Finder issue - won't launch new window, new plist resets immediately

Question

Hey folks, just a series of strange little problems.
a.) When I launch Finder, it's a blank window. I have to press one of the buttons for a view to get it to show anything at all.
b.) I can't launch another Finder window. This is a problem if I need to, say, drag and drop files from one folder to another. Neither the keyboard shortcut or the New Window option under the File dropdown does anything at all.
c.) When I trash the .plist in Prefs, the problem gets fixed - but only for one new window launch. Then Finder immediately goes back to the no new windows default.
d.) I've had problems with Time Machine launch that were fixed by trashing the Finder plist.
This is happening on my MBP, running 10.6.2. Any ideas appreciated.

Answer 1

Hey, I.m confused... 10.4 or 10.6?
Could be many things, but it's best to start with these two steps, which may fix it also...
"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.
4. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
5. Select your Mac OS X volume.
6. Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
Then 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 finishes.
Safe Boot... holding Shift key down at bootup. Safe Boot is a special way to start Mac OS X 10.2 or later when troubleshooting.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107392
If you can't find your Install Disc, at least try from Safe Boot onward.
Have you booted off your Original Install Disk by holding the *d key* down at boot-up, (not the c key), and run the extended Apple HW Test? Some Install disks require holding the Option key at bootup to select the AHT. Some Macs came with separate AHT CDs.