Unable to open programs on OS X

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As of last night I am unable to open any program except firefox (skype, safari, itunes, software update, calendar, dictionary, etc). They immediately crash and I get a problem report notice that it is sending a report to Apple. I haven't installed anything new on my computer.

Does anyone know what could be wrong? It would be nice if I could fix this sooner than later, my finals start on Saturday and if I could get this out of the way it would be one less thing to worry about.
 

vansmith

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Mini (2014, 2018, 2020), MBA (2020), iPad Pro (2018), iPhone 13 Pro Max, Watch (S6)
Have you tried repairing permissions with Disk Utility? See here.
 
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Did the basic troubleshooting, still no progress or improvement.
The only thing I can't do is update my software. The program is closing before it can check for software updates. Is there a manual software update somewhere (I couldn't find one anywhere)
 

chscag

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2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
How about giving us some info about your Mac and which version of OS X you're using? You may be able to fix things by downloading and installing a combo update from Apple. But we need to know which version of OS X you're running first.
 

pigoo3

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I'm using Snow Leopard, what other kind of info do you need?

Just so everyone knows EXACTLY what you're dealing with...tell us:

- the specs on your computer (model, processor speed, etc.)
- exactly what version of Snow Leopard you're running

Other than that...one additional thing I would like to know is how full is your hard drive (tell us what size HD you have & how full it is). If your hard drive is totally full (or almost full)...your computer cannot operate...and could be doing what you describe.

Thanks,

- Nick
 

pigoo3

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Did the basic troubleshooting, still no progress or improvement.
The only thing I can't do is update my software. The program is closing before it can check for software updates. Is there a manual software update somewhere (I couldn't find one anywhere)

Also let us know if you "repaired permissions" as "vansmith" suggested.

- Nick
 
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I'm running 10.6.5
MacBookPro 7,1
Processor speed 2.4 GHz
1 processor/2 cores
4GB Memory
L2 Cache: 3MB

For the hard drive, I have a 249.72GB capacity and 205.81 GB available
 

chscag

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OK, thanks for posting back the info we need. Right now, I don't suggest doing any updating until we figure out why you're crashing. Do this:

Boot your MBP with your Snow Leopard DVD and run the Apple Hardware Test. Use the extended tests especially to check the memory modules. I suspect you may have some bad or intermittent memory.

Also, if your machine is under warranty or extended Apple care, you might want to contact your local Apple store and make an appointment to take the machine in to have them look at it. If it turns out that it's the memory that's causing the crashing, Apple will replace it for free. (provided your MBP is still under warranty)

Let us know.
 

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