Desktop 'disappears' repeatedly

I have a problem with my computer that is getting very annoying. I'm working on my computer and then suddenly, my whole desktop, finder, everything disappears and shows a blank blue screen and then fades back to what I was just doing. The display may show that blue screen for just a short moment or even longer, this is becoming so frustrating. Please respond.
Mac Mini 2G 80 ghz   Mac OS X (10.4.3)  

I have found some unusual things in console.log, I have found something peculiar...
Exporting server prefs...
Exporting server prefs...
Exporting client prefs
Exporting server prefs
Exporting client prefs
Exporting server prefs
Shutting down the OpenGL display device...
Cleaning up the display device...
Killing the texture manager...
Making sure the rendering context is not current...
Deleting the rendering context...
Shutting down DrawSprocket and restoring Desktop (1280x1024x32)...
I also found this...
Mapping string: You picked up a gem. %1 gems to go! to index: 20
In Perferential Treatment, my computer found something that has to do with an applescript I downloaded for iTunes, I deleted it.
This is the latest event in system.log...
; USER=root ; COMMAND=/usr/bin/plutil /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/preferences.plist
I recently started using Firefox to see if that would change anything but it didn't. While I was browsing, the Finder crashed so much that I couldn't work!
I performed a spotlight search on DrawSprocket and all I could get was a .lib file that belonged to Mac OS 9.
Mac Mini 2G 80 ghz Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Similar Messages

  • DESKTOP DISAPPEARS using Control-Click

    When I Control-Click any item on the desktop (to try and get contextual menu), or any item in any open desktop pane, all the icons on the desktop disappear and reappear a few seconds later - like a desktop relaunch. Maybe I changed some settings but I don't think so. Thought it might be FruitMenu app but have tried uninstalling that to fix this with no success. Have rebuilt the disk using DiskWarrior3.0.3 and have done permissions repairs several times. No success.

    Hi, I'm answering my own post here as i couldn;t remove it. But for anyone looking for the answer, i found it, thanks to francine on another post:
    I went into "/Users/yourname/Library/Contextual Menu Items" and into "/Library/Contextual Menu Items". I archived the contents of each, dropped the archives onto the desktop (in case I wanted them again) and trashed the copntents of those 2 folders. Restarted and everythign wokred great getting the contextual nmenus up again on Finder items using Control-Click. I then replaced the appropriate archive into the "/Library/Contextual Menu Items", unarchived it (hoping to find the culprit item) and trashed the archive, restarted and again all worked fine again. I then repeated the process with the "/Users/yourname/Library/Contextual Menu Items" folder and again restarted and again everything worked fine! So found no culprits and the contextual menus work as they always did before the problem.
    Hope this helps. PaulWR.

  • Spotlight makes my desktop disappear !! 10.4.11

    Hello
    I have not upgraded to Leopard, but have been updating to the most recent 10.4.x
    I Only use Spotlight to find things when desperate (Cause it always finds things that I haven't asked it to look for)
    LAst night I inserted a cd (data disk) and used spotlight to find a file ... searching searching, then all the icons on my desktop disappeared and the finder window disappeared too.
    Now i have a really nice clean desktop, no icons. then they appeared after a few seconds of clicking around.
    Then I try a dvd data disk, searching for the same file ....searching searching message, and Poof!! all gone again. I click on the desktop, and here and there an icon shows where I click, but nothing comes back completely.
    Restart the computer
    Disk utility: Verify Disk (Hard drive) ... no problems found. Verify Permissions ... no problems found.
    Anyone else having these problems with spotlight?
    Thank you
    EB

    Try deleting Cache files in your Users/home/Library Folder/caches

  • Finder disappeared, all folders on desktop disappeared

    I have had problems with turning my iMac off. Now all folders on the desktop disappeared, and Finder tells me that it can' t open. 
    Anyone have a clue what to do?

    Now, boot normally and see if the problem continues. If so, boot into safe mode, create a new admin user account, log into it, and see if the issue persists.

  • Desktop disappears after booting.

    Hello, I have a 17 inch Macbook pro and I just upgraded to Leopard, the installation went smoothly and everthing seemed OK, after the install finished the mac restarted and everything went as it should be, it restarted a little slow but I think that was normal. A few seconds (about 30 to 45) after it finished restarting the whole desktop disappeared, I mean the dock, the finder menu and all of my icons in the desktop, it all disappeared except for the wallpaper. I waited for an hour but nothing happened, when I pressed the restart button the restart menu appeared but nothing happened when I clicked restart or turn off. I have no access to menus or aplications and when I click on the desktop nothing happens.
    I turned it off by pressing the power button for several seconds and every time it boots the same thing happens, it starts as it should, it even conects to the internet but after a few seconds away goes the desktop.
    I managed to restart it in safe mode (pressing shift during boot) and it took a long time but it eventualy booted perfectly, and in safe mode I can use the finder and applications, I ran a repair permissions from safe mode and restarted it but again the same thing happened. I'm pretty sure that some 3rd party application is causing a conflict.
    Does anyone have any ideas?, can this be resolved by removing the offending application?, how can I find it? I would really appreciate any suggestions since I dont want to have to format my hard drive. Thank you.

