Can't see desktop

I bought a mac mini with 20 inch Cinema display, a few weeks a go and it has been working fine up to now..
Yesterday I woke it from sleep and would not come up. I restarted, and the display started up as normal, however, the OSX starting-up box seemed to complete faster than normal, then instead of showing the desktop or a log-in box, it shows a blue screen. I can still see the cursor and move it, but thats all.
Have checked all cables, rebooted, changed PRAM, reinstalled OSX (archived mode). Have also connected the monitor to my G4 powerbook and it works fine.
Appreciate any help to sort this out.
Thanks,
Peter

Thanks for this Wade - very useful, after a bit of programming I am back up again. Seems I had an "incompatable start-up item, that had to be reduced to a single user".
Appreciate the help.
Peter

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Can't see desktop with blue screen after login

Hi
we have a server 2008 ent SP2 that sometimes when use remote desktop or via vmware console to access this server, after login we got blue screen and can't see desktop. after force reboot it recovery.
From application log, we find some error:
Description (Event ID: 1000):
Faulting application Explorer.EXE, version 6.0.6002.18005, time stamp 0x49e01da5, faulting module msshsq.dll, version 7.0.6002.18255, time stamp 0x4be071d5, exception code 0xc0000005, fault offset
0x000063fd, process id 0x1300, application start time 0x01cf9a43236d46dd.
Description(Event ID: 9009):
The Desktop Window Manager has exited with code (0x40010004)
Description(Event ID: 1530):
Windows detected your registry file is still in use by other applications or services. The file will be unloaded now. The applications or services that hold your registry file may not function properly afterwards.
DETAIL -
1 user registry handles leaked from \Registry\User\S-1-5-21-249263827-1212357926-315576832-391740:
Process 3812 (\Device\HarddiskVolume1\Windows\System32\winlogon.exe) has opened key \REGISTRY\USER\S-1-5-21-249263827-1212357926-315576832-391740

Hi,
In general, event ID 1530 means there are some data in the user profile are still be accessed when the user log
off from the Terminal Server. Please check if any of the data is still remained in the user profile supposed to be deleted. You can use Process Monitor or Process Explorer in order to find the software which is using the data and find the solution. If there
is no such data remained, the Windows have possibly stopped the process and deleted the data when log off. In such a case, you can ignore the Event 1530.
In addition, I recommend running SFC /Scannow from an elevated command prompt and check a dump file for Windows
Explorer under C:\Localdumps.
Besides, you can also download
Autoruns to troubleshooting Explorer issues. Please run Autoruns as Administrator, go to Options menu, Filter, select Hide Microsoft Entries and Ok. After that, open the Explorer tab,
and you will see all DLL that are running inside File Explorer, so start disabling and testing if Explorer crashed.
Furthermore, the KB below may be helpful:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/961038/en-us
Best regards,
Susie

CAN'T SEE DESKTOP AFTER LOGON, ONLY BLUE BACKGROUND AFTER PROMOTE A DOMAIN CONTROLER

Hi, my name is Omar
I promoted two domain controllers yesterday with Windows Server 2008 R2. Both work fine as a domain controllers role but when I logon, I can't see desktop, I only see a blue background, I 'cant see any desktop Icon. We have already had that problem and i
remember that we change a value on a registry key but i can't remeber what was exactly.
Thanks for your assistance
ovazquez

Hi,
Thank you for posting in Windows Server Forum.
Firstly please update the driver and in addition you can try below registry workaround.
To do this, change the value of the following registry subkeys to 3 (Manual) or 4 (Disabled)：
•HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\cdrom
Name: Start
Type : REG_DWORD
Data: 3 or 4
•HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\parport
Name: Start
Type : REG_DWORD
Data: 3 or 4
Note: If the above registry is changed to 4 (Disabled), the related device is not usable because a driver used in the device is not loaded. Therefore, if the device will be used in the future, the above registry should be set as 3 (Manual).
More information.
1.KB 933757
2. Event ID 7026 — Basic Service Control Manager Operations
Hope it helps!
Thanks.
Dharmesh Solanki

