more of a question than comment,that is were can i find out how to set up mail rules, as HELP in mail
and trouble shooting just sending you around in circular’s? Thank you Running G4 System10,3.9

Please include a support column for dial-up users, who have no access to broadband or DSL and can’t afford satellite. There’s so much we can’t do or share–yet the world acts as though everyone had broadband. Please provide info on what we CAN do while limited to dial-up. PS what is a “URI” ?

@Eric
Mail rules are in the mail preferences, though if you are on System 10.3.9, I am not sure there is going to be a lot of support out there for that, it is now 2 versions old.

@Anne
I would say so far, all but one of our tutorials would apply to users who are with no online access at all. Aside from the post about video, the rest so far should apply.

Even the post about video, is applicable, it will just take longer for you to download files and videos.

I will do my best to mention slow dialup cases, but for the most part, the tutorials should still be rather relevant.

I URI, is much like a URL, I don’t know why the software we use calls it a URI, technically it is a URL, which is nothing more than the address to get to a website. There are many other things that fall under the URI/URL category, and they are in fact different from each other, but for simplicities sake, just think of them as that address you see in Safari.

Please include a support colum for printer connections. I have an HP Deskjet 4180 All-In-One that is wirelessly connected to my laptop. I can only print, but very slowly. I can not scan or copy using my PowerBook G4. Have even downloaded the latest software.

@Julius Hjulian
Printers, at times, can be a very difficult thing to deal with. With the proliferation of so many multi-function printers out there, it is getting harder to get all those features to work.

The best idea, is that even if they say “Supports Mac”, is to research reviews on that printer model before buying. Some will barely support the Mac.

We will try to cover something about this in a future post, however, writing specific tutorials for every printer out there is not something we feel would benefit all our readers.

@Julius Hjulian
You say that you have a multi-function printer connected to your Mac wirelessly. That tells me that, most likely, you have the printer connected to the network via some kind of print server.

If that is the case, then that is the cause of the problems with scanning and copying. Those kinds of features typically require that the multi-function device be connected directly to a computer, as the software that controls the scanning and copying is looking for the device to be connected directly to a USB port (or some other kind of port) and has no way of locating it over a network.

Of course, you could be using a Bluetooth connected printer, too. In that case, please disregard my comments.

@Julius Hjulian
If you are using Leopard (10.5), HP scanners do not work (using HP scanner software) , even if you are directly connected.
google “HP scanner OSX 10.5″ for more info.
It seems some people are using Vue Scan (a 3rd party program), me ~ I bought a Canon.

Congratulations on a beautiful site and a great resource.

I need all the help I can get. I’ll read word by word. Thanks for your time and effort. cm

Scott- the site looks and reads fine. Maybe I am being picky, but my one comment is that you seem to have organized it backwards. To get to your welcome message, one has to scroll to the bottom. And the series on Safari starts with 3 and then 2, and then 1… I believe that you ought to fix all that!

@David, you are not being picky at all. The site is backwards intentionally. As a matter of fact, it is the nature of many sites these days, especially blogs.

The idea is you come to the site, and you are presented with the newest post first. Were we to reverse that order, every time someone came to the site, after they read all the posts, they would have to jump through every page to get to the last page.

Once you get caught up, it works pretty well the way it is now. If you notice, on the first page, there is an intro, that explains how to get to the beginning, and start on the first page.

Welcome to OS X help. If you are new to the Macintosh, OS X, and Apple, you have come to the right place. If this is your first time here, we suggest you start at the beginning, and work your way to the current post, which you see below.

Thanks for the comment, I think once you get caught up, you will find it is valuable to have the site in the order it is in now.

