finder will not open

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Level 1

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finder will not open

FINDER WILL NOT OPEN. IT SEEMS I HAVE A CORRUPTED FILE WHICH HAS TAKEN UP ALL OF THE HARD DRIVE SPACE. HOW CAN I ACCESS FINDER TO REMOVE THE CORRUPT FILE?

Mac mini, Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Posted on May 19, 2012 6:56 PM

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Answer 1

Limnos

Level 10

411,223 points

May 19, 2012 7:39 PM in response to jjoanides

That must be a huge file since it occupies all the 15+ GB you leave free on your computer at all times.

Try starting your computer with the shift key held down and work in Safe Mode.

Mac OS X: Starting up in Safe Mode - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1455

What is Safe Boot, Safe Mode? (Mac OS X) - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1564

Safe Boot takes longer than normal startup - http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1884

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Answer 2

BDAqua

Level 10

239,225 points

May 19, 2012 7:50 PM in response to jjoanides

Great advice so far! 🙂

First, Safe Boot , (holding Shift key down at bootup), use Disk Utility from there to Repair Permissions, test if things work OK in Safe Mode.

Then move these files to the Desktop...

/Users/YourUserName/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist

/Users/YourUserName/Library/Preferences/com.apple.systempreferences.plist

/Users/YourUserName/Library/Preferences/com.apple.desktop.plist

/Users/YourUserName/Library/Preferences/com.apple.recentitems.plist

Reboot & test.

PS. Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive.

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