    Ohhh, why am I so impatient?, I removed a lot of 3rd party software but could never get the problem fixed, I was able to make a full system backup with time machine running in safe mode so I made an Archive Install, hoping the problem would go away, it didn't.
    So, feeling confident about having a full system backup, I made an Erase and Install of Leopard. Everything went smoothly and the OS is great. Just a few hours later you guys replied to this topic talking about Dates to iCal. That's one of the 3rd party programs I did NOT erase, thinking it was harmless. Since I have never had HP zone image or anything like that I'm pretty sure that the problem lies with dates to iCal. It seems to be the only software we all have in common.
    My system backup still has Dates to iCal, so in theory I could make a complete system recovery, eliminate Dates to iCal and RECOVER MY SYSTEM AS I HAD IT BEFORE UPGRADING. I already started reinstalling software but there's a LOT to do. Still theres a chance that erasing dates to iCal doesn't work and I find myself in the same place again, I'm not feeling up to reinstalling leopard all over again and dowload and reinstall stuff again unless someone can confirm that Dates to iCal is the culprit.
    Please can anyone confirm?, any volunteers?, thanks for your help.

  • Everything on my desktop disappeared. i tried using the finder to locate specific files and they are missing. Help!

    i'm using a macbook pro retina, 2.4 GHz Intel Core i7, 8GB. operating OSX Yosemite 10.10.1
    everything on my desktop disappeared. i've managed to make my HD reappear on my desktop but my files etc are nowhere to be found. i tried using the finder to locate specific files and they are missing. Help! I foolishly filled up my desktop with piles of screen grabs and folders - no doubt that was the cause... what do i do, aside from punish myself for being so stupid?

    Could you have logged into another account?
    If you go to System Preferences>Users and Accounts what accounts are listed?
    To show users at login go to the Login Options of chanck the box that says show list of users.
    If they they are gone and you can't find them then restore them from a backup

  • Desktop disappears when applications are opened

    I spent part of this afternoon assigning rules for moving emails to folders in Apple Mail (ver 2.0.7). After restarting, now the desktop disappears everytime I open an application, and I must go back to the dock to move between applications, since only one application's window appears at a time on the desktop (though it is possible to have two windows from the same application open--for example, two pdf files with Adobe Acrobat.)
    It's as if the system is operating before the invention of the multifinder, in the bad old days when you had to go back to the finder in order to move between applications. With this problem, the application stays open, but the window of a different application from the current one can only be viewed by returning to the dock and selecting the application. And only one application window can be seen at a time.
    Everything was working fine before I spent the day trying to clean up my huge INBOX on Apple mail.
    I have already deleted com.apple.finder.plist, and was thinking of trying to reset the PRAM.
    Thanks in advance.

    I did not notice that I was in full scree mode. Yes that the issue, out of full screen it works like before.
    Thanks a lot for the hint.

  • Mail icon to on iPad desktop disappeared.  How can I get it back?

    Mail icon to on iPad desktop disappeared.  How can I get it back?

    Swipe from screen to screen and look for it in folders or on other screens or go to Settings>General>Reset>Reset Home Screen Layout.

  • Desktop disappeared with files on it

    I just attempted to download a screensaver from the official Dark Knight movie website. I was left with an icon that tried to install something and after a failed installation, everything on my desktop disappeared except for my HD. Even in "Places" the desktop fails to show up. What happened and how can I get these files back?

    Oh my Lord, what a mess! I downloaded the screensaver, unzipped and ran it.... My downloads go a folder on the root level of my drive called Downloads. After running the installer my Downloads folder was converted to a package called "tdk-screensaver-a03.saver" which is suppose to open with System Prefs! If I go to System Prefs->Screensavers I'm informed the Screensaver is broken and won't work. I suspect the same thing happened to you. Here's what you will need to do:
    1. Restart your computer. It will create a new Desktop, if it hasn't done so already. There will be nothing in the Desktop folder.
    2. Assuming you had files on your original Desktop you will need to get them out of the old Desktop, which has been renamed and changed to a package.
    3. Open your home folder and right click or Control click on the "tdk-screensaver-a03.saver" icon and select "Show Package Contents"--a new window will open with the contents of your Desktop in it. Select your files and drag them to your Desktop. Trash the bogus "tdk-screensaver-a03.saver" and anything else you see related to the awful screensaver.
    4. Go to your home ~/Library folder, open it and look for a folder with the weird name of "NY" with lots of little accent marks. Trash it.
    5. If you have Time Machine, use it to restore the following files to their pre-disaster state:
    "/Users/yourname/Library/Preferences/com.apple.preference.desktopscreeneffect.pl ist"
    "/Users/yourname/Library/Preferences/com.apple.systempreferences.plist"
    "/Users/yourname/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.screensaver.0017f20dca84.p list"
    The numbers at the end of the last file will likely be different.
    I think everything should be back normal.
    Francine
    Francine
    Schwieder

