Corrupted icons in finder/bad Photoshop files

My PowerBook G4 17-inch with 10.4.7 installed keeps crashing icons. When I launch Finder, the icons are frequently a jumbled mess (graphics on drugs) or blank.
I have run disk utlility and it finds nothing wrong with permissions (I ran the repair anyway). When I reboot they continue as a scrambled mess. The network icon frequently disappears after reboot. SMART status says "verified."
I read a thread about permissions and did the safe reboot procedure, and then powered down, rebooted and the problem goes away for a little while. I am assuming the permissions for file structure are repaired during the safe boot, but then get corrupted after hours of use.
I don't know if this is true for every instance of crazy icons, but they seem to go south whenever I put the computer "to sleep." I told the doctor "Doc, it hurts when I do this." He said "Don't do that."
Well, how does one not put his computer to sleep? That is like breathing air when you have a laptop.
But, I am not totally sure that is the only instance of icons crashing/permissions corrupting.
I have done several SuperDuper backups, but even that transfer process stops/hangs on certain Photoshop files (running CS2). When I go in and try to open those files, they are permanently gone. The file is in the directory, and the info even shows the preview, but there is no way to open the file. Some of these files I spent weeks creating.
The safe boot procedure does not bring back the Photoshop files, but does solve the icon problem temporarily in Finder.
Ideas?

I will reply to myself...
I deleted Safari, repaired permissions, reinstalled 10.4.7, rebooted, repaired permissions again, rebooted, and things appear calm for the moment. In further test, I forced laptop to sleep, and woke it up. Icons appear normal.
I tried all of the cookies.plist stuff. (Note: does anyone know how to get the cookies.plist icon out of my Finder sidebar now?)
I am using Firefox for the moment. May not reinstall Safari if system continues to remain stable.

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Hi ajoddo20,
Welcome to the Apple Support Communities!
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Corrupted icons in Finder and Mail

My icons for files and folders often get corrupted as shown here:
http://www.math.uni-hamburg.de/spag/dm/corrupted_icons.pdf
The problem is cured (temporarily) by a reboot, but not by relaunching the Finder. Strangely, the problem "spreads" like an infection: at first, only the icons in one folder viewed in the Finder are corrupted, then quickly more and more get corrupted. The bad icons even infiltrate some applications, like Mail - see the bottom two icons in the rightmost screen shot of the link. When a single file has a bad icon, I can "delete" that icon in the info window for that file, and it reverts to normal. This does not seem to work when the corrupted icon is that of a folder.
I have a suspicion that the problem tends to spread from "old" files (never folders) that pre-date OSX. But that's not much more than speculation, since many of my files are of that type. Also, the problem has spread to other macs that I "migrated" to from the one originally affected.
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The problem is still not understood, but it seems I've been able to get rid of it. Many years ago (quite possibly still under OS9) I had given some folders special icons to make them stand out visually. I then put those folders in the toolbar of the Finder window (even now under Leopard, where dragging folders to the toolbar no longer seems to be officially encouraged but still works). In search of "anything unusual" to do with icons I now removed those pictures from the folders in their info field (so now they look normal again, like any other folders), and haven't had any more corrupted icons since. This has now been stable for about a fortnight, while before this measure I had newly corrupted icons about twice a week at least.
Caveat: I didn't remove those custom-made icons from all my folders: I simply forgot two of them (which, however, were changed later I think). So even if restoring generic icons to some folders solved the problem, the problem will most certainly be difficult to reproduce.

Icons in Finder for many file types are now blank

For no reason at all when I booted my Mac today many of the icons for my file types have just dissapeared! Anyone have any idea how to get them back? It is REALLY annoying because it makes files look like the are a folder deeper than they really are when using the list view which I always do. It's not all icons though but noticably it's all archives (.zip, .tar.gz .jar) and CSS, JS and JSP files.

For the second tiem this week the answer to my problem with OS X is a re-boot. I'm used to that working on Windows but not on OS X. This kind of thing should not be happening but it is and it didn't used to happen.

Photoshop 7.0.1 updater cannot find Photoshop file

If you run the Photoshop 7.0.1 updater and it says it cannot find the Photoshop file(s):
1) Do a full uninstall and reinstall of Photoshop to fix any necessary components that may have been moved or deleted.
2) If that doesn't work, please call Adobe Customer Support at 1-800-492-3623 within the United States, or your local Adobe Customer Support office outside the United States. Please have your Photoshop 7 serial number and valid proof of purchase available when you call. Most likely your serial number has been used by a pirate and disabled.
For other installation problems, please try the instructions included in the updater README document.

