"Blinking" Finder

I'm able to login as usual but once I do & FINDER displays, it "blinks" on and off. I can re-boot to correct things but this is getting to be a hassle. I just want to fix it once and for all. Thanks.

This kind of problem is often caused by "Google Drive." If it's installed, I suggest you first check for an update. If that doesn't solve the problem, remove it according to the developer's instructions. You may need to boot in safe mode to do so. Back up all data before making any changes.
If you use Google Drive and don't want to remove it, then try deselecting the option in its preferences to "show status icons." According to reports, that may be enough to stop the Finder from crashing.
A similar cloud-data product called "Open Drive" can cause the same problem. Perhaps there are others.

Similar Messages

Blinking Finder menubar

After an apparently normal installation of Leopard in my iMac Core2Duo, I got, upon the first restart, a blinking finder menubar. Nothing shows up on the desktop, no icon of the hard disk, nothing. The dock, however, does appears and can launch applications, which show their own menubars in a normal manner. But the Finder doesn't launch, neither do the Users Preferences. Innitially I thought this behavior was due to Spotlight activity, but it persists even after it completed indexing the Disk.
I read in this forum something about DivX folders and APE, but I don't have any of these in my Disk.
Does anyone have a solution? I am clueless about this, and getting half crazy.
Thanks all.

I have the same symptoms but maybe a different cause. My system has 2 user accounts, one has English as the system language, the other has Portuguese. After the upgrade to Leopard whenever I logon/switch to the Portuguese user account, Finder's menu bar keeps flashing. I can start other apps from the dock and their menubars are normal, so I can at least logoff/switch to the other user again. (as an extra bug, the dialog that confirms if I want to logoff is also messed up, completely empty of any text or buttons - it self-confirms after a few seconds so its just a matter of waiting to logoff).
Anyway, I noticed that if I go into preferences and change that user's language from Portuguese to English the problem goes away. But that is not an acceptable long-term solution for me. I'd very much like to have the Portuguese language preference working.

High CPU usage, Blinking Finder, and MDS

So... things are slow after the install. The CPU usage is way up. Looking around I see that MDS is eating up cycles. MDS is the finder's indexing tool. I read a post about someone seeing the finder blinking... I'm assuming they mean the little dot in the middle of the glass. I see that too.
I ran sudo mdutil -E / to wipe out and rebuild the finder db.
AND... just now the cpu dropped back to normal - about 15 minutes after I started - and the finder has stopped blinking.
So... looks like finder is pretty harsh with that initial index.
Hang in there folks.

Noticed the same problem. Found out on my Mac that Spotlight was busy in the background hogging my processors and indexing the drive. After an eternal wait, all is well.
Be patient - it only happens once!

Gray screen when turning on iBook G4 with tiny file folder in center of screen blinking the finder icon and a question mark. Have tried several things. Any help please??

Gray screen when turning on iBook G4 with tiny file folder in center of screen blinking finder icon and question mark. I cannot figure this out. Tried everything I know. Can someone help please???

Hello,
Ideally you need to boot from the disk as you have no other media advisable. (e.g your hard drive)
Without some form of system disk or restore you wont be able to diagnose the problem with your hard drive.
By using a Mac OS X system disk you can load up the Disk Utilities and repair the hard drive if shown it's available. If it's not available you would need to replace the hard drive and reinstall Mac OS. Without any disk to support you, you are going to struggle.
You can obtain replacement disk, both retail copies or system disk on the Internet.
If you know what version of Mac OS X you had install (I'm guessing that it would have been 10.3, but would recommend 10.4) A retail disk is normally black with a colored 'X' on it, while system disk are always.
Always try and obtain a copy of the system restore disks (Gray) for your iBook
Ebay is another outlet that has genuine system disk for sell, but like any auction site, it's as and when someone is selling them.
The only other thing you could do is take it to a Apple repair agent who could check the hard drive on your behalf. That way you can get confirmation if the problem is the drive or some other fault. They may even help restore the OS for you.
I can't think of anything else to try without some form of disk to help you.
There maybe just one other small thing you could try.
When booting up, firmly rest your palm of your hand on the iBook next to the tracker pad on the left side.
If it works then it's another fault that I'm aware of.