HomeHub can't see desktop

We've just got a new HomeHub with the new connection to BT Broadband. My laptop connects wirelessly without problem, picking up the first available DHCP address. I cannot now get the desktop to connect. It has a Linksys adaptor which worked perfectly with the Thomson router we've just replaced.
My problem is that the desktop sees the HomeHub, the HomeHub cannot see the desktop and will not assign it a DHCP address. I've tried to give it a fixed address manually, but this doesn't work either. The desktop thinks its connected but it isn't.
Any ideas as to what I can do next? Desktop owner is tearing hair out....
Kate

Can you ping the homehub from the desktop? I think the address of the HH should be 192.168.0.254. I'm puzzled as to how you know that the HH can 'see' your desktop. However, I don't use the BT supplied HH so it might have some facility for doing that.
It might be useful if you posted details of which operating system you are using on your desktop and laptop.
Another thought - can you see the shares of your desktop on the laptop and vice versa?
I'm no expert on these things - they are just things that I would check. Others on this forum are much better qualified tha I on sorting out network problems.
wedding
Mistakes and embarrasing goofs in e-mails are only discovered when you've sent them!

Can't see desktop items

hi all, my mac froze and the only thing i could do was turn it off using the power button at the back. now i can't see any of my desktop icons or folders. i know there still there as there still showing in spotlight.

This is not a virus. This is serious data corruption, and or driver issues, or directory issues. Time Machine will only be useful in one respect is having a backup to a point with your data before these events started happening. You on the other hand should start taking Time Machine like steps today, and not wait around for Leopard. My FAQ here explains how:
http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html
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Can only see desktop background & windows are blank

My computer (a G4 MDD) is not starting up properly. It will start up but icons, the dock, and text in the menu bar will not appear. It appears the computer works. I had an alert pop up which only appeared as a white window box. I couldn't read it. I only knew what it said because I previously had set up for alerts to be read by the computer. I was able to hit enter and the window went away. Looks like I strictly can not see anything on the computer. I can't find any info on this anywhere. Hope someone can help! (Also, this happened after the computer was forced off during a software update -- of what, I'm not 100% since I wasn't there but I believe it was at least iTunes and a Security Update.)

Hi,
Thank you for posting in Windows Server Forum.
Firstly please update the driver and in addition you can try below registry workaround.
To do this, change the value of the following registry subkeys to 3 (Manual) or 4 (Disabled)：
•HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\cdrom
Name: Start
Type : REG_DWORD
Data: 3 or 4
•HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\parport
Name: Start
Type : REG_DWORD
Data: 3 or 4
Note: If the above registry is changed to 4 (Disabled), the related device is not usable because a driver used in the device is not loaded. Therefore, if the device will be used in the future, the above registry should be set as 3 (Manual).
More information.
1.KB 933757
2. Event ID 7026 — Basic Service Control Manager Operations
Hope it helps!
Thanks.
Dharmesh Solanki

Can't see desktop downloads/saves

Greetings all - I just had the hard drive in my 3 yr old iMac replaced and am trying to get the machine back to its previous state. But when I download apps off the web, life Firefox for example, I don't see them on the desktop, even though Safari says downloads will go to the desktop. Also, as a test I tried saving a TextEdit doc to the desktop, and it doesn't show up either. If I open a Finder window & click on Desktop, it appears empty. However, if I go to some app and click Open, as though I were trying to open a doc, and then click Desktop to locate that doc, then I see all kinds of stuff that I've downloaded or saved to the desktop. So those desktop items do exist, but they're just not visible on the desktop. Any ideas? I didn't see any discussions similar to this. Thanks

Hi kgny
In Finder Preferences, check that you have New Finder Windows Open, and have selected an actual location, usually set as Home, then I'd suggest you try trashing the Finder's property list files and see if that restores things.
Locate these two files in ~/Library/Preferences and trash them.
com.apple.finder.plist
com.apple.sidebarlists.plist
To re-establish them, log out and log back in again.
You will need to reset your finder and sidebar as you had them before.
By the way, in the Firefox Preferences > Main there is the screen where you can set the downloads location for Firefox.
regards roam

I accidently deleted system fonts. Now I can't see desktop folders.

