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jusbajan

Q: Security update 2016-004 causing the finder to relaunch frequently?

Yesterday I installed Security update 2016-004 on my office iMac. It seemed to have installed properly however the finder now relaunches randomly when I try to navigate/access files. Sometimes it hangs and the files don't load in the finder windows. If I relaunch the finder manually they become available again, but the problem is happening every few minutes of use. There don't seem to be any subsequent updates and I am not sure if it is possible to rollback? I have a clone and a time machine backup but i'm not sure how I would rollback a security update with time machine. I've tried restarting but the problem is still happening. I tried updating to El Capitan months ago but had to restore the system to Yosemite as the system was seemingly unable to handle the processing. I have the max 8 gb ram installed. Any help would be greatly appreciated as this is my office computer and I need to restore function asap.

iMac, OS X 10.9.5, iMac 20" Early 2009

Posted on Aug 23, 2016 11:04 AM

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Q: Security update 2016-004 causing the finder to relaunch frequently?

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  • by AppleJen77,Helpful

    AppleJen77 AppleJen77 Aug 24, 2016 11:11 AM in response to jusbajan
    Community Specialists
    Aug 24, 2016 11:11 AM in response to jusbajan

    Hello there, jusbajan!

     

    Thanks for reaching out to the Apple Support Communities! It sounds like you are having an issue with Finder not working properly on your iMac. I know how important it is to be able to use Finder and have it work properly at all times. I would suggest booting the computer into safe mode to see if the issue is happening there. Check out this article here: Try safe mode if your Mac doesn‘t finish starting up. Even though the Mac is starting up correctly, safe mode will help eliminate startup issues that could cause issues like what you are having with Finder.

    Starting up in safe mode

    Follow these steps to start up into safe mode.

    1. Start or restart your Mac. 
    2. Immediately after you hear the startup sound, press and hold the Shift key.
    3. Release the Shift key when you see the Apple logo appear on the screen.

    After the Apple logo appears, it might take longer than usual to reach the login screen or your desktop. This is because your Mac performs a directory check of your startup disk as part of safe mode.

    To leave safe mode, restart your computer without pressing any keys during startup.

    If you don't hear a startup chime after pressing the power key, see what to do if your Mac won't turn on.

    If you're using FileVault

    If your startup disk is encrypted with FileVault, you can still hold down the Shift key immediately after powering on your Mac to start up in safe mode. You might be prompted to log in twice as part of this process – first to unlock the startup disk, and a second time to log into the Finder. You can let go of the Shift key after you see the first login screen.

     

    If those steps don't help, check and see if the issue happens with a Test user by following this article: How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac​. The Test user will let you see if the issue is user specific or system wide.

     

    Cheers!

  • by Eric Root,Solvedanswer

    Eric Root Eric Root Aug 24, 2016 11:24 AM in response to jusbajan
    Level 9 (69,813 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 24, 2016 11:24 AM in response to jusbajan

    Do you have Google Drive installed?

     

    Finder – Fix Google Drive Problem


    Might be a corrupt .plist.

     

    Do a backup, preferably 2 backups on 2 separate drives.

     

    Go to Finder and select your user/home folder. With that Finder window as the front window, either select Finder/View/Show View options or go command - J.  When the View options opens, check ’Show Library Folder’. That should make your user library folder visible in your user/home folder.  Select Library. Then go to Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist.  Move the .plist to your desktop.

     

    Re-launch Finder by restarting the computer and test. If it works okay, delete the plist from the desktop.

     

    If the same, return the .plist to where you got it  from, overwriting the newer one.

     

    Thanks to leonie for some information contained in this.

  • by jusbajan,

    jusbajan jusbajan Aug 24, 2016 11:14 AM in response to AppleJen77
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 24, 2016 11:14 AM in response to AppleJen77

    Hi AppleJen 77, I really appreciate the help. When i tried safe mode the issue stopped. When i restarted without safe mode it resumed. I did login as a guest and the issue stopped pointing to a possible login item. I removed all unneccessary logins but the finder crashes persisted. At least I know its related to the user!

  • by jusbajan,

    jusbajan jusbajan Aug 24, 2016 11:23 AM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 24, 2016 11:23 AM in response to Eric Root

    Hi Eric turns out you were right. Having gone through the plist removal and it not working I disabled Google drive and the problem ceased. Switch it back on and the problem returns. Fortunately I rarely use Google Drive very so off it will stay. Thanks a million for the diagnosis, back in action!

     

    Also big thanks to Léonie

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Aug 24, 2016 1:28 PM in response to jusbajan
    Level 9 (69,813 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 24, 2016 1:28 PM in response to jusbajan

    You are welcome.

  • by flyguy72,

    flyguy72 flyguy72 Aug 24, 2016 7:49 PM in response to jusbajan
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 24, 2016 7:49 PM in response to jusbajan

    Thanks Jusbajan for posting this question and thanks to all those that replied with solutions. I had the same problem on my iMac (2.7 GHz Intel Core i5) running OS X Mavericks 10.9.5. The finder would barely run and folders would freeze up every few minutes as described. I deleted the "com.apple.finder.plist" file from Preferences and rebooted in Safe Mode. The problem persisted and didn't go away completely until I deleted Google Drive. Strange that there were no problems with Google Drive until this latest security update but I don't use the app very much so I can live without. Anyway, this problem was driving me nuts for the past couple of weeks and I'm very pleased that everything is back to normal. Thanks again!