Crashes on ichat, mail, update

Question

I have a imac 2.8GHZ Dual Core Duo running 10.6.8 Many of my sytem apps keep crashing. Mail, ichat, update- I try to open they close down  "quit unexpectedly.
I restarted and it didn't help. Any ideas how to fix this?
I have not used this computer much in the past year but had to turn in my MacBook Pro back to work- so now I need this to work as my main computer.

Answer 1

Hi Stephen.
mail continually crashes
Under what circumstances?
Problems arising right after installing a system update are usually the result of the problem already being there, or not having installed the update properly, or ignoring Apple’s "Important: Please read before installing" warnings, etc., rather than being caused by the update itself. In order to ensure that the update is installed properly, proceed as follows.
Verify/repair the startup disk (not just permissions), as described here:
The Repair functions of Disk Utility: what's it all about?
After having fixed all filesystem issues, if any, reinstall the update that appears to not have been installed properly. You may also need to reinstall the Combo Update for the type of computer and the version of Mac OS X you’re using, unless this is the version of Mac OS X that came with your computer:
About the Mac OS X 10.4.8 Combo Update
Mac OS X 10.4.8 Combo Update for PPC
Mac OS X 10.4.8 Combo Update for Intel
Take a look at the following articles for guidelines on how to properly install system updates:
Troubleshooting installation and software updates
Installing software updates
Basically, you should verify/repair the startup disk before installing the update, no applications should be running while installing it, and you may experience unexpected results if you have third-party system software modifications (not normal applications) installed.