If something funny happens when you run the updater (like a DIFFERENT installer runs), try this:
1. Delete all the files in your user / system temp folder, at this location. (USERID is your user login name, Administrator, guest, etc... )
C:\Documents and Settings\USERID\Local Settings\Temp
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Go To the below locations and run the exe files manually and check if you ae able to launch the applications.
C:\\Prog Files\Adobe\Photoshop Elements 10 and run PhotoshopElementseditor.exe
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Corrupt file type icons in finder

Hi there,
I discovered a problem with small icons in Finder and it's driving me insane that I can't figure out how it happened and how to remedy it. Hope anyone here can help!
The symptoms:
The problem concerns .mkv and .srt files. In the list or column view in Finder, these file types have exec icons instead of the regular VLC icons. However, when I change to icon or cover flow view, the correct VLC icons are shown. Also in quick look the correct icons are shown. So, the problem only seems to concern small icons, but not large ones.
I tried to change the icon via Command+I. The preview icons are correct, only in the tool bar the incorrect small exec is shown. However, when I drag-drop the small exec icon from the bar to the large item, also small exec icon in Finder changes to the correct VLC icons. But only for this particular file and for all files of that type. Also when I download a new .srt or .mkv file the small icons are again exec images. SOO weird!
What scares me a little is that I did a another clean install of Yosemite after I discovered this. And nothing changed! What is happening here? I hope someone can help!
Potential cause:
The problem wasn't there after I updated to Yosemite. I did a clean install and everything was fine. However, at one point I ran the OS X version of Gmaptool (a .img merge app for Garmin navigation maps). The app is only a command line and the file also has an exec icon. After I ran this command line, the problem occurred. Does anyone know how this could have happened?
Thanks for your help! It's driving me insane!

Perhaps it's a good idea to upload a few screenshots
As you can see in the first three pictures, only small icons show the exec icon. Large ones are the correct VLC icons. The last two show the Info windows. In the first one, you can see the small exec icon in the tool bar. It changed after I dropped this exec icon on the icon field (see second Info picture). However, this only changed the small icon for this particular file, not for all .srt files.
Is there some weird preference causing this? I also found a few system files now have exec icon (see picture below). I think that wasn't the case before. How can I change it? Can I reset the small icons somehow? Would it help to securely erase the hard drive? I have nothing on the drive anyways, so that would be an easy option for me.
Thanks!

Photoshop files locking up Finder (preview not loading) and empty photoshop files... 18mb!

Hi all,
We've been having some problems with all of our Photoshop files recently. It seems to be a problem that's been duplicated throughout during the design progression.
When using finder to navigate through our design folders, it often locks up for 5 - 10 seconds per file while finder tries to load the preview thumbnails (and fails, showing just the psd icon). I checked compatibility was checked on save as. I also checked the colour profile was being embedded. On some files it wasn't so I checked this, but still having the same slowdown.
As a test I then deleted all the layers in the doc, saved it again - and even though the file only had one blank layer - it was 18mb in size!
I then made a new document of the same resolution, saved it - and boom. 120kb or so and preview works fine.
I then opened one of the problem PSD's with all the layers - dragged them over to a new document of the same size, saved it - and the file and preview in finder works fine.
Obviously there's something of around 18mb in weight in all of our old files that is causing a real issue with finder and previews. Other than layers (as there are none) - what could it be? We're using a mix of cs6 / cc and cc 2014.
Any help on this would be appreciated!

OK, that means that the Finder is having problems with that folder. That could be due to corrupt disk data structures, or you could be hitting some of the known (and not yet fixed) bugs in MacOS's Finder related to thumbnails and metadata parsing.
As for file size - other metadata (especially image history, and sometimes color profiles) can really add to the file size.

