I accidentally chose Macintosh HD as my Screen Saver Photo Folder and it stopss responding every time I try to change it. How can I fix this?

Question

I accidentally chose Macintosh HD as my Screen Saver Photo Folder and it stopss responding every time I try to change it. How can I fix this?

When I was changing the folder for the photos that system prefrences uses for the slideshow screensavers, I accidentally chose Macintosh HD instead of the folder I wanted. Now when I try to change it, It stops responding and I have to force quit. How can I stop this from happeneing or at least change the folder it uses for the Slide show?

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2012), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Oct 16, 2013 8:00 PM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

361,731 points

Oct 16, 2013 8:03 PM in response to TrevorCollins56

Move the files to where they belong.

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Answer 2

Oct 16, 2013 8:07 PM in response to Kappy

What do you mean? Which files? I can't change the screensaver to the slide show without System Prefrences not responding.

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Answer 3

Kappy

Level 10

361,731 points

Oct 16, 2013 8:14 PM in response to TrevorCollins56

The screensavers' image files that are now sitting at the root of your hard drive. Move them to the folder in which they belong or did you actually move the entire folder? This is the folder from the /Library/ folder named Desktop Pictures? Or the one from the /System/Library/ folder named Screen Savers?

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Answer 4

Oct 16, 2013 8:18 PM in response to Kappy

I was in System Prefrences > Chose the Slideshow Screensaver > When I changed the source I jumped the gun and chose "Macintosh HD" as the source so now it stops responding when I try to load the screen saver

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Answer 5

Kappy

Level 10

361,731 points

Oct 16, 2013 8:26 PM in response to TrevorCollins56

Go back and change the source to the correct location in Desktop & ScreenSaver preferences. Be a good idea to disable the screensaver until you're sorted out.

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Answer 6

Oct 16, 2013 8:32 PM in response to Kappy

But the problem is when I try to click on one of the slide show screen savers to change the source it stops responding. It's probably because it's just trying to load every photo on my hard drive. I don't know how to change the source without clicking on the slide show screen saver.

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Answer 7

Kappy

Level 10

361,731 points

Oct 16, 2013 8:40 PM in response to TrevorCollins56

So you are referring to:

this dropdown menu?

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Answer 8

Oct 16, 2013 8:42 PM in response to Kappy

Yes, I can't access that drop down because it doesn't load it just freezes up and shows the rainbow pinwheel when I try to get to it

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Answer 9

Kappy

Level 10

361,731 points

Oct 16, 2013 8:50 PM in response to TrevorCollins56

OK, this is a longshot. Go to /Home/Library/Preferences/ByHost/ folder. Look for a file similar to this one:

com.apple.ScreenSaverPhotoChooser.55ADE930-5FDF-5EC4-8429-15640684C489.plist. The numbers don't mean anything. Drag it out to your Desktop or put it in the Trash (don't Empty yet.)

See if that now lets you have access to the menu. If it does and you're OK, then you can Empty the Trash.

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Answer 10

Oct 17, 2013 4:51 AM in response to Kappy

That fixed it! Thanks a lot!

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