Cannot move icons on desktop, or in finder windows

My mother in law creates unusual technical problems and then I go over to try to fix them. It's a fascinating part of our relationship.
This one stumped me. I click and drag on an icon (file or folder; doesn't matter). It highlights, but doesn't move. The mouse seems to behave in other applications-- though now that I think about it, I didn't personally test that and she might not drag much in Word.
Things that didn't help: restarting, repairing permissions, trashing .plists for finder and desktop.
Suggestions appreciated.
TIA
iMac   Mac OS X (10.2.x)  

Hi Tom!
t sounds like a Permissions problem.
Are you logged in to the Admin account?
Have you run Repair Permissions?
Yep, as noted above, I have run Repair Permissions.
What happens when you try to drag?
Icon highlights, but doesn't move. The cursor simply moves away from the icon.
How are the Ownership & Permissions set for
the Desktop, the Admin Home folder, and
the Hard Drive, in Get Info?
I didn't check those. Presumably, Repair permissions would have set them to the correct value, right?
ali
b
Thanks.
Tom

Similar Messages

  • How can i force eject a cd from mac pro no icon on desktop or in finder, how can i force eject a cd from mac pro no icon on desktop or in finder

    how can i force eject a cd from mac pro no icon on desktop or in finder, how can i force eject a cd from mac pro no icon on desktop or in finder

    Restart the computer and hold down the trackpad down.
    It will take a while.

  • I'm using a fresh install on 10.10. why when i click the finder icon in the dock a finder window does not open?

    i'm using a fresh install on 10.10. why when i click the finder icon in the dock a finder window does not open?

    ok, i forced quit the finder, and now when i click on the finder it opens a visible window... where did this bug come from?

  • Problem when trying to move icons on desktop

    Hello experts,
    I have a macbook Air with OS X 10.9.2.
    I have a problem when I try to move any icon on the desktop.
    To move an icon I need to select it, and drag it to the new positon, it then returns to the same position, after iff I unselect it and select it again, it apears on the position I drag it before.
    could any one give me some help about this?
    Many thanks in advance.
    Regards,
    José Alves

    Take these steps if the cursor changes from an arrow to a white "prohibited" symbol when you try to move an icon on the Desktop.
    Sometimes the problem may be solved just by logging out or rebooting. Try that first, if you haven't already done it. Otherwise, continue.
    Select the icon of your home folder (a house) in the sidebar of a Finder window and open it. The Desktop folder is one of the subfolders. Select it and open the Info window. In the General section of the window, the Kind will be either Folder  or something else, such as Anything.
    If the Kind is Folder, uncheck the box marked Locked. Close the Info window and test.
    If the Kind is not Folder, make sure the Locked box is not checked and that you have Read & Write privileges in the  Sharing & Permissions section. Then close the Info window and do as follows.
    Back up all data.
    Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:
    xattr -d com.apple.FinderInfo Desktop
    Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.
    Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:
    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
    ☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
    ☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
    Paste into the Terminal window by pressing command-V. You should get a new line ending in a dollar sign ($). Quit Terminal.
    Relaunch the Finder.
    If the problem is now resolved, and if you use iPhoto, continue.
    Quit iPhoto if it's running. Launch it while holding down the option key. It will prompt you to select a library. Choose the one you want to use (not the Desktop folder.)

  • External Hard Drive NOT Showing Up on Desktop or in Finder Window

    I have a PowerBook G4 and am connecting a Western Digital portable hard drive via USB (high-speed). It worked it the past, but it is no longer showing up in finder windows or on the desktop, and as such, I cannot access the files stored on it. When I open up the system profiler, it shows up as being connected in the USB Device Tree, but I don't know how to proceed... PLEASE help, I am a photographer and I have tons of images stored here, not to mention my iTunes library!!!

    Have you tried 'mounting' the drive from within Disk Utility (found in 'Utilities' within the Applications folder)?
    Do you have any other USB devices connected when you connect the drive? If so try ejecting all other USB devices before connecting the drive. Have you also tried using a different USB cable?
    Does the drive require an external power supply? If so, have you checked the power supply?
    Have you noticed if there were any unusual noises or activity from the drive in recent days? If so try 'Repair Disk' from Disk Utility. I don't want to scare you but there is always a possibility that the drive is either failing or has failed - hopefully that will not be the case.
    Do you have DiskWarrior? If so try checking the drive with DW.
    15" 1.25GHz/12" 1GHz PBs, 2xPPC Mac minis, 12" iBook G4,   Mac OS X (10.4.7)   Cube, 2xTAMs, iPod 4G & nano 2G, iPs, AEBS, AX

  • How Do I Customize, Add Icons / Shortcuts etc. To Finder Window?

