Default Resets

[Ginger Pilot]

Hello,

First time with a Mac and I love it, BUT I find the default settings for Firefox and Adobe Acrobat reset each time I shut my MacBook Pro down.

If I shut down, Safari and Preview become the default browser and PDF viewer even though I had previously set Firefox and Adobe Acrobat as the defaults for these.

Also Skype will put me Offline after an hour or so, even though I still have a internet connection.

Any suggestions????

Cheers

GP

 

[MacHeadCase]

Welcome to Mac-Forums, Ginger Pilot. I hope you stick around. :girl:

To make Firefox your default web browser, launch Safari and in the Preferences, under the General tab you'll be able to choose the browser you want to use with a drop-down menu.

As for .pdf files, simply click once on one do Command (or Apple or ?) key + I. This will open the Get Info window, In it you will be able to tell the system that from now on, all files like this one should be handled by Acrobat. Don't forget to click on the Change All... button so this change will effect all .pdf files from now on.

See the screengrabs below...

 

[cwa107]

Are you sure Adobe Reader and Firefox are actually installed properly? When you download new software, many times it will come packaged as a DMG file. That DMG file acts as a "virtual drive", meaning that it mounts and looks very much like a hard drive when you double-click it. In many cases, all you have to do is double-click on it to run the program. Of course, when you reboot your computer, the drive is no longer mounted and the program is no longer available. New Mac users often make the mistake of simply double-clicking the DMG file again and running the program from the virtual drive. The trick is to actually drag the program icon to your Applications folder which "installs" the program on your Mac. From then on, you simply open your Applications folder and run the program from there. It will then save your preferences when you reboot your machine.

 

[Ginger Pilot]

MacHeadCase, both programs are set correctly as you described as the Default programs before I shut down. I checked Safari (Something I'd not tried before) which shows Firefox as the Default browser, but it still resets on Shutting Down.

cwa107, both programs are correctly installed, I've uninstall and re-installed them a couple of times to see if this would sort the problem out, but it still resets.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Anybody else have any ideas?

GP

 

[D3v1L80Y]

Reinstall the two applications, then once they are installed eject the image, put the downloaded .DMG files you installed them from into the Trash and empty it.

 

[Ginger Pilot]

D3v1L80Y, as stated in my last post I've reinstalled the programs a couple of times, but to no avail.

GP

 

[D3v1L80Y]

D3v1L80Y, as stated in my last post I've reinstalled the programs a couple of times, but to no avail.

GP

I understand that, but make sure that you delete the installation .dmg when you are done. That could be part of the issue, which is why I pointed out trashing it when you have completed the reinstall.
:black:

 

[Ginger Pilot]

D3v1L80Y, sorry didn't make myself clear. Yes I'd emptied the Trash Can and it still happened.

GP

 

[MacHeadCase]

OK download MainMenu.

Run the Cleaning -> Clean User Cache -> User Cache... and the Cleaning -> Clean System Cache -> Deep Clean... tasks and then restart. See if this sets things right in the next few hours or so.

If you notice the restart is a bit longer than usual, it's no biggie, the system is simply rebuilding its cache from scratch.

Good luck! :girl:

 

[Ginger Pilot]

MacHeadCase, nice little program but I'm affraid it didn't work, I'm still getting the default resets.

Arrrrrr.......Please help!

 

[MacHeadCase]

Has this behaviour always been happening since you've used it the first time or did this start after you installed some software or changed anything on your Mac?

 

[Ginger Pilot]

I've been using my Mac for about 8 weeks now, and I can't remember when it started. I've installed and uninstalled lots of software as I've tried different stuff. However all of it is original or shareware. The default reset has been happening for at least a few weeks.

GP

 

[MacHeadCase]

Try this: create a new user account and see if this happens in the new account as well.

If not, the problem is in your old account and probably has to do with some software that you installed and pulled or that is still present or a messed up pref somewhere.

If it is happening in the new account, it means the problem is system-wide and probably has to do with something that was installed for all user accounts or something is corrupted somewhere in the system.

Report back with your findings and we'll see what to do next.