Thanks Scott:
Today I just found out about your sight & am very happy I did. I had an apple bought many years ago & was doing well. I bought a G4 a year or so ago and have used my PC laptop for most every thing, but now I can study and get back to my Mac.
Thanks again and keep up the good and helpfull job.
Ken

As an old crone, I find it hard to learn new tricks. Something has happened to my new iMac and I can’t seem to find a way to fix it. I’m running the last version of Tiger before the Lepoard update. I have a B&W HP Laser printer 1012 (which is my main printer) and a printer/scannerHP F4180 that I use mainly just to scan. My 1012 printer has a red exclaimation point that comes up. I can’t print any jobs on it. When I go to print the stop sign exclamation point is on stop jobs. It is also on hold. When I try to hit resume nothing works. I can print off my e-mail, but this has me bugged. What can I do to FIX this?

Also as I’m a DIAL-UP user, can you give me a tips about how to update software, etc. Should we do it at night? How do we overcome the fact that we want to survive in the tech world, but may not have the pocketbook to advance to faster connections? Can we CHOOSE what to update in software? What’s the most important? If I was to advance to Lepoard, what would I need to do before an install?

@Mickey, First line of defense in that printing case is to delete the printer from your settings. I would then toggle the printer on and off, or hit the reset button, and add it new again. In most cases, this will fix the problem.

For dialup, it can be a pain, you have a few options. We will cover software update in detail shortly.

1) You can download the updates from the Apple site on someone else’s computer, then install them as you would any other file.

2) If it is a laptop, you can simply bring that to some place with faster internet.

3) Yes, you can ignore some updates, such as those relating to iPod if you for example do not have an iPod. In general, update it all, as it is often hard to know what you need and do not need.

As far as updating to Leopard, my best suggestion is to backup your data. Once you have done that, no matter how bad things go, you can always install new, and put your data back on.

Great to find you!
Here’s something I should know but I’m not sure. I’m running OS 10.4.11. Does this mean the next step is 10.5, aka Leopard? And, does this mean I can’t download it for free but need to pay to upgrade?

The first number after the first “.” (dot) in the version you have to pay for, so paid would be:
10.0
10.1
10.2
10.3
10.4
10.5

After that, 10.4.11 etc, those are free updates.

And, how far to the right do they extend the numbers? Meaning, would there ever be a 10.5.11.1 or some ridiculous thing?

@Linda, to be honest, I could write a small book on how software companies *should* version their software. Look at Office, calling it Office 2008, with a hidden version number that just makes things confusing.

Some companies will skip a version, and go from say, version 2 to version 4, because they feel it is such a great update. In all reality, their version 4 should probably be more like version 2.2, but the marketing guys just do not like that

Wikipedia has a good article on Software Versioning.

But yeah, in general, it is up to the company, and Apple very well can do as they see fit, there is a nice list of all the versions they have released here.

You mention leopard, I think i’ve got tiger? I know little about computers and less about the terminology used. Saying things like press control, or option, followed by command mean nothing to me, I am not familiar with trhe keys.I realy want a VERY basic tutorial.

@Mike, looks like you read this post, the very first one. If you start at the beginning, and then go to the next post, all the way up to Primer on Macintosh OS X keyboard shortcuts, you should start to get the hang of it.

The idea of this site is to start at the beginning, and work your way forward. We write these in an order with specific concepts in mind.

There has been some complaining that we should cover more advanced topics, and we will in time. First, we have to get people to understand the basics, before we can jump into something like Spaces, or Expose.

Finding your website I feel like a kid with a new toy, can’t wait to read through every page. I’m fairly computer-savvy but when I’m through I’m sure I’ll have a few questions I’ll try to post. How cool to find a website that’s fairly new, instead of seeing dates going back to 2003 or something!

@Matt, sorry the batteries on your new toy seem to have run out We are getting a set of new posts ready, running two days behind schedule as it is now, but I assure you, we are not going anywhere.

New stuff will be posted this evening, thanks for your support and thanks for writing in.

