App Store and others Not Responding in Mountain Lion

Question

Since updating to Mountain Lion - from what was a clean and fine Lion system - I can no longer access the App Store, the Security and Prvacy tab of System Preferences (and ONLY that panel) plus other native Apple apps fail like trying to edit a contact in Address Book.
All end in a 'Not Responding' and thus a force quit.
Other apps basically work. Mail - for example - works until I try and copy and paste an email address when thr spinning parasol takes over.
So far - for me - Mountain Lion is proving a disaster and I am hoping this is a some simple setting buried deep somewhere that is just not right.
Can anyone give me any clues where to look before I throw my MacBook pro into the fishpond out of sheer frustration! ?

Answer 1

Andy,
Sorry this is so long...just trying to help and support your efforts. I for one am not convinced your install was damaged (because of my experience below!) but it COULD be. I think mende1's suggestions were a good start.
Not knowing what MBP model and previous OS you have it's difficult to say at this point exactly WHAT the issue is with your upgrade. I have heard the upgrades to Lion and Mtn Lion from anything previous can be problematic, depending on various things and/or how it is done. But usually, the older the MBP model and OS are (or any other Mac for that matter, assuming it CAN be upgraded of course), the more issues there can be.
However, I CAN tell you that I JUST discovered TWO significant bugs in the SysPrefs on a BRAND NEW MBP 2.6Hz, Mid-2012 I received last week, with pre-installed Mnt Lion 10.8 and NO other non-native software installed yet. And sure enough...I JUST returned from the Apple Store where I was able to reproduce the bugs on ALL their computer models, ALL of which were using the 10.8 OS (...and which I am about to report to Apple, but only AFTER replying here first, as I had intended and wanted to do last night, except that I FIRST needed to confirm if they were reproducible and legit at the store, which they are).  So you may have discovered additional new bugs (or not), but obviously you won't know until or unless you do additional testing (ugh - I know!).
I would say your issues are a possible combo of the age of your MBP, the upgrade, and POSSIBLY other bugs in 10.8 that are as yet unknown. Only additional testing and time will tell for sure. At the very least I would back everything up, do a complete wipe via Disk Utility (for good measure) and reinstall 10.8 clean to help rule out possible "upgrade" issues (ie, over a previous OS), then go from there.
I also miss the good ol'  DVD days as well and am not a fan of the new install paradigm with much less control over various parameters. Not to mention the fact is REQUIRES an internet connection. But here we are. (What if I'm in the middle of Borneo when my Mac goes down without an internet connection??! LOL...but seriously.)
Regardless, and for what it's worth, here are the two new SysPref bugs I just discovered in 10.8 and was able to confirm at the Apple Store. As far as I know they are as yet unknown and do not appear anywhere else on this forum. Furthermore, the functions described below work perfectly in 10.6.X and 10.7.X OS (I have another Mid-2007 MBP with 10.6.8 and a 2011 iMac running 10.7.4 for comparison).
Bug 1- Desktop OS contextual menu does not function properly under certain circumstances. Right-click on desktop and select Change Desktop Background. If you're lucky the Desktop & Screen Saver dialogue window opens. If it DOES, quit and repeat. The second time it will NOT open - despite the fact SysPrefs actually IS activated (ie, upon the second attempt, assuming it opened the first time and you quit/closed it, the SysPrefs icon bounces in the dock and displays the white orb beneath - indicating it is active - however, the Desktop & Screen Saver dialogue window DOES NOT OPEN/APPEAR). In other words, it is open but HIDDEN (bug no.1).
At this point, repeat the selection above again OR...Command-Tab over to the open but hidden SysPrefs icon and voila - the Desktop & Screen Saver dialogue window finally APPEARS. Now, quit SysPrefs, and repeat the selection above a THIRD time. Again, the SysPrefs icon bounces but nothing appears. Repeat the selection above again OR Command-Tab over to it's icon and voila - the Desktop & Screen Saver dialogue window now APPEARS.
Needless to say, the Desktop & Screen Saver dialogue window should ALWAYS open immediately (using the right-click contextual menu selection process above) the FIRST and every time thereafter. But it doesn't in 10.8. Also note that ONLY THE FIRST TIME this is attempted AFTER Restarting the computer OR logging out/in will the Desktop & Screen Saver dialogue window appear. Thereafter, it will not - as described above.
Bug 2 - Added folders to the Desktop & Screen Saver dialogue window do not stay put. Open the SysPrefs Desktop & Screen Saver dialogue window (opening process doesn't matter) and ADD at least 2-3 other folders to the Folder section below using the + button (regardless of whether or not they contain pictures, for demonstration purposes only). This function obviously allows one to specify NUMEROUS OTHER folders that contain pictures to be used as possible desktop backgrounds, in addition to the default Pictures folder that is there, and the default pics Apple provides above. Now, note the LAST folder that is added to the group of folders (regardless of how many were added) that now appear under Folders. Close/quit SysPrefs. Re-open the Desktop & Screen Savers window again and note that only the LAST folder that was added now resides under Folders and all others, except the defaults, have disappeared (bug no.2).
Not sure if this will be much help Andy but wanted you to know you are not alone and it may not all be you! So much more to say but good luck getting this resolved. It took me forever to figure this out and the full story is so much longer, but I will spare you the boring details. Suffice to say, only trial and error will get you closer to an answer, as frustrating that process can be, but I would start with a clean install and take it from there (despite the transition hassle that route obviously presents - argh!). Hang in there and please let me/us know how it goes.