OS with keeping all settings. It used to be archive and install and you had to specifically tell it to keep settings. With Snow Leopard they changed how it was done and I think it is now done automatically if the installer sees you already have your system on there.

Try the repair things first.

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Answer 2

cerksees Author

Level 1

9 points

Mar 2, 2011 11:41 AM in response to Limnos

Thanks for the pointers.

One more question before I begin...my iMac is about 1.5 years old. The most recent disk I have is the upgrade for OSX Snow Leopard 10.6.5. Will that be the disk that I should use to run the utilities?

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Answer 3

Limnos

Level 10

411,193 points

Mar 2, 2011 11:43 AM in response to cerksees

Will that be the disk that I should use to run the utilities?

Yes.

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Answer 4

cerksees Author

Level 1

9 points

Mar 2, 2011 12:46 PM in response to Limnos

Thank you. I will try this in the morning (9am EST) and report my results here.

Thanks again!

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Answer 5

cerksees Author

Level 1

9 points

Mar 8, 2011 6:28 PM in response to cerksees

The end user's Mac was not made available to me to test. She said she would test it last Thursday and now says it will be tested at some point in the future.

Due to her indifference to the problem, I am going to consider it solved. If it was affecting her work I am sure it would be higher on her priority list.

Thanks for all of your help!

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