System Preferences Freezes on Open

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Level 2

489 points

System Preferences Freezes on Open

Whenever I launch System preferences, it freezes up before the window appears. The computer acts as if it is open, but there is no window. It won't quit when I hit Command + Q, and all of its menu bar items (like Edit) don't respond. This all started happening after I restarted my computer to get Internet Sharing working. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with it, but I have a Logitech M510 mouse, which has two programmable buttons on the side. These buttons no longer work, but I can still click, right-click, and scroll. I have tried to launch System Preferences in 32-bit mode as well, and it didn't make a difference.

Does anybody know how to fix this?

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8)

Posted on Aug 18, 2013 10:17 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

BDAqua

Level 10

238,991 points

Aug 18, 2013 12:29 PM in response to apad201

Hello,

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.

That folder is hidden in 10.8...

Easiest way to do this is to option-click the Go menu in Finder and choose Library.

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Answer 2

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,541 points

Aug 18, 2013 1:02 PM in response to apad201

Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.

Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left. If you don't see that menu, select

View ▹ Show Log List

from the menu bar.

Click the Clear Display icon in the toolbar. Then try the action that you're having trouble with again. Select any messages that appear in the Console window. Copy them to the Clipboard (command-C). Paste into a reply to this message (command-V).

When posting a log extract, be selective. In most cases, a few dozen lines are more than enough.

Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.

Important: Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

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