Strange Finder/Dock crash. Grey desktop screen

Question

Strange Finder/Dock crash. Grey desktop screen

I have a very odd issues with my MBP i7 running mountain lion. I recently booted up my mac, which took a rather long time especially for a flash drive. Once I was finally logged in I was greeted by a grey desktop. My usual backdrop was gone. No drives or icons displayed either. The top menu bar was all normal and available. However my dock was no longer available. The only way I could access anything was through keyboard short cuts Apple Shift N for window and Apple Shift A for applications folder. Once I had a window open I could happily navigate through all my folders. I can even open applications. But no dock, no bouncing icon. It's very weird.

Any help!!!!!

Posted on Mar 11, 2013 2:12 PM

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Answer 1

Eric Root

Level 10

684,027 points

Mar 11, 2013 2:38 PM in response to Reelsick Productions

Try deleting the Finder .plists and the dock .plist. You can just move them to the desktop in you don't want to delete them. Force quit Finder or log out/in.

You need to look in your user Library/Preferences for the .plist. Hold down the option key while using the Finder "Go To Folder" command. Enter ~`/Library. Delete the .plist(s) for the application.

If you prefer to make your user library permanently visible, use the Terminal command found below.

http://osxdaily.com/2011/07/04/show-library-directory-in-mac-os-x-lion/

You might want to bookmark the command. I had to use it again after I installed 10.8.2. I have also been informed that if you drag the user library to Finder it will remain visible.

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Answer 2

Mar 16, 2013 7:34 AM in response to Eric Root

Ok so I've tried that still no luck. I've looked into activity monitor and the processors are constantly at 35% with crash report and dock being the main culprits. Crash report keeps crashing I think. I've tried force quitting them in activity monitor bu both of them re-launch

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Answer 3

Eric Root

Level 10

684,027 points

Mar 16, 2013 9:32 AM in response to Reelsick Productions

What happens if you boot into the Safe Mode?

Shut down the computer and then power it back up. Immediately after hearing the startup chime, hold down the shift key and continue to hold it until the gray Apple icon and a progress bar appear. The boot up is significantly slower than normal. This will reset some caches.

Safe Mode

Safe Mode - About

General information.

Isolating issues in Mac OS X

Troubleshooting Permission Issues

Step by Step to Fix Your Mac

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