Darwin programs (I think) are not working

Question

Darwin programs (I think) are not working

This problem showed up a few months ago and didn't relate to an OS update--it started after I deleted a bunch of files on my system as my wife stopped using the computer and I did. Basically, most programs would not open--they would show up briefly in the dock, then disappear. This included Office applications, the Printer Setup Utility, Endnote, and just about anything except iLife and Apple applications. After an OS update, Office started working again, but Endnote, the Printer Setup Utility, and other applications won't work. DarwiinRemote won't work either, which makes me wonder if it's Darwin apps specifically that don't work (if that even makes sense).

I should also mention that my computer crashes if the print window shows up after I hit cmd-p and it crashes if I try to open System Profiler.

Can anyone help? Many thanks!

iBook G4 800mhz, Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Posted on Dec 13, 2006 2:04 PM

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Answer 1

Bill Scott

Level 6

11,465 points

Dec 13, 2006 7:47 PM in response to Michaelinnotts

"it started after I deleted a bunch of files on my system"

Do you recall what ones you deleted? If you do, you might be able to salvage what you have.

Otherwise, if I were you, I would back up anything you can't live without and reinstall the operating system. You can probably do an archive-install and that will keep your old user files, but do the backup anyway.

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Answer 2

Dec 14, 2006 1:25 AM in response to Bill Scott

I can't remember what files I deleted, but there were a lot of them, including some preference files in the Library folder (which was very stupid, I know).

I have tried to backup and reinstall the OS from the installation CD, but the process won't complete, I presume for the same reason that some apps won't open now.

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Answer 3

Dec 14, 2006 6:16 PM in response to Michaelinnotts

Which Library folder? If it was the one in your home directory, that should not cause these kinds of problems.

If it will let you, try creating a new user, then reboot and login as that users. See if things work well there. If so, it would indicate you don't have System problem, but a User problem.

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