    A friend helped me with a previous computer and he "fixed up" my finder window. There was an icon at the top for "Create New Folder" an icon so I could jump to my desktop, and icon for a specific spreadsheet file so that when I clicked it excel would launch and that file would open. You get he idea. I believe he also made changes to the items listed on the left.
    Now I'm paying more attention to my laptop but forget how he made these changes.
    I have a funny feeling it will be dead easy.
    What do I do?
    Any other hints?
    Thanks

    I have a funny feeling it will be dead easy.
    You guessed it precisely James!
    To modify the top Toolbar of Windows, Right click or Control+click on the Toolbar, choose Customize Toolbar.
    To add icons/folders to the sidebar, just drag a folder on the right to the Sidebar, to rearrange them drag them up or down, to remove them drag them off to the left.

  • Quick Look icon doesn't appear in Finder window?

    I've just installed Leopard, and have just read in the manual about Quick Look. Quick Look shows up in the drop-down File menu if I highlight a file or document, but it doesn't show up where it's supposed to in the Finder window, as an eyeball icon. I'm sure there's some obvious fix: can anyone explain what I have to do to get the icon to show up in Finder?
    Much obliged.
    jk

    the easiest way to quicklook a file is select the file and hit the space bar. but if you want to call it from the toolbar the icon should be tere too. if it isn't, go to view menu->customize toolbar and drag the "eye" icon to the toolbar.

  • I cannot move, resize, minimize, or close the browser window despite everything inside the window still working.

    I don't know what details are needed so I'll just rattle off anything that I can think of.
    I am running an Asus laptop with windows 7. I have never had an issue with firefox in the past (beyond the usual freezing and some obvious issues with pop up ads that are par for the course with firefox since adblocker never does what it says.... not really. Lets be honest.) I am using Avast for my virus protection and it is also up to date.
    My issue started about an hour ago when firefox stopped responding. The video I had playing kept going but I could not interact with anything. Assuming the program froze for the billionth time that week I rebooted it. This has always solved freezing issues in the past. Now, however, firefox is doing something new.
    I can access the menus and almost everything on the window itself except for the minimize/maximize/close buttons, I cannot move the window at all, and I cannot manually resize it. I have also noticed that although videos will play, I can only click on their buttons if there is another smaller window overtop of firefox. The video controls will only appear that way and when I click them firefox naturally comes to the front and the video responds with the button I used but the buttons are gone again and I cannot resume playing without the smaller window back in front to make the buttons show again.
    It's as if half of firefox is frozen while the other half is still running somehow.
    I have no themes that could be causing this. Literally none. I only use firefox for the things that can no longer be opened in Opera so I have no need for any theme beyond default. The only addons I installed on purpose were adblockers (lord knows why. they don't DO anything.) though several other random things seem to have been installed over time to aid in one thing or another. Various plugins and players and versions of java, that sort of thing. But I have everything (and i mean EVERYTHING) in the addon menu disabled.
    I have tried booting it up in safe mode (the program, not windows) and the problem is still there except now it won't show the menu bar at all unless I press the alt key first and even then it wont let me actually click on anything in the menu bar. When I try the whole bar vanishes. I had to close firefox with the task manager.
    Rebooting will fix the issue for about 15 seconds before it all comes back.
    Any attempts at updating have failed as it says I am already up to date on everything so I don't know what its issue is.
    It's not an urgent issue right now as most of what i need to do can be done on the half screen window I am using, but some of my sites have buttons that literally vanish in anything but full screen and I imagine that this will be a much greater annoyance within a few days.

    After following all the instructions given, I poked around safe websites as suggested. I am not sure why this step was needed, as websites functioned rather normally before I came here but I did it anyways and found that the websites still work the same as they did. I can still do everything I used to be able to do. I see no change in the function of the websites.
    However, I still cannot resize, close, or move the browser window. I don't know if Netflix is a safe site or not (too many conflicting opinions on that one from the masses) so I don't know if the issue with the vanishing buttons is still there, but all the issues I had with the browser window itself is still there.
    Even in safe mode the browsers three window control buttons on the top right refuse to let me use them and the window itself will refuse to be moved around.