  • My desktop disappears sometimes

    Hello !
    I have a recurrent problem on my MBPro 15" i7 w/ Mac OS X 10.7
    Sometimes, my desktop disappears. I only can see a grey screen, the same grey as in the login window :
    When the desktop has this bug, Mission Control also doesn't work. I only can see this same grey screen...
    What can be the problem ?

    reinstall lion,maybe it wasnt installed correctly
    u shud install lion after formatting mac wid snow leopard n then install lion

  • Help! Everthing on the Desktop Disappeared

    I ran the Java & Security updates tonight, upon the reboot, everything on the desktop disappeared. I can only see them by browsing the hard drive.

    I ran disk verify in disk utility and everything came back... weird!

  • A folder on my desktop disappeared and is not the trash, HELP

    A folder on my desktop disappeared and is not in the trash, PLEASE HELP

    I tried that and found one of the documents but it says it has been damaged or motified

  • My desktop disappeared. When the computer starts, it opens in finder. Also, it acts like something is running. The spinning circle is spinning, will stop for a minute then starts again. What is wrong? Help please.

    My Mac g5 starts and goes to finder. The desktop has disappeared. Also the circle keeps spinning. It will stop for a minute, then start again. It acts like something is running. I have restarted multiple times. Can anyone help please? Thank you.

    Spinning Beach Ball
    Spinning Beach ball (2)

  • Desktop disappearing on MacBook

    As the subject says, my desktop items fail to appear when I disconnect my MacBook from my 24'' external monitor.
    Does anyone know a fix?
    Thanks!

    Where has it gone?
    Good question. Things don't disappear on their own, so perhaps it was inadvertently moved. Use Spotlight to search for it - Click the Spotlight "magnifying glass" symbol at the upper right of your Mac's menu bar, and type Powerpoint. If you find it, move it back to the Applications folder where it belongs.
    If you still can't find it, you'll have to download it again from Microsoft. You will probably need the license key or whatever Microsoft uses to track your purchases.
    Please tell me you did not install any so-called "cleaning" utility such as "CleanMyMac" or "MacCleanser" or "MacKeeper" or similarly categorized program...? Garbage utilities like that will make a mess of things.

  • Desktop Disappears!

    Hello. I have a log-in window for myself and and another user. Lately when I log in a foreign, stock desk top appears (all of my icons and personal settings are lost). I usually restart and things return to normal. Does anyone know why my computer is suddenly starting to do this?
    My GB are somewhat low (over 10) and I use file vault, fyi.

    This may sound bizarre, but one trend I've noticed is that whenever I use Firefox the trouble begins to happen. I had the Firefox icon in dock, had the disappearing desktop problem, got rid of it, no problems, but then I searched for it in applications, began using it again, and now the same disappearing desktop.

Maybe you are looking for

  • File Sharing XP & Vista with WRT54G-RG Problem

    I'm hoping a network ninja can help me out with this, because I can't figure it out. I have a desktop running XP Home, with a wired connection to the WRT54G-RG Router.  I have a notebook running Vista that's wirelessly connected to said router. I hav

  • Use of subroutines in SAPScripts

    When we are calling a subroutine from Script is it possible to retrieve an internal table from the program and use it in the script for printing data? for eg:PERFORM <subroutine name> IN PROGRAM <program name> using<var1> chnging<var2>.Can Var1 or va

  • How to setup  internet connection in  Solaris 10 X86

    All I have installed Solaris 10 X86 in my intel laptop. I want to setup internet connection in solaris. Can you please provide me some info on this ? I have Comcast broadband cable modem installed at home. Thanks Murali

  • Oracle Business Rule

    Hello Everyone, I am using Oracle Business Rule in an application for calculation purpose on the basis of some price values. The price values may be changed according to date. I want calculate the value by any previous date price. Example price is Rs

  • Anyone else having trouble installing MeasureIt extension for FireFox 8.0

    I've installed the MeasureIt extension from the 8.0 browser version and also from the Frayd Media (frayd.us) and then restarted my computor to no avail. I love the extension and think it's worth a contribution ... if I can install it successfully? Is