I am so happy to find a place where i can ask questions & not feel like i won’t understand the answers or be talked down to by some “experts”. I’ve had several Macs, over more than ten years, but am totally self taught, therefore i may know alot about some things & very little about things i haven’t needed to get into. Here in Northeastern Vermont, being a Mac user can be a lonely thing. Our local MUG in St. Johnsbury, is always there for questions & has been very helpful. That’s where i heard about this site. I look forward to really looking around here, when i find some time. Thanks so much for being there!!!!!!!

@Lynette, thank you for posting a comment. You are right, we will always strive to help our users, and no matter how simple the answer may seem to us, we want to stress, that you can ask anything you desire, and will get a solid answer.

Learning is always a good thing, and that is after all, what most of our users are trying to accomplish.

I just purchase a mackBook pro. Can I use my hp 7550 printer? It has Macintosh os 9 or osx rev 1.3.6 on disc.

@Frank, you may want to read up on these links, it looks like there may be some issues with that printer:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=3815111&

Man, am I glad I stumbled upon your great site. After years of using a Gates-run PC I have switched to an iMac. I’ve learned about Windows inside out but, am a complete noobie with a Mac. Thank you greatly for your site. I am sure I will make much use of it.

I found your site the other day and as a new Mac user (finally) was glad to see some instructions/information provided in an easy to read and understand format. I have started a Mac club for a group of fellow retirees and we are going to use your information to get to know our “Macs”.
Unfortunately, i noticed that there have been no updates since early in May. Have you decided to stop adding to your site?
Regards

Just got a Mac after using PCs for years. Am so, so, so happy that I found this site — you are providing an invaluable service for those of us muddling through. Thank you so very much!!!!!!!!

Confused on MobileMe. Computer one year old, got sold on the
ME acct., did not use…now told if I do not renew I will loose all
including email address….I am a novice, but I assume that my
contacts, etc., will stay on my computer…should I also loose my
email .mac address?
Friend sent me your site..Thank you.

@carol all your contacts, data, and even email if you were using Apple Mail, will remain on your computer, even if you let Mobile Me lapse.

If you rely on that email address, they sort of have you locked in, though I would still recommend changing to gmail or some other free email provider that does not lock you in.

You definitely lose your .mac and .me email address, if it is worth it to you, in order to maintain that address, you will need to pay again for another year.

HELP! I liked the older page better. guess I’ve gotta get used to this. A minor strange problem came up today. I got my software up-date from Apple which had Safari, which I installed. Re-start required etc. When I went to open Safari, nothing happens.

A box comes up saying that Mac Quit unexpectedly…and the problem may have been caused by the VideoBoxSafariPlugin Plug-in. Underneath are:
Ignore Report Re-Launch

Re-Launch doesn’t do anything. Please HELP!

@xrc I see the VideoBoxSafariPlugin installed on a lot of users machines. I am not a personal fan of this plugin. Most plugins for Safari are not supported by Apple, and in general, you run them at your own risk. Flash is probably the exception, though even Apple states, the majority of Safari crashes come from Flash.

Whatever functionality that VideoBox was giving you, I would say there are other ways to getting the same functionality, for free, without the plugin.

Please remove the VideoBox plug in, which you can find in:
/Library/Application Support/SIMBL/Plugins

Do so while Safari is not running, then launch Safari, and you should have a working Safari again.

Thanks Scott…

was easy as pie. What should I do with the VideoBox Plug-in which I put on my desktop?

BTW I’ve had the same problem with Azureus/Vuze. I DL a new version a few months back and nothing happens when I start it. The icon bounces a few times back & forth in the dock…then Nothing. What happened. I’ve deleted it. Prefs too!) and re-DLed it a few times and nothing comes up….any ideas thanks

@xrc, I am not entirely sure about Vuze, did you follow these steps: http://www.azureuswiki.com/index.php/Intel_Macs

Can’t praise your site highly enough. It is a godsend to this iMac newbie. Am still working my way thru it. I use Firefox and Thunderbird. This is off topic, but can you tell me where to get simple directions for increasing the size of Thunderbird’s user interface. What I’ve found by googling makes my head swim. Available addons change appearance but not size.