  • Finder dock icon does not open a Finder window when a file is dragged onto it

    In Snow Leopard and Lion, when you dragged a file onto the Finder dock icon, a Finder window popped open and you could then navigate to where you wished to place the file.
    In Mountain Lion, this behaviour has changed.  Now either nothing happens, or Mission Control Expose kicks in with a blank screen since there are no Finder windows already open to show.
    Is this just my install or does everyone find this annoying removal-of a-useful-feature behaviour change?  Seems like a mistake to me.

    I never knew the feature existed, so I don't miss it. It also isn't something I'd use in my normal workflow.
    However, it is disconcerting to lose functionality that was useful to you.
    You can file feedback here.

  • Cannot see Raw Nikon NEF images in finder windows

    I had a problem with my Macbook pro so I had to re-install the operating system, which is Leopard.
    Now I can't see the my Nikon NEF images in the finder windows, they only show the jpeg pictures.
    I remember this was a problem over a year ago and somehow I resolved it, but I can 't remember how. I'm doing the usual thing such as click VIEW - OPTIONS - ALWAYS OPEN IN ICON VIEW - but this does not seem to work.
    Can anyone remind me what to do?

    The issue should only occur if you shoot raw. Currently OS X can only display/read certain RAW camera formats. These are OS level, meaning iPhoto, Preview, Mail, Aperture and others are effected. However adobe products are different because they use Adobe Camera RAW.
    I would expect JPEGs TIFFs and PSDs, both thumbnails and files, to view fine. RAW files will not view from the D300, but the D200 is supported.
    There is no way of knowing when support for the (not-so-)new files will be available. Rumor has it it will be 10.5.2, but only Apple knows that. You can head on over to the Aperture forum and read to see if some have work-arounds.

  • Drag-and-drop to desktop brings up Finder window - DO NOT WANT

    For some reason, every time I drag-and-drop an image from my browser onto my desktop, it now brings up a Finder window. Is there any way to stop this?
    Thanks.

    I'm also looking for same, have you found any solutions elsewhere?

  • What causes a question mark icon to appear in a finder window?

    Hello,
       I was wondering if anyone knows what causes a question mark icon to appear at the top of a finder window?
    Thanks!

    Either the file or folder which was in that spot(if any) got moved or deleted, or a bad write to the Finder's plist file.
    (67394)

  • Cannot link files in illustrator CC, as finder window closes by itself after installing maverick

    Hi, After installing Mavericks (Doh!) I can no longer link files in illustrator CC as the finder window closes by itself after one second or if I click on anything. It was happening with save as also, but that seems to have rectified itself by reinstalling the program. Anyone any thoughts? Im in a spot of bother!

    theoutset,
    There are several threads about Maverick issues just now, such as:
    http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1320367?tstart=0
    http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1319868?tstart=0
    http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1320608?tstart=0
    http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1320983?tstart=0
    Astute Graphics are working on making VectorScribe compatible with Maverick, http://www.astutegraphics.com/blog/mac-os-mavericks-10-9-compatibility /
    It may be worth postponing your use of Maverick until the dust has settled.

  • I cannot move icons to the home screen

    Pardon me if this is old, but I cannot find it here via search.  I'm new to iPhone, having had Windows phones, Palm, and others in the past.  Just picked this up today.  Slick.  It even makes AT&T look better.  Here's my question.
    I understand tap and hold to make the icons jiggle, then drag.  Only problem is, I can move them to the right but not to the left--to the home screen.  For example, I moved one of the default home screen icons to the second screen, leaving a hole.  Now I'm trying to move an icon from the second screen into the hole I created.  I can drag to the right and create a new screen, but it will not break through to the left onto the home screen.
    Any clues as to what I might be doing wrong?  Thanks.
    Bill

    OK.  My bad.  I searched again and found it.  Drag to the edge and hold it there for a couple seconds, and then it moves.  Please excuse the ring.
    Bill

  • Updated to ios5, but cannot move icons on homescreen

    I updated my ipod touch to newest ios5.1.  When I go to the device screen, it won't show or let me move the icons on my screens anymore.

    What is the device screen?  I just updated and wheb I touch abd hold any app they all startto wiggle and I can then move them. Haveyou tried resetting your iPod. Nothing will be lost.
    Reset iPod touch:  Hold down the On/Off button and the Home button at the same time for at
    least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears.

Maybe you are looking for