I accidentally deleted my system fonts (don't ask), so my Mac starts up, I'm able to log in, but only get a desktop picture with no folders or dock. I also was unable to boot up with the install disc. I CAN network into my computer remotely with my wife's mac via ethernet, and I can navigate to my empty system fonts folder, but I'm unable to drag the fonts back into the system fonts folder becuause I don't have permissions. Is there a way to override the permissions via the networked mac, maybe through the terminal? Thanks very much for any help.

Backups? your DVD to reinstall. Setup a new drive or partition and install system and then Setup Assistant will pull the old good parts over.
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Install or Reinstall Mavericks or Mountain Lion from Scratch
Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because
the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.
OS X Mavericks- Erase and reinstall OS X
OS X Mountain Lion- Erase and reinstall OS X
OS X Lion- Erase and reinstall Mac OS X
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http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427
http://www.apple.com/osx/recovery/
OS X Lion and later let you:
Start from OS X Recovery using your Time Machine backup disk. With OS X v10.7.3 and later, Time Machine backs up the Recovery System on your Mac to your backup drive as well. This lets you use your Time Machine drive to start up your Mac if needed.
OS X Recovery:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4718
Clone your system:
How to Clone a Volume
Using Cloning as a Backup Strategy
See also Erasing a Drive, How and Why to Partition a Drive, RAID.
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/7032/carbon-copy-cloner
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http://macperformanceguide.com/Mac-HowToClone.html

My finder is not opening at all. Can't see desktop either.

My Finder stopped working. It won't open a new window, create folders on desktop, or even let me see the desktop. I don't know what could have caused it, but it's annoying. I can access finder from different users on my computer, but the account that is not working is where everything I am is. I've relaunched, restarted, and created new users. But it's still not working. Help?

You have a in-user account issue, likely with one of the files the Finder uses and/or a user account permissions issue.
Do #6 here and the #12 and #13 OnyX steps, other steps as required.
..Step by Step to fix your Mac
You might have to do a #17, to grab the files out of that account using another admin account, then delete and recreate the problem account and return files.

Can't see desktop drives on startup anymore?

Nothing shows up on the desktop upon startup. Tried to startup from systems disk but only disk images show on screen like a screen saver? Help.
Lawrence

OK, that just means the hard disk either has a damaged directory, or is dead, or does not have anything installed on it presently, has the wrong jumpers connected for slave/master, or is in a format 9 does not understand. And it sounds like to me that your desktop pattern is showing where you expect the hard drive to be.
1. Formatting which may not allow hard drives to appear in Mac OS 9 include certain Windows formatted drives that Mac OS 9 doesn't support.
2. If adding a new hard drive, you have to make sure its cable color is the one which matches with the labelled master or slave setting on the hard drive itself, as well as the jumper which is a pin cover on the back of the hard drive next to the the hard drive's interface pins. You'll see a diagram on most hard drives, where that jumper should reside. If the hard drive used to be visible, and never was internally modified by changing its connected cable or jumper, this issue does not apply.
3. If your data is not backed up on the invisible hard drive, it is recommended you get Prosoft Data Rescue and an external hard drive of equivalent size to attempt to recover your data.
4. If your data is backed up, Alsoft Disk Warrior can fix your directory, assuming the hard drive is not malfunctioning.
By the way a couple of terms I'd like to let you know about so that when you ask questions, you don't confuse those trying to help you:
1. Screen Saver - A screen saver is typically an animated display, and/or a screen darkener which automatically runs after a set period of time in your control panels/system preferences (Mac OS X calls Control Panels system preferences), and can often be activated via moving your cursor to a corner of the screen. After Dark was a very popular Mac OS 9 and older version of Mac OS screen saver.
2. Wallpaper/desktop pattern - The image which appears behind all the disks, folders, and files beneath your menubar which can be modified via various control panels/system preferences that manage that kind of thing.

