Problem with OSX 10.8.5

Hi there.

I have an iMac 27 and been using it perfectly for the past 18 months! I am aware of new software and releases but want to keep this software as it runs all my programmes i.e editing software and Abobe products. NOW,,, I cannot seem to open iTunes! It just opens 2 white boxes as shown below. This is a problem as i can't back my iPhone up! Some people say to delete and re install but it won't allow me to as its part of the OSX software. My iMac is as below

3.4 i7
16GB 1600 MHz DDR3

Hope someone can help

Thanks

Hi DjJacko2k11, You could just try reinstalling the Operating System from the Restore partition but I think I would run some repair programs first.
Have you run Verify Hard Drive on Disk Utility yet?
And importantly do you have a backup?

No i haven't backed up or even tried that method.

Is it easy to do?

Thanks

Which, backing up or running Disk Utility? Just kidding, BUT I would always advise having a backup before conducting any System repairs.
It is a task which will no doubt save you a lot of heartache in the future when your computer dies, which it will one day.

BACKING UP SHOULD BE THE FIRST STEP TO PERFORMING ANY REPAIR TO THE OPERATING SYSTEM OF A COMPUTER.

You will need a USB/Lightening Bolt external Hard Drive roughly twice the storage of your internal Hard Drive. Eg if your Mac HD is 250Gb then 500Gb would be ideal. This info is under the Apple Menu under About This Mac.
Then you could use the native Time Machine Application to create a backup or a third party cloning application to create a bootable clone of your Mac HD and it's contents. The latter is a better alternative but costs about $30.00

To use Disk utility open your Applications folder and locate a subfolder called Utilities. In that you will find Disk Utility which has a basic System repair function (Repair Disk) along with several other functions.
This page https://kb.wisc.edu/showroom/page.php?id=53983#10.6-10 explains the process with pictures of the Disk Utility under the 10.6.8 - 10.10 section. The first thing to do is choose your Macintosh HD from the side menu and run Verify Disk. If no problems are found you could Repair Permissions but otherwise you can quit this app.

If any problem is found then I would seriously consider the backup options above before clicking Repair.

Thanks for the help,,,but,,, that didn't work either

So does that mean you do have a backup? The reason I ask apart from the obvious is if you have a, say Time Machine Backup you can restore your system to a date before the problem occurred or more simply reinstall your Operating System from the Restore Partition.
You could also download and run a system repair app called OnYx. It needs to be the version for Yosemite, there are different versions for each Operating System it is a free app available from here; http://www.titanium.free.fr/ Run the Automation Scripts on default and don't worry if it seems to take a while to Verify the HD.

Just one minor thing, Rod. 10.8.5 is Mountain Lion. Yosemite was 10.10.x. So if the OP does take your advice and download OnyX, it needs to be the ML version.

I think that in post #3, the OP is saying he/she doesn't have any backups at all?

Ian

First thing first, if you do not have a backup, make one before trying anything else, unless all the data on your iMac is not needed. When you have a backup of your important data you should proceed knowing that your data is safe.

Don't know how I missed that Ian, my apologies to the OP. In any case I don't think I can stress the backup need any more than I have. Having first done that the "easiest" solution is probably a reinstall of the OS but having said that I think it would be worth looking into what if any problems would be caused by an upgrade.

I have successfully backed up now. How do i re install the operating system? Apologies for my lack of knowledge all a learning curve

You will need to start up from your Recovery drive, see here, https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314.

Or, if you want to make a USB installer, you can go to the Mac App Store and click on your Purchased tab, then scroll to find the Mountain Lion download. Download ML and then cancel the installation when when it starts the install procedure. You will need an 8gb or larger USB to create the USB installer. I follow these steps to create my USB installers, http://osxdaily.com/2012/02/17/make-bootable-os-x-10-8-mountain-lion-usb-install-drive/.