A major mistake

Hello. I was using my G3 onetime and it wouldn't startup. It just had the folder icon of the "blinking Finder icon and the question mark." You know what I mean? So I put in the OS software and I started it up, but it downgraded to OS 8.5! Can anyone help me out here?
B/W G3 Mac OS 8.6 or Earlier

Hi, Frisbo. You aren't providing much to go on, but it sounds as though you had some higher OS version installed previously, and something suggested to you that a lower version has somehow gotten installed now. My suspicion is that when you started up from your OS installer CD, you saw "Mac OS 8.5" in the startup splash screen and concluded (mistakenly, as it happens) that that meant OS 8.5 was now installed on the Mac. Not so: your OS installer CD probably installs (and starts up into) OS 8.5, and what you saw reflected in the splash screen was the OS on the CD — not the one on your hard drive. If I've correctly deduced what happened, there is no cause for alarm.
The folder with the question mark on it that appears when you try to start up from your hard drive indicates that a usable System Folder can't be found on that drive, probably because some OS software components have been damaged. The following steps will address that problem.
After starting up from the CD, open Drive Setup from the Utilities folder on the CD, select your hard drive in the Drive Setup selector panel, and choose "Update Driver" from the Functions menu. Then quit Drive Setup.
Next, open Disk First Aid from that same Utilities folder, select your hard drive in Disk First Aid, and Repair it. If DFA finds any problems it can't fix, you'll need either to use a stronger third-party disk utility application such as DiskWarrior or TechTool Pro, or use the OS installer on the CD to erase the hard drive and reinstall everything on it. Note that you will have to back up all your important data to other media before erasing the drive, because everything on the drive will be erased.

Can't Do Anything but Restart and Force Quit

Hello all, I'm here on account that my mother messed up her computer and I can't figure out what to do to help her.
She recently had fonts in conflict (extensis suitcase told her so) and so she went into the System Folder, deleted a few of the "problematic" fonts and then this happened....
Her menu bar at the top disappeared except for everything to the right past the volume icon. The rest of the desktop disappeared as well, except her wallpaper.
The only thing that can be done from this screen is open the force quit window, which contains a blinking finder icon and word.
I have tried opening the system preferences through short-cuts, but none of the short-cuts work.
When I attempt to work around that and click on the date on the menu bar (in the only part that shows), the entirety of the remaining menu bar disappears.
So... does anyone have any suggestions?! This is really important because she was working on some work-related files on there...

Hi Leah, and welcome to the forums!
I think she must've deleted some necessary System Fonts, you normally don't touch them.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1538
It appears to be time for a relatively painless Archive & Install, which gives you a new/old OS, but can preserve all your files, pics, music, settings, etc., as long as you have plenty of free disk space and no Disk corruption, and is relatively quick & painless...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107120
Just be sure to select Preserve Users & Settings.

My OSX is makin swiss cheese of my HD and it just killed Disk Warrior

PowerG3 blue and grey- It started right after auto update added (MSE, JRT, OSX1.*)an update of something claiming it would make things smoother. Im at X1.5 trying to get to Tiger X4.* I don't know what exactly is happening but the computer seems only quasi-stable. I just went through all that in the 9 to 9.22 trek where the computer actually crashed, shut down, not just froze (beautiful and terifying kept expecting Bicyl. Blt. for Two). Finally got it stable in 9.22 but then proceded to X. I can't get (hardly) any applications to run in X (they blink? with no message), don't even worry about classic yet (it doesn' run). MSExplorer seems to be the only thing that works but it crashes "unexpectedly" and has difficulty resolving web page content. I feel something (or absolutely nothing) must be done soon to prevent permanent brain damage. When I boot in 9.22 applications run but all are affected. "invalid instructions", "bus error" and "unexpectations" increasingly abound. Now, I can't boot Disk Warrior. G3 sees the CD system but never activates the application. Startup gets kicked back to the startup disk which freezes before it gets far. I can boot again in 9.22 or X and disk first aid sees and repairs the same (?) "mount" error. But its still shakin like a leaf.
Seems there should be a simple explanation why the applications in the install package don't work with the OS. Something easy I can start with? And poor DW, oh the humanity. I tried this 5 years ago and just ran back to 9. An ever diminishing option.
Me- 1st time poster but the discussions have saved me numerous times- Disk Warrior slew my invalid sib link only because I read it here. AppleII(16K) 1979, seven models since. Im not a moron and I know Mac but I'm stumped. Tried some stabs in the dark but if I waste too much more time Im gonna lose the patient.
Any old timer want to explain peek-poke to the kids? they think us mad but at 16k we pretty much looked at every bit one at a time.
PowerG3 Mac OS X (10.1.x) blue and grey 9 to 10.4
PowerG3 Mac OS X (10.1.x) blue and grey