@Margaret, currently there is no way to universally increase the user interface in Mac applications. What is called resolution independence is supposed to be coming to a future update, but will take great effort on the developers of apps to support it. What little I know about how FireFox is made, I have a strong feeling they are going to be last out of the gate in making that happen.

At this time, the best i believe I can suggest is to bump up the display font size. Both Safari 4 and FireFox will scale the entire page, not just the text, up in size. If you are having a hard time with what wraps the page, ie: the user interface, I would look to the Universal Access preference pane, and turn on “Zoom”. This will allow you to scale the entire viewport of your display. It is not ideal, and will make things blurry and ugly, though currently, that is the only officially supported way to get close to what you want to do.

I’m not sure if this is appropriate here – but I can’t find anywhere else –
I’m having issues running some osx apps, the error I have is along the lines of:
System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/ImageIO.framework/Versions/A/Resources/libPng.dylib

some preliminary footwork I did seemed to suggest that the DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH shouldn’t contain the /usr/X11/lib path in it, but mine does – and the same places suggest that I shouldn’t remove it (even though I did, just to see if it fixed it – and it did)!. what is the more appropriate way to fix the problem?

apologies, I mis-pasted.

the error I have is along the lines of:

dyld: Symbol not found __cg_png_create_info_struct Referenced from /System/Library/Frameworks/AppliatinServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/ImageIO.framework/Versions/A/ImageIO

@em you do not state what your issues are, or how you know that those error log lines are related to your issues.

Just got a new iMac and am thrilled but cannot get a disc to eject from the disc drive…..Please help…..Paul

@Paul, there are a few ways to eject the DVD/CD. Usually you just drag the icon on the desktop (of the disc) to the trash, and it will eject.

If there is no disk in the drive, use the eject key on the top row of your keyboard. They Eject key looks like a line with an arrow.

If that is not working for you, you can open iTunes, and the disk will show up in the list on the left, there will be the same eject icon there, which you can use to eject.

If you have a really stubborn and stuck disc, restart your machine, hold the mouse button down just after you hear the start up tone on the Mac, and it will eventually spit the disc out.

I don’t speak ‘URI’? I am in the process of selecting and getting ready to purchase an iMac with a 24″ monitor….. I am encouraged with the manner with which you present the material; even a novice like me might get up to speed. (I come from the MS world, you know the one that every hacker and weird-o out there seems to be trying to kill.
Thanks — for the encouragement – I like what I see.

Hi I just got an Ibook g4 from a friend and it will not get past the Apple icon and gray screen. It has a spinning gear but does not go any further.I tryed to start in verbros (i think thats right)and now it keeps saying (could not establish the default conection to window server) can someone please help?

@Ron, The “Window Server” in simple terms, is the device that shows you the graphical user interface itself. It is a ’server’ of sorts, and draws windows, loads the Finder, and many other tasks.

While you could probably troubleshoot this, and solve it, by starting in single user mode, it would require extensive knowledge of how to manage the system from a command line exclusively.

If files are missing or damaged, you would then further have to learn how to either mount an external drive, get the machine on a network so you can copy files over a network etc.

Even then, you would need to know what files, what permissions/users /groups to set them to. Finally, once you get it working, you never know what the previous owner has done to the machine; what they have installed; what they have fiddled with based on the ill advice of others.

My suggestion, since none of the data on the machine is yours. Take the original CD/DVD’s that came with the machine, and do a nice clean reinstall of the operating system.

If you were not given these original CD’s/DVD’s, you can buy them from a link on our site at Amazon, or ebay has them for reasonable prices. Be careful with the eBay sellers, only under certain cases are you even allowed to transfer a license to OS X. You can not resell the installers that came with a Macintosh computer, you can only resell official standalone installers. Your machine does not support Snow Leopard, so you are stuck with Mac OS X 10.5

This will start you from scratch, and is the only reliable way to know your own new data is safe from any old mistakes that could follow you through any attempt to repair the current state of the machine.