Photoshop file corruption (selections deleted from layers)

I was working on 5 photoshop files today. Photoshop stared previewing one of the files very oddly (when you zoomed in nothing was there).
I saved all open files and quit Photoshop.
Upon opening Photoshop all files had random selections deleted from the layers (please see attached)
I have basically lost a full days work.
has anyone had anything similar??
Photoshop CS5 version 12.0.2

Yes, I have this corruption issue as well. For me, it is not reproducable (no specific action causes it that I have found), and intermittant (happens inconsistently but not infrequently, maybe once or twice a month out of hundreds of files and working hours). It seems like it more often happens in layer masks first, but once the corruption starts, it shows in layer image data as well. Often it looks blocky like you are seeing, and also as you mention, cached zoom levels don't show the corruption.
I hesitate to call it corruption, but it seems to be the case—once it shows up in an open file, going back in history does NOT undo the corruption, and if you save, your image is screwed. Only way to avoid losing lots of work is to save often and close without saving when you notice corrution, then go back to where you were last time you saved. I have noticed that once you see corruption, you have to re-launch PS even if you close and re-open the file. Otherwise additional corruption will happen almost immediately.
It smells like a RAM related issue, but it's the ONLY issue I have on any of the workstations I use where I've noticed the PS corruption issue, so if it's RAM corruption then it's something PS and only PS does to my RAM. I do a lot of heavy processing with large files, so if I had any bad RAM, I'm pretty sure I'd have noticed by now.
I'm working on files over a local network (nearly always, all day every day). I've had the issue on multiple Macs, multiple OS versions, multiple versions of PS (since CS3, it seems like.) I do use more levels of undo that default but well within available range (100 undos--PS allows up to 1000). And my History & Cache settings are default.
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Hi, I have had a random corruption of a layered ps file (no crash or surge that I know of). The finder icon displays correctly, but the file is now just flattened noise. A couple of questions: any recovery possible? and any notion why this would occur?
Thanks

This is the boilerplate text I use in connection to saving to a network (please NOTE the part where it explains that normally, it does work, but that it is impossible to troubleshoot someone else's network remotely, and that's why it's not supported by Adobe):
If you are opening files over a network or saving them to a network server, please cease and desist immediately in the event you are currently experiencing problems with one or more files. Working across a network is not supported.
See:
http://www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/322391.html
Copy the CLOSED file from your server to your local hard disk, work on it, save it again to your local hard disk, close it, and copy the closed file back to the server.
Of course, the fact that Adobe does not support working across a network does not necessarily mean it won't work. It should.
Adobe's position is that there are too many variables in a network environment for them to guarantee that everything will work correctly in every network, especially given the fact that if something does not work properly, it's probably the network's fault, and Adobe has no way of troubleshooting your network.
If you can't work locally, you are on your own, and if something happens, you're on your own. If you must work from a server, make sure your network administrator is a competent professional.
When problems arise, a lot of valuable work can be lost.

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ok I've been negligent in trying to get this resolved.. its been happening for about 4 months now... I cannot think of anything that I added to make this happen....
has anyone figured this out yet?

Hi, for my money TM is the only backup solution worse than no bacjup at all, but that being said...
"Try Disk Utility
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.
3. Click the First Aid tab.
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5. Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Then try a Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it completes.
(Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive.)
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Can't find my Photoshop preferences file

I KNOW this is stupid, but on Windows 7, 64-bit, with all the stuff turned on to show me hidden files and system files and everything, Photoshop CS6 (13.0.1?), and Lightroom 4.3
I'm trying to follow the advice that everything I do in Photoshop should be backed up somewhere other than as part of Photoshop, I periodically move all the stuff in
the Users/<me>/AppData/Roaming/Adobe... folders to a backup drive... And, by and large, I can find and figure out what stuff is.
But, I can't find my preferences file. I went to the Adobe help, and it says:
General settings
Adobe Photoshop CS6 Prefs.psp (32-bit version)
Adobe Photoshop X64 CS6 Prefs.psp (64-bit version)
Users/[user name]/AppData/Roaming/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop CS6/Adobe Photoshop CS6 Settings
I don't have ANYTHING called "Prefs.psp" in the Users stuff. As near as I can tell, I don't have anything called Prefs.psp ANYWHERE on the disk..
Do I get to pick where this file gets put? Could I have put it somewhere ELSE? Or, is it actually named something else?
I wouldn't be much concerned about his, but my latest stupid human trick (we won't go into that please) has convinced me I should do a better job of making sure I can restore Photoshop and Lightroom in the event of a "small error in judgement"

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What I'll do is add an (hopefully) automated Windows Backup to the other backups. Given the appallingly stupid things I periodically do I figure I need suspenders and a belt.

I keep getting the message, "Windows cannot find 'c:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe'. Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again." I get it when I either try to open it from the Start menu or from the desktop icon.

