I deleted Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration folder

Hi, I was clumsy yesterday trying to clear out my Mac and I deleted the above folder. When I turned the computer back on my login window appeared (it's usually off), my WiFi had to be turned back on again, my system preferences is mostly frozen and iTunes takes about 4 minutes to open. These are just what I've noticed, the whole computer feels really buggy. What can I do to resolve this? I know I was stupid to delete that folder but I don't know what to do from here.
Many thanks
Running latest Lion.

Great!
Now, please consider backing-up your Mac. All hard drives fail, sooner or later; files sometimes get corrupted; users make mistakes, computers (especially laptops) sometimes get lost or stolen, etc., etc.
You might want to review the Time Machine Tutorial, and perhaps browse Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.
And/or, see: http://www.reedcorner.net/guides/backups/

Similar Messages

Delete /Library/Preferences ?

One of my users has a couple of odd things going on. One is applications complaining about weird keychains. Adobe Reader was beefing about something like ~/Library/Preferences/Adobe/Acrobat/11.0/Security/somethingorother On that same machine, I saw something unhappy about BuddySomethingOrOther keychain. The other issue is login attempts that sit there with a spinning beach ball until the system is rebooted.
My initial thought was, "Delete all system preferences!" But I couldn't find any mentions of doing that via Google, so I figured I'd check first :-)

Ah. Your initial post noted:
~/Library/Preferences/Adobe/Acrobat/
Since the tilde means the user account, I the presumed you meant any preferences related to that folder, not the root Library.
For the main /Library/Preferences folder, I wouldn't touch until I knew I had a way to easily fix it in case the Mac wouldn't boot to that partition after clearing it. It's easy enough. Just have any other partition with a bootable installation of OS X on it that has been tested to be sure you can indeed startup to it.
Then as before, move all preference files in the /Library/Preferences/ folder to a new folder. In this case, better to move them (or copy then delete the originals) to the other bootable drive so permission issues don't prevent you from getting at them when starting up to the other partition. Restart. Since they are preferences, and not critical system files, the Mac shouldn't have any trouble restarting. It should rebuild anything that's missing at default settings.
However, that's what the other bootable drive is for. It the Mac does balk at the removal of these preference files, then you restart and boot to the other partition. From there, copy the original preference files back into the /Library/Preferences/ folder of the drive you're testing.

Can't find SystemConfiguration Folder (Time Machine Disk Error)

I'm attempting to repair my Time Machin backups using apples directions (below)
I follow the steps but cannot find the /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/ folder.
Any ideas?
From the Finder's Go menu go to this location:
/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/
Copy the file "NetworkInterfaces.plist" to the desktop (to make a precautionary backup).
Delete the file "NetworkInterfaces.plist". Enter administrator name and password if prompted.
Restart your Mac.
Once restarted, reconfigure your Network and Time Machine preference panes in System Preferences.
If the issue persists, contact an Apple Authorized Service Provider to have your Mac's network ports checked.

Can you privide a link to where you got those instructions?
Maybe something here will help - see A4.
Time Machine Troubleshooting

Must delete SystemConfiguration folder to connect to internet w/AP Extreme?

Ok this started happening about 7 months ago and it happens now about every two weeks. My internet connection will drop out for seemingly no reason (although the connection to the AirPort Extreme apparently remains intact) and there is no way to get the internet back. Restarting computer and/or airport extreme and/or modem doesn't work.
So I took it to the Mac Genius and he said to delete the following file then restart the computer: macintosh hd / library / preferences / SystemConfiguration
So I do that about every two weeks when the internet drops out, and it works fine.
But it's rather annoying.
This must be some kind of ongoing problem that Apple knows about, since the Mac Genius knew about it, and they kind of seem to be the last to know.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts.
(I don't think it's an issue, but I do have a Western Digital FAT-formatted hard disk connected to the Airport Extreme which I sometimes use for my iTunes library. But there doesn't seem to be any correlation between the network hard disk use and the problem described above.)

bump

Preferences/SystemConfiguration did not recreate?