Hi, thanks for your time.
Its teal (blue) and translucent grey (white?). Its a tower with no DVD or floppy. I believe its the "blue and white" model. 384MB RAM (100 addeed) 9.5GB HD, Scsi 2960 added. Also have sony DVD-R/W, que? CD-R/W, APS optical drive, cable modem, epson printer, Canon digital camera currently connected.
Transferred whole 9.22 system from G3 about 3 years ago. Lost Open transfer along the way. Tried to reinstall OT but couldn't find right combo (now ive got pieces of 8, 9, and X). Succeeded in giving G3 a lobotomy- the little start up Mac icon just smiled and smiled- but that was it. To get it back I reverted to 9.0. With a little fiddling it settled down at about 9.15. Decided to go OSX. Bought Tiger 10.4.6 DVD. Can't load it because sony DVD is unsupported by Mac. I am currently trading it (and $15 more dollars) for CD package by mail to Apple. Installed OS 9.1.1, followed by 9.2.1, upgrade to 9.2.2. including all firmware updates as approved by upgrade software (frequently tells me I am up to date) At this point the computer is completely unstable and I have to rotate start up discs to complete software install. (startup disc is partially responsible variously not recognizing system discs). Very soon after reaching 9.2.2 the dreaded "invalid sibling link" struck-unfixable by Disk first aid and not described on Apple pages at all. The most amazing show ever seen from a Mac. Icons, programs, desktop all in flux and blinking ("finder reports being unable to find finder". Had to use the computer a little to get help even though damge was occuring limped through with combined treatments of Norton Dr, and First aid, . DIscussions to the rescue- they know it and they can fix it. Disk Warrior (last in stock copy) 1.4.7. 30 min later computer fine 9.2.2 stable. I happily go on for about 2 weeks ignoring Tiger.
I move my other G3 from my office find my original X1.1 CD. The DVD and the camera need X to work well they say (they lied they actually need X.3 or better). I procede with install of 1.1. The memories of frustration flood back. Can't navigate and can't get information. New OSX applications mostly just blink the icon upon clicking. Optical drive not recognized, and all my software takes a classic environment which takes a long time to load and never actually works. Updater wants new software but doesnt think I have the right password. Functioning OSX software not working well. Example- MSexplorer updates to 5.1 but needs new QT plug in. Input boxes on web pages are horribly mutated and graphics are chaotic. Its hard to login with ID and Password when there is only one input box and it corresponds to something different (can't Yahoo with MSE). Can't load QT because there is just a big empty space where it says "load 7.1 here". I set startup disk to 9.2.2 and live in ignorance for another 2 weeks.
I need to download from the camera. I need X. this Updater takes my password and makes three updates-including combo 1.1 to 1.5. I use MSE for a short time before it "quits unexpectedly". I try again (and again, 2X) but as expected it "quits unexpectedly" Disgusted I switch back to 9.2.2. TOO LATE. invalid instruction, bus error, unexpected quit, unmapped memory exception with every application. Disk first aid reports a problem and fixes. But the errors continue and Disk first aid reports the same problem and fixes. (repeat 1X more). I put in DiskWarrior and restart. I see the CD icon. It;s taking its usual long time. But then it suddenly restarts in 9.2.2 freezing about half way. Disk Warrior was never activated I believe because the system on the disk (X.4.8) no longer works with the current arrangement. Although startup disk (9 and X) does, system profiler(9) does not see 10.4.8 on the DW CD . It did just a few days ago. I try various combos of 9.2.2, DW, and OSX. DW won't launch, 9.2.2, OSX are still unstable.
I can't believe I made it to Discussions. Reading my post I get an idea and reinstall update combo 1.1 to 1.5. Better? a little, but still I come to you now from 9.2.2 on Netscape and still can't load DW. I'm probably overwriting the hard drive driver right now.
As for Tiger I tried a few times to trick startup into using the DVD but it refused. Someone suggested firmware, but the response is that I'm updated. Maybe there is more I'm missing.
Don't forget the bonus question.
Thanks again hope to hear more.
Welcome To Discussions Apple2peekandpoke!

