02-23-2008, 09:25 AM

Hello everyone, I ordered my Macbook on Tuesday, and I just got it in last night. Everything was running well for about two hours, then I began to have issues.

1. Mail, iChat, iPhoto, iMovie, Front Row, and GarageBand will not open. When I click on them, a window comes up and says, "The application [name] quit unexpectedly. Mac OSX and other applications are not affected."

2. When I try to open "Desktop and Screen Saver", I get the message, "Preferences Error-Could not load Desktop and Screen Saver preference pane"

Someone please help. I have searched these forums and the internet for an answer and none of them have worked.

I have tried:

1. Running OnyX

2. Repairing disk permissions

3. I have heard people say that I should reinstall EVERYTHING but I transferred all of my music and I really don't want to do it all over again.

02-23-2008, 09:44 AM

Yeah, should at least do an archive install and see if it takes care of it.

02-23-2008, 09:50 AM

Originally Posted by Kalison

Yeah, should at least do an archive install and see if it takes care of it.

Thanks for the quick response. Will an archive install retain files or not?

02-23-2008, 10:10 AM

WHOA! Not so fast! No need to jump the gun and reinstall the OS! We need to go back and see if we can narrow down the source of the problem. It may be something simple. Look for my next response....

02-23-2008, 10:14 AM

Ok... my initial gut instinct here is that you have a hardware issue. You really should so a hardware test first. Instructions on how to do so here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303081

Try that and report back.

A couple other questions in the meanwhile... do you have any other devices plugged into the computer besides a standard keyboard and mouse? If so... unplug them and see if just doing that resolved the problem.

02-23-2008, 11:12 AM

Return it and tell them that it is defective.

02-23-2008, 11:51 AM

It sounds like you did something to the OS. Deleted or changed something that should not have been changed.

An archive and install would be your best bet and fastest way to ensure it is not a hardware issue. Whereas SOME people would like to spend hours tinkering to figure out the root cause most people are just fine with spending a minimum amount of time and actually making the issue go away. If after the archive and install the problem comes back then take it in for defective hardware. Unfortunatly you bought it online so they may have to send it in to get a replacement. I NEVER buy an apple computer from the online store. If you buy it from the retail store you get much faster replacement service.

02-23-2008, 01:30 PM

Originally Posted by theonegod

It sounds like you did something to the OS. Deleted or changed something that should not have been changed.

An archive and install would be your best bet and fastest way to ensure it is not a hardware issue. Whereas SOME people would like to spend hours tinkering to figure out the root cause most people are just fine with spending a minimum amount of time and actually making the issue go away. If after the archive and install the problem comes back then take it in for defective hardware. Unfortunatly you bought it online so they may have to send it in to get a replacement. I NEVER buy an apple computer from the online store. If you buy it from the retail store you get much faster replacement service.

I disagree that an archive/install is a sure method of ruling out a hardware issue. There may simply be a buggy issue with the OS on that particular machine (look at all the people who have problems with Leopard, versus those who don't) that may or may not have workarounds or patches/updates to fix. You also risk preserving files that may be the source of the issue, in the case of using the option "Preserve User and Network Settings".

As for what is a waste of time.... well if one does and Archive and Install, but the problem is hardware-related (but, say, doesn't show up initially due to a hard drive corruption of some sort that happens over time), then one wasted their time doing the A&I. If one does a Hardware Test to verify the hardware is OK, and it is, then one could claim that was a waste of time. Personally I'd rather avoid reinstalling the OS, then the software, then recover my personal files, and so on and on if it isn't necessary. THAT sounds like a real waste of time to me, but to each person their own.

02-23-2008, 03:32 PM

Originally Posted by Nulifax

Hello everyone, I ordered my Macbook on Tuesday, and I just got it in last night. Everything was running well for about two hours, then I began to have issues.

1. Mail, iChat, iPhoto, iMovie, Front Row, and GarageBand will not open. When I click on them, a window comes up and says, "The application [name] quit unexpectedly. Mac OSX and other applications are not affected."

2. When I try to open "Desktop and Screen Saver", I get the message, "Preferences Error-Could not load Desktop and Screen Saver preference pane"

Someone please help. I have searched these forums and the internet for an answer and none of them have worked.

I have tried:

1. Running OnyX

2. Repairing disk permissions

3. I have heard people say that I should reinstall EVERYTHING but I transferred all of my music and I really don't want to do it all over again.

A dumb question, i assume you bought you Mac from Apple?
Just wondering.

02-23-2008, 04:16 PM

Originally Posted by lifeisabeach

I disagree that an archive/install is a sure method of ruling out a hardware issue. There may simply be a buggy issue with the OS on that particular machine (look at all the people who have problems with Leopard, versus those who don't) that may or may not have workarounds or patches/updates to fix. You also risk preserving files that may be the source of the issue, in the case of using the option "Preserve User and Network Settings".

As for what is a waste of time.... well if one does and Archive and Install, but the problem is hardware-related (but, say, doesn't show up initially due to a hard drive corruption of some sort that happens over time), then one wasted their time doing the A&I. If one does a Hardware Test to verify the hardware is OK, and it is, then one could claim that was a waste of time. Personally I'd rather avoid reinstalling the OS, then the software, then recover my personal files, and so on and on if it isn't necessary. THAT sounds like a real waste of time to me, but to each person their own.

Exactly. Reinstalling the OS is almost never necessary. That "Slash and Burn" reinstall method does work wonders in Windows sometimes... but really isn't needed in the Mac world.
The fastest and best way to rule out a hardware issue is to run the Hardware Test from your install discs.

02-23-2008, 04:22 PM

Agreed completely with lifeisabeach and DB. Follow lifeisabeach's URL and run the Apple Hardware test. Do the extended test. Report back.

Archive and Install does not kill any data but first you should run the test to see if any hardware is defective.