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Level 1

5 points

Archive Utility has stopped working

Hi Folks,

Any idea how to reinstall this program? It hass topped working - I double-click on a .zip,for example, and Archive Utility opens up - but just hangs in what appears to be a state of starting the decompression process. Force Quit is my only option. I'd like to get this working (and not replace it with something else). Is there a preference file or something that can be tossed? Can I reinstall it?

Thanks.

MacBook Pro (15-inch Late 2008), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Oct 1, 2012 6:00 AM

49 replies

upenn777

Level 1

0 points

Nov 16, 2012 9:53 AM in response to cajund

There's an issue with the latest OS X update that has caused other apps to crash. The workaround has been to go to Activity Monitor and find "appleeventsd" and force quit the process. Everything should work after that point without having to do the whole reboot thing.

Level 7

23,993 points

Nov 16, 2012 9:55 AM in response to upenn777

Can't confirm.

Savaot

Level 1

0 points

Nov 16, 2012 11:36 AM in response to upenn777

In Activity Monitor 'appleeventsd is 'hidden' under 'Other User Processes' or 'All Processes'. I did force quit it and whoala unzip worked like a charm. True, appleeventsd reappeared in Activity Monitor and my thought that I'll have to kill it again, however I've tried without force quiting. Again, it worked like a charm. Further I've rebooted and tried again. And yes it stopped working (or taking enormous time to complete it). During that time I simply force quit appleeventsd, and UnZip finished in no time. This definetly solved my problem. However, I don't know how important that process is and what initiated that process and will it help to kill it at login time, because I've seen that was recreated once I envoked Archive utility again. Someone might write short script to accomplish that?

How to put This solved my question? Upenn777 deserves 10 points!

Message was edited by: Savaot

upenn777

Level 1

0 points

Nov 16, 2012 11:36 AM in response to Savaot

Glad it helped. appleeventsd should automatially restart after force quitting, and that's fine. it's just like if you force quit finder, it restarts.

Here is the website that suggested this strategy and linking it to a OS X bug. I first encountered issues with EndNote X6 (Academic citation software) and Word.

https://softwarestore.vanderbilt.edu/2012/10/endnote-x6-for-mac-and-mac-os-x-10- 8-2-issue/.

m_gol

Level 1

15 points

Nov 20, 2012 5:11 PM in response to upenn777

Thanks! It worked.

To people that said sth about repairing permissions and rebooting - IMHO no repairing is needed, just a reboot is enough. Though, as we see now, even rebooting is not necessary, just killing this one process.

grdh20

Level 1

72 points

Dec 7, 2012 3:06 PM in response to cajund

Smae on/off problem here. Must be a bug relating to some process on some systems I suppose. Only temporray repair by methods above.

Dec 9, 2012 5:25 PM in response to upenn777

The "appleeventsd" fix worked for me, too. Thank you! We'll see if it "holds" or if it's a recurring problem, I only just undertook the fix.

Dec 18, 2012 9:33 PM in response to upenn777

Thanks a ton. Had same problem with Archive Utility. Killed appleeventsd, no luck, killed with -9, BANG everything was fine.

If it happens to you, and you have time, run sysdiagnose on it and report it to Apple.

Dec 19, 2012 2:00 PM in response to CT

Deleting the Preferences file for Archive Utility had no effect. I have been unable to use Archive Utility for quite a while and have found an alternative program. Has a formal bug report been filed by anyone?