macbook boots up, let's me log in, but then I can't click anything or it restarts

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macbook boots up, let's me log in, but then I can't click anything or it restarts

This problem just started up 2 days ago, my computer died one night and the next morning when I booted it up, it wasn't working. It will start up fine and bring me to the log in screen, I can log in fine. My desktop loads up and all the files I have on my desktops are all still there, the dock loads up with all my apps (except for itunes , the icon is missing completely and there's just a blank space, when I hover over it it says iTunes). The menu bar usually shows up fine but sometimes its blank and sometimes it doesn't show up at all. Now here's the real problem: whenever I try to open an application, or even open up one of the files on my desktop, the files and dock all disappear for a second and then it all shows back up with an error message : finder quit unexpectedly. Sometimes this message doesn't even show up and everything loads back up, but the blue dot that indicates that an application is running is not next to Finder. so maybe this is a problem with finder? This is kind of an old computer and i use it all the time so I wouldn't be surprised if its finally just dying... The operating system is mountain lion but I'm not sure what number.. I can't look because I can't click on anything without it doing the restarting thing.

MacBook

Posted on Apr 21, 2014 9:12 AM

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Answer 1

Apr 21, 2014 9:35 AM in response to jakedono98

Try booting in Safe Mode.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1564

Please post the results.

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Answer 2

jakedono98 Author

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Apr 21, 2014 10:58 AM in response to Eustace Mendis

I'm sorry, I should've also included that my shift keys don't work very well. Every once in a great while they will work for a few mins but they haven't worked for a long time.

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Answer 3

Apr 21, 2014 11:43 AM in response to jakedono98

It's pretty tough to trouble shoot without a reliable keyboard. Do you have access to a wired usb keyboard that you could use?

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Answer 4

jakedono98 Author

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Apr 21, 2014 1:56 PM in response to Eustace Mendis

Um I think I might back at home, unfortunately I'm on vacation right now, do you think u could keep this problem in mind and let me know what to do once I get back home on Thursday?

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Answer 5

Apr 21, 2014 2:30 PM in response to jakedono98

Sure. Just make a post here and Apple will alert me that you are back.

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Answer 6

jakedono98 Author

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Apr 21, 2014 5:06 PM in response to Eustace Mendis

Ok thanks!

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Answer 7

jakedono98 Author

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Apr 24, 2014 7:19 AM in response to Eustace Mendis

Hey, so I used my other keyboard, safe booted it, and logged in just fine. Everything was looking fine when my desktop was loading, my iTunes icon was back on the dock, the blue dot was next to finder on the dock, my files on my desktop were all showing up, and then all of a sudden my background went white and the dock disappeared. They reloaded a split second later but now the blue dot is gone from finder. Also the menu bar has never shown up. My computer keeps just reloading like this, but the blue dot never appears n neither does the menu bar. All my files stay where they are. What should I try now?

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Answer 8

Apr 24, 2014 7:33 AM in response to jakedono98

I never did ask this. What version of Mac OS X, and what OS disk do you have?

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Answer 9

jakedono98 Author

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Apr 24, 2014 8:23 AM in response to Eustace Mendis

All I can do at the moment is open "About this Mac" and it only stays up for a few seconds before restarting, but it said version 10.7.5 and at the bottom it said startup disk: Macintosh HD, is that what you mean by os disk?

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Answer 10

Apr 24, 2014 8:49 AM in response to jakedono98

Restart the computer and immediately hold down the option key. When the Mac boots there will be two hard drive icons on the screen. Select Recovery and hit return.

The next screen will show this:

Select Disk Utility and continue.

In DU do the following:

In the list at the left, select the hard drive. (Be sure to select the name that’s indented to the right in the list, not the disk name at the far left.)
Click First Aid.
If Disk Utility tells you the disk is about to fail, back it up and replace it. You can’t repair it.
Click Repair Disk.

When that is done, quit DU and restart the computer in the usual way.

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Answer 11

jakedono98 Author

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Apr 24, 2014 9:13 AM in response to Eustace Mendis

Ok so I've tried this twice, and both times when I log back in, everything appears to be loading up great and then all of a sudden it does that thing where the background goes white n the dock disappears. Should I just keep trying to repair the disk?

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Answer 12

Apr 24, 2014 9:19 AM in response to jakedono98

Run repair disk. Don't quit DU. Run Repair Disk again, and again. It's worth re-running it many times. With luck the drive will be completely repaired and you will get a message to that effect.

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