When I login, all of my desktop items are gone, the "Finder" icon is bouncing and a message asking to restore windows is blinking but unresponsive. I can't exit out of it. What do I do? I've tried force quitting, and it doesn't get rid of it.

When I login, all of my desktop items are gone, the "Finder" icon is bouncing and a message asking to restore windows is blinking but unresponsive. I can't exit out of it. What do I do? I've tried force quitting, and it doesn't get rid of this message. When I login to my husband's account, this message does not appear.

Hey sunnyday7!
Here is an article that can help you address this issue:
OS X: How to quit an unresponsive application using Force Quit
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3411
Additional Information
OS X automatically relaunches the Finder when it is quit. If the Finder is unresponsive, use Force Quit to relaunch it. Select Finder in the Force Quit Window or Dock, then click Relaunch.
Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities. Have a good one!
-Braden

On one user account: finder blinks and icons missing

I have 2 user accounts on our iMac G5. One account works fine and the other is messed up (Finder blinks repeatedly at startup, and many icons are missing)... Disk Utility found a couple things to repair, but no improvement.
Aside from deleting and recreating the account, any other steps? What else should I look for or be aware of?

Just make sure that whatever you put on the account is not corrupted, check to make sure it works on your main account before transferring.

Blinking #1 G5 diagnostic LED. I've already tried everything I can find info on.

I have a 2005 Imac G5, non isight, that I replaced the capacitors and PSU. It was repaired and running fine for about a month when the other day, my wife went to use it. She woke it up, and was working online fine. She was then needing to print something and as we have not acquired a usb router, she unplugged her Logic USB key to plug in the printer. Then she couldn't find her cursor, then the cooling fans spooled up to a high speed and she turned off the computer with the power button. (hard shut-down) Then the computer wouldn't turn back on. Nothing. No spool up, no "bong", nothing.
I removed the rear panel and plugged in the power cord to check the diagnostic leds.
#1 was illuminated, #2 only blinked when power button pushed. OK. Possible cap problem again as this is what it did when the caps went bad before.
I disassembled the unit and removed the logic board, finding some expected loose solder joints. (those joints are tough to solder properly) I re-soldered, all the loose joints and tested all the connections with my meter. None of the all recently replaced caps showed any sign of damage. Then I reassembled everything and reconnected the power cord.
Now, the #1 led is BLINKING. I disassembled it all again to recheck everything and also performed a voltage test on all PSU pins. All check out correctly.
Reassembled again. Same result. #1 led is blinking and nothing happens when I push the power button. I cannot find ANY accurate posts on what this means.
Please don't respond by saying "just take it to the Apple store", etc.
I need a serious Mac expert answer.

Ok. Here's where it gets even wierder. I whacked on the PSU with my hand and the #1 LED lit solid, but nothing happens whane I push the internal power button. So...
I switched out the PSU to the other one that I replaced in the course of repairing the Mac the FIRST time.
Now... Both #1 AND #2 LEDs are blinking, albeit #1 is blinking brighter. AND the fans slowly spool. The PSU is making pulsing sounds with the power to the fans being pulsed in sequence with the sound from the PSU. The pulsing is in groups of 3 to 6, seemingly randomly.
Can anybody help me?

Blinking menu bar, icons on desktop and Finder windows.

This happened after I restarted the computer for installing software updates. The only thing that didn't blink was the dock. When I open an application, it blinks as well, but a little slower, so that gives me time to click around. Even shutting down/restarting is a problem, since the menu bar blinks so quickly that I couldn't click on it. I had to hold down the power button to shut down.
I tried creating a new account and logged in. Everything remains normal in the new account.
I went into Library>Preferences, deleted the file called "com.apple.finder.plist" and restarted. It didn't work.
Is there anything else I can do? I really don't want to reformat my mac and lose all the applications installed.

Have you installed any third-party utilities and/or menubar utilities, contextual menu items, preference panes, etc. These most typically are the cause of such a problem. Also corrupted cache files may cause problems. Use a utility such as TinkerTool System to clear all system, user, and font caches then immediately reboot. You should not need to erase your drive to fix the problem, but the problem is definitely caused by something you either installed that is incompatible or something corrupted in your Home folder such as a preference file.