Hexley thank you your right that does sound like the best idea thank you for your time. you have been very helpfull

I have a 15 in mac book pro and it is stuck in the boot up screen, “starting mac os x” Anybody know whats wrong?

Thanks

@Sam, I would try starting Mac OS X in Verbose Mode, this will show you what is being loaded, as it is being loaded. Perhaps you can tell from the last few lines what it is that is hanging it up.

Thanks for replying Scott,

I just started in Verbrose Mode and this is what reads:

“display: family specific matching fails”
previous shutdown cause: 3

kld_load_from_memory() failed for module
/system/library/extensions/IO80211family.kext/contents/plugins/airportAtheros5424.kext/contents/macos/airportatheros5424

a link/load error occured for kernel extension

kextd_watch_volumes: couldn’t set up diskarb sessions

disk0s2: Oxe0030005 (Undefinded) . (shows that over 50 times)

I hope I have provided you the right info, if not, please let me know.

Thanks

@Sam, you probably are not going to like this answer. I do hope you have backups of your data.

Restart with Command-S held down, this is single user mode. If that can boot up, enter into the prompt:

/sbin/fsck -yf

This will do the best it can to try to repair, what appears to be a failing hard drive. If that does not work, you can boot from the installer DVD, open Disk Utility, and see if you can repair the drive from within there.

If that too does not work, it is time for a new drive, and to restore your data. If you do not have backups of your data, you can look into data recovery, which is very expensive. You could also give it a go yourself by simply buying the top two data recovery apps and trying them yourself.

Let me know how the above steps work out.

Scott,

Thanks for replying. I started in single user mode like you said and typed in /sbin/fsck -yf and this came back

as it was checking the catalog file “inncorect block count for file PACESupport.plist” should be 0 instead of 1, as it was checking the Extended attributes file, there were some issues about overlapping a couple of files and the volume header needs minor repair because of the invalid block free count, its talking about how it cannot create links to all corrupt files.
now it says the volume was repaired sucessfully.

looks like everything is not ok, will backup data as soon as i can, will run verbose again and the other

@Sam it would appear you have disk corruption, and are possibly on the verge of disk failure. OS X seems to have done an OK job of repairing it so that you may be able to login and access your files.

I would suggest that you immediately get a backup drive if you do not have one, plug it in, and set up time machine to perform a backup.

With that done, buy a new hard drive to replace the old, and then do a restore from the old backup with Time Machine.

Your data currently is at risk for catastrophic loss. Luckily, you have been given a second change, which is more than many get is cases like this. As soon as you can, get a backup, replace the drive, and restore your machine.

Attempting to solve a WindowServer crashing issue. MacBookPro that was running Tiger 10.4.11; had initial symptoms in June of desktop contents “disappearing’; leaving only background picture and finder menus — performed Archive and re-install then. Had similar issues in August; performed clean install then. Now have had third instance of this problem: upon startup, Mac OS X progress bar does not go completely across, then desktop background picture appears with only part of the finder menu bar visible and spinning beachball, and sometimes a cursor arrow that disappears. This amalgam alternates with a solid blue screen. Performed Disk Utility scan from Installer CD — no hardware problems found. Booted in Verbose mode and saw a WindowServer crash indicated. Hooked up a healthy MacBook Pro to my macBook Pro in Target Disk mode and read the WindowServer Crash Log in Console, which showed the loop of WindowServer crashes. Within Target Disk mode examined the /System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Frameworks/CoreGraphics.framework/Resources/WindowServer folders — there is nothing within the Resources folder, no WindowServer document. Booted in Single User mode and executed /sbin/fsck -fy command on my journaled MacBook Pro — the volume appears to be OK. Suggestions to get the finder to load and stop the WindowServer crashes? Thanks!

