HELP! my Macintosh HD icon has disappeared from my desktop!

Joined
Oct 27, 2006
Messages
897
Reaction score
31
Points
28
Are you running any 'shaper shifter' skins or themes?
In the Finder, go to Finder --> Preferences --> General. Is there a check mark under "Show these items on the Desktop" for your Hard disks?
 
OP
ekologik
Joined
Dec 3, 2007
Messages
74
Reaction score
1
Points
8
Location
Canada
Your Mac's Specs
MacBook 2.4 GHz Intel (unibody), 2 GB RAM; iPhone 3Gs
Are you running any 'shaper shifter' skins or themes?
In the Finder, go to Finder --> Preferences --> General. Is there a check mark under "Show these items on the Desktop" for your Hard disks?

yeah, i've checked that already. not working still.

archive adn install didn't work either.
 
Joined
Nov 28, 2007
Messages
25,564
Reaction score
486
Points
83
Location
Blue Mountains NSW Australia
Your Mac's Specs
Silver M1 iMac 512/16/8/8 macOS 11.6
Click on finder, go to preference and select first item 'Show Hard Disk".
 
OP
ekologik
Joined
Dec 3, 2007
Messages
74
Reaction score
1
Points
8
Location
Canada
Your Mac's Specs
MacBook 2.4 GHz Intel (unibody), 2 GB RAM; iPhone 3Gs
Click on finder, go to preference and select first item 'Show Hard Disk".

sherman had just suggested that above already. that was one of the first things i've checked.

although after the archive and install, though it wasn't there, i ran this script in the apple script as suggested here

tell application "System Events"
set visible of disk "NameofDisk" to true
end tell

tell application "Finder" to quit
delay 1
tell application "Finder" to launch

and it seems to be working so far on startup..
 
M

MacHeadCase

Guest
Just as an aside for anyone searching for missing desktop files - so not necessarily for your problem ekologik - I also read today that Intuit QuickBooks's automatic updater can really mess up in OS X. It deletes all files on the desktop NOT make them invisible! It deletes!

According to the Intuit user forum, the problem happens in OS X Tiger 10.4.x and OS X Leopard 10.5.x while in this Apple Discussions thread, the thread is in the Tiger forum.

...Apparently QB tries to get an update (which it does not need, as it is the R4 version), so I am guessing it is triggered by some internet check. At any rate, it fails because it suddenly disconnects from the net. It throws up an error message that you only have 100 bytes on your disk and cancels the update. Sometime between the update cancellation and the program opening, IT DESTROYS YOUR DESKTOP FOLDER as it turns it into a text edit document instead of a folder. This wipes all content of your Desktop.

If you are riunning Leopard and Time Machine you can restore the desktop folder but the next time you run QB it will, again, destroy the desktop folder.

What I did was to move everything from my desktop fpolder into another folder at the root level of the hard drive. I did leave just one small file on the desktop. Now when I run QB it destroys my desktop and I open the .../users/<my name> folder and I throw away the ruined desktop folder which is now a generic icon. Then I start Time Machine and choose to restore the one small file -- Time Machines asks if I want to remake the enclosing folder and I answer yes and wind up with the desktop folder again and the one small file.

Obviously this is ridiculous to have to do. ...

So proceed with caution if you use QuickBooks.
 

rman


Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 24, 2002
Messages
12,637
Reaction score
168
Points
63
Location
Los Angeles, California
Your Mac's Specs
14in MacBook Pro M1 Max 32GB 2TB
it would be better not to run quickbooks until intuit resolves the problem. I got caught by the problem last night. lucky I just back up my system the day before. So I only loss a little data. It does not matter what version of the OS you are running either.

Was going to post this problem, but did not recall any quickbook users.
 

rman


Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 24, 2002
Messages
12,637
Reaction score
168
Points
63
Location
Los Angeles, California
Your Mac's Specs
14in MacBook Pro M1 Max 32GB 2TB
It appears that Intuit put in a temporary fix, from their server end. So you will not see the upgrade error. The application will not delete the desktop folder now. The only thing I see is the desktop icon is still missing from the left of your window that is open.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top