I was trying to open finder with the pinwheel spinning when I accidently hit the off button. When restarting a small image of the finder icon blinked on

I was trying to open finder while the pinwheel was spinning & I accidentally hit the off button. When I tried to restart I get a gray screen & after about a minute in the middle of the screen appears a half inch by half inch image of the finder icon that blinks on & off with a question mark. Thats all it does, no other functions work just the icon blinking on & off with the question mark. Please help, I really hope I didn't destroy my mac.
Julian

A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac
Question (?) Mark, Blinking Folder, or Gray Screen at Startup
These are related but not identical issues. Their causes are outlined in Intel-based Mac- Startup sequence and error codes, symbols. Solutions may be found in:
A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac
Mac OS X- Gray screen appears during startup
In most cases the problems may be caused by one or more of these:
Problem with the computer's PRAM - See Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM.
Boot drive's directory has been corrupted - Repair with Disk Utility.
Critical system files are damaged or deleted - Reinstall OS X.
The disk drive is physically non-functional - Replace the hard drive.
Note that the information I have provided is what Apple recommends, If other users suggest different solutions than found here, then be sure what they recommend does not impact on your warranty, if any, or ability to get continuing Apple service.
Please don't start removing drives or changing cables unless you know what you are doing and have exhausted other non-invasive alternatives outlined here. If you perform any work yourself that is unapproved by Apple, then you will void any warranty you may have and lose all further Apple Support.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
The main difference if you are using Lion or Mountain Lion is that you must first boot from the Recovery HD. Simply boot from the Recovery HD to perform the above.
Reinstall Snow Leopard Without Erasing The drive
1. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Reinstall Snow Leopard
If the drive is OK then quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed with reinstalling OS X. Note that the Snow Leopard installer will not erase your drive or disturb your files. After installing a fresh copy of OS X the installer will move your Home folder, third-party applications, support items, and network preferences into the newly installed system.
Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.
Reinstalling Lion/Mountain Lion Without Erasing The Drive
Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Continue button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

Finder built-in slideshow blinks after fade-to-black before starting

When I start a slideshow from Finder, the screen fades to black smoothly, but then when it's black, it blinks back to normal view for few millisecs before starting the slideshow. This makes the fade-to-black totally non-effective.
The effect is the same when changing resolution (the screen blinks on for a while). Anyone else has this?
It's not visually nice at all. How to get rid of it?

This frequently helps solve some problems. Quit iDVD. Search for the file named com.apple.iDVD.plist and trash it. (A new one will be created next launch of iDVD.) Or look in: User/Library/Preferences. This may solve project loading errors too. Restart and use Disk Utility to Repair Permissions.
You'll need to reset some Preferences.

Finder box jumps and a box blinks asking me to restore windows

my finder box jumps and a box blinks on and off asking me to restore windows? have you had this problem and what did you do?

Hello, can you explain in more depth?
Not sure if this Finder box is a window or what, & restore windows referring to Windows® or finder windows.

Good Old LaserJet Pro P1100w can't even find a wireless signal - blinking away

Well, forgive me - I'm not a very savvy computer user, but I've spent three hours using all the various "wizards" and "Doctors" and reading forums and can't figure out what's going on with my trusty LaserJet P1100w.
It appears nowhere on my ASUS Windows 8 OS laptop under "Printers and Devices" and perhaps I accidentally deleted it (or another user on the family computer did!). So I unplugged it, then plugged it in, and alas, the blue light keeps searching for a connection - I assume it isn't finding it - and I don't have a USB cable or the original CD (although I downloaded all the drivers/software online). My ASUS cannot detect the printer at all. But I suppose if the printer was able to connect with the wireless router and had a solid blue light that wouldn't be a problem.
Any suggestions? I'm not quite sure how to help the printer go from blinking blue light to finding whatever it is it is looking for and then step two will probably be easier - finding the printer on my ASUS laptop.
Thanks!!
Melissa H.
This question was solved.
View Solution.

The you will have to follow the instructions on the manual to connect back to your router.
Say thanks by clicking the Kudos Thumbs Up to the right in the post.
If my post resolved your problem, please mark it as an Accepted Solution ...
I worked for HP but now I'm retired!

"Blinking" Finder

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