Hi im also new to a mac after years of windows and virus’s ILOVE my MAC but it is very confusing i used to use publisher alot because i hated word and am strugeling a bit with pages and keynote for eg wheres all the clip art or borders LOL but im sure your site will help me understand.
One thing regarding the HP4180 all in one i also have on and had the same problem with the on hold and not printing.
I finally discovered that i was showing 2 printers in the printers folder and it was trying to connect to the wrong 1 , I also had it set up perfectly for wireless with my airport but it would not scan, so had to resort to moving the printer next to the Mac and plugging in to USB it then worked fine but i had to download from HP all the latest drivers ect Frankly I hate HP it continuously conflicts even when on windows and as soon as i can afford it im looking for a new printer/ scanner wireless of course Any Sugestions??? thanks for your site im sure i will be spending alot of time here.

@Derick since you did a clean install, this means only a few things:
1) Bad ram. Depending on the model, it may be easy or it may be simple. The idea is to test with one chip, it it works, swap out anohter until you find the bad one.

2) Introduction of bad software or drivers. After a clean install and everything is working, install one software. If all is well, move on to the next software. Eventually, you may find out which software it is. In most cases it will be something like printer drivers, mouse drivers tablet drivers, or other things that are more deep rooted into your system than something simple like photoshop of other “Desktop” style applicaation.

The first trick you can try, if you can get into the machine enough, is create a new user account, login to that account, if the problems go away, migrate your data to that account.

I tend to just go for the clean install, so I can pin it down. I do not like the mystery of not knowing what cased the problem.

@Marisa One day I wlll get around to wirting a post about 3rd party printers. A good example is a client that had to install a 4 year old printer. I suggested they not. They are now more than the cost of a new printer into my time, than had they not tried to get more use out of a 25.00 printer.

My suggestion is to try to find a printer that is airport comptable, and use that for your wireless access if you must use wireless. I myself, never buy wireless printers, and find them to be more trouble than they are worth. Keep in mind this comes from a large part of my day job being doing IT for others.

My best advise, avoid the all in one printers. Do you really need a fax, if not, do not get an all in one. Get a solid printer. You may need a scanner, see if you can find a scan and print, with no fax built in. See if it works out of the box with no drivers installed. Apple is pretty good about having all the drivers you ned already in place.

They even have a built in scanner app that seems to work with a ton of scanners out there, no drivers or installs needed.

Generally, I look for what it is I am trying to accomplish, hit up Amazon, and start reading the reviews. If I find anyone complaining about Mac Support, I knock that one off my list of possibilities.

Macword.com does a great job of testing printers, though they can be a little behind the times with as fast as these thigns come out.

Myself, I have gone with a sub 80.00 black and white toner printer, for printing streetmaps and other misc needs. If I need a color print of a photograph, I just can not compete with the prince and quality of Costco. There is not a single home printer on the market that will use real chemicals to print your images. The cost of the ink and paper alone is enough to cover you at Costco for a year, easily.

Hi Scott thanks for your time, i spent all day on your site reading everything and trying out some of your suggestions, especially on Bookmarks.
I dont in fact need a fax and only have a printer scanner but i do need the scanner as i use it quite a lot will keep in mind your suggestion re black and white printer and maybe a separate scanner.
one little note for all us newbies out there today i have been making a christmas card on iphoto once i was finished the only apparent option was to buy the card from apple, but i wanted to save it as a pdf and send it via email to my friends but there is no save mechanisim obvious to see in desperation i decided to print it and then scan in to documents, when there it was save as PDF in the print mechanisim, im blonde but i really dont think normal people would know to look there for a save button.
anyway just in case someone else is confused like me theres the answer. by the way what is a PDF-X
Culd we have some blogs and tips on Iphoto/ IMovie ect
thanks again Marisa

@Marisa, PDF-X is not normally in the list of items you can print/save/export to. I am guessing you installed Acrobat, and that is where that came from. You can read more about PDF X if you desire.

