Problems with programs "disappearing" – Stickies and Special Characters

hi, i'm new to mac and i've been having a couple of problems so far.

for the stickies program (not the dashboard widget but the program) it worked fine until after a bit when it all of a sudden disappeared. keep in mind the program is still running. i'd quit it (force quit and apple+Q) and re-launch it but still the sticky notes i had are gone. the thing is when i go into the Window menu, it shows them there, so i know they exist. when i select them nothing happens, i'm still left with a blank screen.

any ideas how to fix this?

also, whenever i go to try to select Special Characters from the drop down menu, it pretends like something is loading but it doesn't load. nothing loads. no program at all, nothing to force quit, nada.

any idea anyone? do i need to re-install anything? is this all on the OS disc? can i install it separately without having to install the whole OS? please help me!

Is Spaces running?? or have you ever activated Spaces since having Leopard? if yes, then go into system preferences for Spaces and delete the applications listed in Spaces.

I had a similar problem when all of a sudden Safari and Mail would "hide" but if i clicked the icon the window would not appear - knew it must have been something to do with Spaces as only recently had activated it prior to problem.

Even if Spaces is de-activated, you still gotta delete the applications listed in the Spaces preferences list. Let me know.......

dents291002 said:

Is Spaces running?? or have you ever activated Spaces since having Leopard? if yes, then go into system preferences for Spaces and delete the applications listed in Spaces.

I had a similar problem when all of a sudden Safari and Mail would "hide" but if i clicked the icon the window would not appear - knew it must have been something to do with Spaces as only recently had activated it prior to problem.

Even if Spaces is de-activated, you still gotta delete the applications listed in the Spaces preferences list. Let me know.......

Click to expand...

hey dents, thanks for your reply. i don't have spaces on and there are no programs listed under spaces...

i have resolved the problem! in case this happens to you.

for the character palette i had to archive and install. sucks. i most likely didn't install the languages correctly on start up so the characters weren't all available? could be wrong though.

for stickies, i had to remove the .plist file associated with the stickies app (the program preferences) and that worked to fix it. the program re-creates a new one with new settings.

thanks to those who tried to help me. just wanted to keep you updated.