In spite of the recent 10.7.4 Wifi problems, I was told that one solution was to delete the folder Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration.
They said that once I had deleted this folder, (as in emptied trash), and restarted my computer, the folder would recreate itself and fix my Wifi woes. Unfortunately, when I booted up, my Wifi hardware was "no longer installed" and the folder had not recreated itself. Any idea's on how to fix this?

r! A popup blocker may be preventing the application from opening the page. If you have a popup blocker, try disabling it to open the win

I've MacBook Pro 2009 model... from last few days my airport is not functional. This happened when I deleted list com.apple..... from systems folder from library- preference- system. Now, when you check the status of Airport hardware it says "Not

I've MacBook Pro 2009 model... from last few days my airport is not functional. This happened when I deleted plist of com.apple..... from systems folder from library-> preference->system. Now, when you check the status of Airport hardware it says "Not Associated". One more thing that came to my notice is that 'com.apple.internetconfigpriv.plist' this file is missing from system folder. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

Thank you for your reply......
I have tried using different OS 10.7, 10.8... further OS doesn't suit my MacBook, so currently I am on 10.6. I did reinstallation twice using 10.6 but the files were not restored.
Yes.. I am talking about internet wireless card.
I don't have back up files for files which i deleted and they are not in trash as well.... the reason I deleted files was from the image attached from OSXdaily.com
I have tried resetting the PRAM, NVRAM, SMC but to no use.
now what do I do.??

I deleted the SystemConfiguration folder on OSX Yosemite and now my computer won't reboot.

I need some help. My WiFi connection kept disconnecting all the time so I looked on here and saw that you could fix the problem by following these steps
Navigate to /Library/Preferences using either method:
Terminal: open -a Finder /Library/Preferences
Finder: Open New Finder Window -> "Go" -> "Go To Folder ..." -> [ Type In: /Library/Preferences ]
Backup the folder "SystemConfiguration" by copying it to your Desktop.
Delete the folder as it sits in /Library/Preferences.
Done.
I didn't back up my SystemConfiguration folder and now my computer won't start up again. It gets frozen halfway on the reboot screen.
I don't know what to do. Please help.

Hello Tian10an,
Do you have TimeMachine backup? If so you could try to recover(⌘+R) to the last available one.
Unfortunately other than that the only option for you seems to be reinstalling the OS.

Mail wont launch at all. Deleted this: ~/library/preferences/com.apple.mail.plist

Mail wouldnt let me send outgoing mail claiming there to be an error whilst there was an outgoing connection. So I thought to completely reset the entire app and found a forum that told me to delete something >_> And so I deleted this ~/library/preferences/com.apple.mail.plist and now nothing will launch. And well. Nothing is backed up. Im an idiot. ;___; I just want to go back to my chalk and slate. TECHNOLOGY HATES ME. Please help me.

Hi Bill,
You could also try com.apple.helpviewer.plist (in ~/Library/Preferences). Have you noted whether this is system-wide or restricted to your user account? I'd create a test account (if you don't have another on your system) and try the help menus. If they're messed up over there, then fixing things in your user folder won't help. The only system resource I could find that seems remotely relevant is /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.helpdata.plist, but I'd be verrrry careful about messing around with stuff in your System folder.
Hope that helps!
—Hazy

How do I delete home directory /Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash\Player ?

How do I delete<home directory>/Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash\Player?

Note that it'll be created over every time you load a Flash object in a Web browser (at least if it has Flash enabled).
The only way to consistently get rid of all its content would be to create an AppleScript, or use Automator to create a workflow that would empty this folder when you close the browser.

Fresh Install 10.4.11 -Library 'Preferences' Folder

Hi Gang
I'm no novice to reformatting/installing new system drives
Just wanna make sure I have this straight; The Library 'Preferences' Folder, obviously contains data relevant to each application that was installed. It was recommended I copy this ENTIRE folder, and BEFORE pasting this folder, delete the new 'Preferences' folder which will appear in any fresh install, then paste the copied 'Preferences' folder.
But what about the data in this folder that contains vital statistics on the applications previously installed?
Should I re-install all those programs/applications first? Then replace the ENTIRE Library 'Preferences' Folder?
Thanx
Mike

Hi again BD
Let me understand this; rather than cloning, I'd do better with a fresh install. For several reasons; mainly because I plan to continue using Final Cut. But with a newer upgrade. It's been recommended that I start off FRESH, then when prompted just enter the serial number of FC5 so FC6 will become a stand alone program, free of any migration problems from the older program.
Besides (except for convenience), cloning wouldn't allow you to give your system a laxative, (sort of speaking)
I realize re-installation of everything requires a lot of time, but I don't mind.
Again, what matters more to me is entire 'Mail' folder, and a few selected .plists (know what I mean?)
So then maybe I'll leave the Preferences Folder alone ....
I have all the other IDE Drive bays occupied ...
Mike

Is it safe to delete the cache file folder from library

is it safe to delete the cache file folder from library ?