There is also a “Mail PDF” option in the same menu, though you will need to have a desktop email application set up to use that. Web based email will not work for that feature.

Scott, thanks for your attention to my MacBook Pro Tiger trouble — I did “solve” the problem by creating a new User account. Doing this enables me to use the MacBook fully, though it does not identify the culprit(s). As I previously had only one User created, and that User was repeatedly crashing, I plan to create another (backup) User in case my newly created User begins to act balkily, as I have not identified the culprit(s). As my previous data is now nestled in the folders of the “Previous System” created when I performed my mid-December Archive and Re-install, and I cannot access those previous User folders when in my new User account as they have a small red circle with diagonal slash “forbidden” symbol on the previous User folders, how do I “migrate my data into my new User from the previous User since the previous User still does not boot?

@Derick you can copy the “red x” folders to the “Shared” folder in the “Users” folder, that will give you access to it from any account. That could be a lot of data to store in duplicate. Probably the simplest thing to do, is to “Get Info” on one of the folders, change the permissions to that of your new account, and tell it to apply so recursively.

It should be pretty intuitive.

However, my best advice to you… backup to some other media, and do a clean install. Format and erase the drive, clean install, then copy your user data over. Reinstall your applications from scratch. In the end, those takes some time, let time than you probably have spent in the rabbit hole you are in now

Just bought an iMac 24inch. Never used a mac in my entire life. Am having hard time what with my bad entire life of windows habits. It’s like a different planet – albeit a better one. Do you think one of those books “iMac For Dummies” would be helpful? This old dog wants to learn new tricks!

@LLona,
No, I think you would be better off with either just searching out blogs and sites like this on the internet, or, if you are destined for a book, the David Pogues Mac OS X: The Missing Manual

I have made the switch to imac in using favorites on a web browser how do I save favorite places on a mac

@Gary,
Do you mean bookmarks? If you do, we have a few articles written on Bookmarks in OS X.

Hi, friends! I’m new in this group, and I would solve a problem for my mac, an ibook g4, OS X 10.4.11; the icons concerning the mouse and the monitor (useful to change, for example, the backgroung image of there monitor) disappeared, so I can’t control them no more…what can I do?? please help me
Angelo

@Angelo, hello, and welcome…
Either one of two things could lead to the disappearance of your preference pane icons. Permissions are preventing the system from reading them, or they are missing.

Have you tried repairing permissions?

If you look in /System/Library/PreferencePanes do you see the Displays.prefPane and Mouse.prefPane files? If not, somehow, they have been deleted, and hopefully you can restore them from a backup. If not, you should be able to hopefully find them on your installer DVD.

Those files can be a little hard to extract from an installer DVD, so please let us know what you find out with some of the above tests first.

thanks for your kind reply, friend! so, in /System/Library/PreferencePanes there aren’t files like “mouse” and “monitor”…deleted!! I tried to repair permissions, but no result! I also tried to restore them using Pacifist application, but nothing…please help me bye

where can I get these deleted files? is there a site? how is it possible that Pacifist doesn’t let me restore these files? many many thanks
Angelo

@Angelo, do you know how the files were deleted? If you can not get them with Pacifist, then I would suggest that you will have to do a reinstall. You can do an archive and install, which should save your data and be relatively painless.

kindly sent me the solution for the problem i.e., ” System config file, ‘/com.apple.boot.S/Library/Preferences/System COnfiguration/com.apple.boot.plist’ not found ”
I am using iPC OSx86 10.5.6 Intel AMD SSE2 SSE3, I shall be highly obliged for this favour,
Good wishes to all over here,
Regards,

@Qaiser, based on your system specs 9AMD chip, not Intel), it appears you are running a Hackintosh. To those who are not aware, this means installing Mac OS X on a non Apple hardware product.

I have no issue with this, however, troubleshooting these types of things is extremely advanced, and not something we will ever be discussing on this site. Sorry we could not be of more help.