I've just installed Firefox on my laptop and keep getting the message, "Windows cannot find 'c:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe'. Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again." I get this message whenever I either try to open it from the Start menu or from the desktop icon. I've never gotten it to work and even uninstalled it and then redownloaded it and still cannot get it to open. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!

Are you installing from the official site? http://www.mozilla.com/firefox
If you use Windows Explorer (My Computer) to check that path, is the Mozilla Firefox folder there? That is the normal installation location, but I think it's worth checking.
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SUPERAntiSpyware : http://www.superantispyware.com/

How do I find out the size of each individual element within a photoshop file as need to replace some elements? Thanks :)

How do I find out the size of each individual element within a photoshop file as need to replace some elements? Thanks

What do you mean by "Elements"?
Elements in a flat image or Layers?
Could you please post a screenshot with the Layers Panel visible?

Find and replace text in multiple Photoshop files?

Hi there,
Let us say I have six Photoshop files: 1.psd, 2.psd, ..., 6.psd. All of these files contain the word “LoremIpsum” in random text layers, within each document. Is there a way I can search for “LoremIpsum” in all documents and replace it with “Dolor Sit Amet”, all in one go? This is just an example, I need to replace various words, not just one.
I have tried "batch find and replace" software (including powerful tools like Power Grep) but they do not work with psd files… Is there a javascript of external plugin for this kind of task?
Thanks!

You’re welcome, advice given here is free.
If you want to donate something nonetheless you could do so over at
http://ps-scripts.com/bb/
Many of the same people used to contribute there as here and I for one have benefitted considerably from their generous advice on Scripting issues.
A Script can read (or create) txt files, but I do not have a lot of experience with this.
This might work (amend the line »var theTexts = readPref ("….txt", false);« according to your txt-file’s path):
// replace text elements in type layers;
// 2013, use it at your own risk;
#target photoshop
if (app.documents.length > 0) {
          for (var n = 0; n < app.documents.length; n++) {
                    app.activeDocument = app.documents[n];
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// the opertation;
function main () {
          var myDocument = app.activeDocument;
          var theTexts = readPref ("….txt", false);
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          var theArray2 = theTexts.slice(Math.round(theTexts.length/2), theTexts.length);
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////// reoplace text //////
function replaceText (replaceThis, replaceWith) {
// =======================================================
var idreplace = stringIDToTypeID( "replace" );
    var desc22 = new ActionDescriptor();
    var idnull = charIDToTypeID( "null" );
        var ref3 = new ActionReference();
        var idPrpr = charIDToTypeID( "Prpr" );
        var idreplace = stringIDToTypeID( "replace" );
        ref3.putProperty( idPrpr, idreplace );
        var idTxLr = charIDToTypeID( "TxLr" );
        var idOrdn = charIDToTypeID( "Ordn" );
        var idAl = charIDToTypeID( "Al " );
        ref3.putEnumerated( idTxLr, idOrdn, idAl );
    desc22.putReference( idnull, ref3 );
    var idUsng = charIDToTypeID( "Usng" );
        var desc23 = new ActionDescriptor();
        var idfind = stringIDToTypeID( "find" );
        desc23.putString( idfind, replaceThis );
        var idreplace = stringIDToTypeID( "replace" );
        desc23.putString( idreplace, replaceWith );
        var idcheckAll = stringIDToTypeID( "checkAll" );
        desc23.putBoolean( idcheckAll, true );
        var idFwd = charIDToTypeID( "Fwd " );
        desc23.putBoolean( idFwd, true );
        var idcaseSensitive = stringIDToTypeID( "caseSensitive" );
        desc23.putBoolean( idcaseSensitive, false );
        var idwholeWord = stringIDToTypeID( "wholeWord" );
        desc23.putBoolean( idwholeWord, false );
        var idignoreAccents = stringIDToTypeID( "ignoreAccents" );
        desc23.putBoolean( idignoreAccents, true );
    var idfindReplace = stringIDToTypeID( "findReplace" );
    desc22.putObject( idUsng, idfindReplace, desc23 );
executeAction( idreplace, desc22, DialogModes.NO );
////// read prefs file //////
function readPref (thePath, binary) {
if (File(thePath).exists == true) {
    var file = File(thePath);
    file.open("r");
    if (binary == true) {file.encoding= 'BINARY'};
    var theText = file.read();
    file.close();
    return String(theText).split(",")
In this case the comma is used to split the text into Strings in Arrays, if your search/replace texts include commas you could use something else, I guess.

Corrupted icons in finder/bad Photoshop files

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