Mac won't open any apps

Please read this whole message before doing anything.

This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.

The purpose of this exercise is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Boot in safe mode* and log in to the account with the problem. The instructions provided by Apple are as follows:

1. Be sure your Mac is shut down.
2. Press the power button.
3. Immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold the Shift key. The Shift key should be held as soon as possible after the startup tone, but not before the tone.
4. Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple icon and the progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear).

*Note: If FileVault is enabled under OS X 10.7 or later, or if a firmware password is set, you can’t boot in safe mode.

Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs.

The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.

Test while in safe mode. Same problem(s)?

After testing, reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

I also had a similar problem. I brought it to the Apple Store and someone was able to help me fix it, but I know you do not have one near you.

The Apple technician also mentioned something about creating new users and logging in to run the apps, as did one of the users that replied. You may want to look into that.

Linc- I hope you are still here on this thread or can see it, and respond.

I have very similar situation occurring.

First the machine in Question is an iMac 27" running 10.7.4.

About 3 days ago I hooked up an old external 2TB LaCie hard drive to check to see what was on that drive. Immediately, the drive went into a "pulsing" mode and the i Mac began to act weird. I shut it down completely thinking I would try to solve the problem today.

I am trying to get the finder and applications back to normal. The machine will recognize the non-corrupted external hard drives. It sees the mouse and keyboard. It sometimes does see the Apple Menu and the menu bar and at other times does not.

I live in Montana- about 1100 miles from any Apple Store...Portland would be the closest..

1) I'd like to understand how hooking up the LaCie drive "corrupted" the main machine.

2) Is returning to Normal - a real option without extensive repairs?

Here is what goes on:

a) mouse clicks on any item in the Apple menu, including the Apple it self results in nothing.

b) clicking on any items in the application are of the dock, resutls in nothing

c) clicking on any folder on the desktop also results in nothing.

Backup are limited at that was what I was seeking- a drive to hookup to back up everything prior to the beginning of an edit session... HELP! Please

Hi Sir,

I am having this problem but it's not continuous. It usually does this as soon as I boot, programs won't start, but after 10-15 minutes they would start. Lately it is getting worse, if my laptop is drained out of battery and I have to restart (this is another issue cause usually when battery drains it does recover but anyways) most application are taking more than 10 - 15 mins. Sometimes even close to an hour.

I tried the boot in safe mode and applications opened immediately. It was super slow but they opened after booting.

Would you know what is going on here?

Thanks

What is your OS X version, and what backups do you have?

I'll assume that means you don't mind losing any data you haven't already backed up.

Are you saying that everything was fine yesterday, and today nothing works, without any changes having been made to the setup?

It's very likely that your boot drive is failing, or that you have some other hardware fault. If you like, you can try to erase and recreate the boot volume, but I don't know whether it will do any good.

Back up all data to at least two different storage devices, if you haven't already done so. The backups can be made with Time Machine or with a cloning tool such as Disk Utility. Preferably both. You must be certain that you can restore everything to the state it's in now.

Boot into Recovery, launch Disk Utility, and erase the startup volume. This operation will destroy all data on the volume, so you had be better be sure of your backups. Install OS X. If your Mac was upgraded from an older version of OS X, you’ll need the Apple ID and password you used to upgrade, so make a note of those before you begin.

When you reboot, you'll be prompted to go through the initial setup process. That’s when you import the data from one of your backups. For a walkthrough, see here:

Using Setup Assistant

Don't import the Guest account, if it was enabled on the old system.

Note: You need an always-on Ethernet or Wi-Fi connection to the Internet to use Recovery. It won’t work with USB or PPPoE modems, or with networks that require any kind of authentication other than a WPA or WPA2 Personal password.

There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to fully boot. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.

1. Boot into Recovery (command-R at startup) or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) Launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in the support article linked below, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.”

How to back up and restore your files

2. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, boot the non-working Mac in target disk mode by holding down the key combination command-T at the startup chime. Connect the two Macs with a FireWire or Thunderbolt cable. The internal drive of the machine running in target mode will mount as an external drive on the other machine. Copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.

How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode

3. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.

I may be looking at the same issue. Will you please report back to us in a few days of use, if you notice any improvement? Also, did they run a hardware test? If so, did the hard drive pass and they still said that's what it probably is? That what happened to me. Thank you for posting your issue.

Just tried the Shift key restart and it looked good for a moment. For some strange reason the cursor is jumping around the screen with the firefox icon attached and the poof indicator showing that it is being pulled from the dock... attached. With out any other motion or movement to the mouse it just moves. I had the wireless mouse go down the other day So I attached a wired mouse. Should I go get the batteries for the wireless??

Juts trying to give you geniuses some more information to work with.

Any body HOME???

OK got into Safe mode. applications worked fine, including Photoshop. The Apple menu worked to shut down the system. so for now, I'll hold off exactly where everything is until i hear some advice about what to do next.

Thanks for any responses...