As I understand it Robo doesn't really 'do' third-party
source control. We use SourceGear Vault, but really only as a
repository for the files. We can't really work concurrently because
Robo needs exclusive access to the top level project files. But it
kind of works for us, because we're on opposite sides of the globe.
I see what you're saying on the 'local' versions of (say) the
cpd files conflicting. If anyone else has an informed view, I'm all
ears. We've set it up this way ourselves - I don't know of anyone
doing the same. If someone tells me this is a bad idea, I'm happy
to think again.
Cheers!

Illustrator has not been responding for over a week, I can't open or force quit it. I've already uninstalled, reinstalled, and deleted the preferences folder, but the icon in my dock seems corrupt and is causing the program to not respond and I can't dele

Illustrator has not been responding for over a week, I can't open or force quit it. I've already uninstalled, reinstalled, and deleted the preferences folder, but the icon in my dock seems corrupt and is causing the program to not respond and I can't delete it.

Tamara,
Did you reinstall using the full three step way (otherwise strange things may linger)?
Uninstall (ticking the box to delete the preferences), run the Cleaner Tool, and reinstall.
http://www.adobe.com/support/contact/cscleanertool.html

Strange, unreadable columns in username/library/preferences folder....?

Hi, I recently was asked to go into this folder, my username/library/preferences, and found a myriad of empty folders with nothing in them. The font beside each folder was completely foreign looking, with symbols unrecognizable....
is my computer corrupted by something?
what should i do? remove them all? or do they have some relation to files, programs....etc..
wildlife

Hi.
I think I know what it is, and it's probably harmless.
Check this out.
Good Luck.

No spotlight pref file in any library/preferences folder

I have been following these threads on and off for many weeks... trying t0 avoid a complete OS install. There is no "com.apple.spotlight.plist" file in either the root library/preferences or the user/library/preferences directory... I have trashed (and emptied) the com.apple.finder.plist files and restarted but there are no spotlight prefs being created.
Help would be greatly appreciated.
NewfieWood

Move the file to the desktop first. While these files will be recreated as needed, they may contain important information for some programs.
(59971)

How to move .plist files from /Library/Preferences

Hi,
We are trialing using software called Deep Freeze to take a snap shot of the OS that is restored upon reboot thus removing the majority of configuration changes and thus reducing the amount of support calls.
When setting up the software you have the option to create a "Thaw Space" that users can modify at will and the changes will persist over the reboot. Upon creating this space you are able to "map" certain directories such as Documents, Desktop and Library to the Thaw Space.
Initially we did not move the Library folder over so that all changes to wallpapers/screensaves/dock/finder toolbar etc. were restored upon reboot, which ultimately is what we wanted to do from the beginning. This however produced a number of problems of data not being retained over the reboot when we needed it to:
- iCal data
- application specific settings (eg. toolbar settings in neooffice)
- sorting email in apple mail by a field (eg. receive date)
etc. And are continually finding new problems.
So in the end we simply set the entire Library to be mapped to the Thaw Space, however this sets us back to square one in that the users can still change the dock, screensaver, wallpaper etc.
It is my understanding that the files are stored in .plist files in <user>/Library/Preferences. I tried moving individual .plist files out of the Thaw Space and then creating alias files pointing to them, however these were simply deleted and replaced on reboot.
So my question is how would I go about moving a .plist file out of /Library/Preferences
Cheers

It would seem to me that the problem lies with the Deep Freeze software. Changing system files in system directories is not a good idea. Why not contact Deep Freeze and have them fix their software rather than possibly mucking up your own OS.
I would also recommend that you either update your profile or your OS. 10.5.1 had some bugs that were fixed over the years. It's always good to have the latest OS installed.

I deleted Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration folder

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