Can't see desktop with icons

Updated to Lion and now the only way I can get to the non-apple installed apps is through Finder. For example, Gotomeeting is showing in Finder as a Desktop icon, but when I switch to Desktop view, all I can see are open applications and it is not on Launchpad or the Dock. Seems like a setting somewhere would give me the old "view Desktop" where I can see all my desktop icons.

Hi,
In general, event ID 1530 means there are some data in the user profile are still be accessed when the user log
off from the Terminal Server. Please check if any of the data is still remained in the user profile supposed to be deleted. You can use Process Monitor or Process Explorer in order to find the software which is using the data and find the solution. If there
is no such data remained, the Windows have possibly stopped the process and deleted the data when log off. In such a case, you can ignore the Event 1530.
In addition, I recommend running SFC /Scannow from an elevated command prompt and check a dump file for Windows
Explorer under C:\Localdumps.
Besides, you can also download
Autoruns to troubleshooting Explorer issues. Please run Autoruns as Administrator, go to Options menu, Filter, select Hide Microsoft Entries and Ok. After that, open the Explorer tab,
and you will see all DLL that are running inside File Explorer, so start disabling and testing if Explorer crashed.
Furthermore, the KB below may be helpful:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/961038/en-us
Best regards,
Susie

Can't see desktop Mac since I switched to AirPort base station

Since I switched from my old 3rd party wireless router to an AirPort Extreme base station, my wife's G5 iMac no longer shows up in Network even though File Sharing is on on her computer. In my Network settings in AirPort Admin Utility, I have "Share a single IP address" checked, with 10.1.1 addressing. Is there anything in here I should tweak? Thanks.

What is your current network configuration? Is it...
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What is the IP address assigned to your PowerBook? To her G5? Are they both in the range of 10.0.1.n?

Can not see wireless TM in disk utility or desktop.

Am I running a TM Airport (router) it runs great, I love everything about it and the backups have no issues.
But I wanted to partition my 500mb drive on my TM yet for some reason I can not see the drive either on my desktop or in disk utility. Is there some setting I need to change somewhere else to be able to view this wireless drive and configure it? I looked via Airport Utility and the only option there is to archive or erase it, at least that can see it.
When the backup starts I do see a mounted drive show up.
Any ideas?

It does not show up because when I am not backing up, it gets disconnected...

After installing Lion os I cannot see my desktop 1 nor can I see my open windows when I go to finder, I just get the grey/black background that comes with mission control. Any ideas as to how to solve this problem?

The top picture is what my Desktop 1 looks like. And the picture below is what my desktop looks like after clicking mission control. Ive tried changing wallpapers, changing preferences, etc. and I still can't figure out what's wrong. As you can see, on mission control you can't see any of the open windows, or anything that I have placed on my desktop. Any ideas as to how to solve this issue?

Hello cor-el, thanks for your reply. I changed my settings for downloads to desktop and it has appeared on there. When I double click I am asked which program I want to open file. I click firefox and another box "opening install" says I have chosen to open the file which is an application and do I want to save it. This is the only real option so I press save file. I get a box saying this is an executable file which may contain viruses - do you want to run. I press ok and the final box showing C drive file name and desktop appears stating application not found.
This happens the same whenever I try to install.
To my untrained eye the application is not being recognised as an application and I cannot work out how to get it to do that.
My plugin is still showing as out of date.
Is there anything you could suggest. Thanks for your time.

Can I see my macbook air desktop on apple tv?

Can I see my macbook air desktop on apple tv?
Thank you,

Welcome to the Apple community.
No, unfortunately you cannot currently do that.
You may be able to do this under the next operating system "mountain lion", subject to any hardware restrictions there maybe.

Can't see desktop

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