Many random issues with my Mac....Spotlght, Copy & Paste, Dragging, Printin

Question

All of a sudden today, I have many annoying errors with my computer....
1) Spotlight does not appear in the top right corner, nor can I find a way to activate it there;
2) Copy and Paste doesn't work (Supposely I can COPY or CUT, but nothing PASTES or the PASTE is disabled in all applications such as Microsoft Word).
3) I cannot drag anything in Finder (can't drag files or icons into folders or into docks or anything; even when I highlight a file to drag, it doesn't even move the icon of the file anywhere on the screen as if it's been disabled).
4) It says ERROR with Printing when I try to print anything.
5) MIcrosoft Word is not running because it says my fonts have been corrupted and needs to be.
Did I catch a virus on my computer, or did something get corrupted that can fix or enable back these features. Everything's been working fine and then a few hours later all of a sudden, my computer is having these issues. I've tried restarting, running Disk Utilities, and nothing seems to fix these issues. Any suggestions???? Thanks!

Answer 1

There are some simple troubleshooting steps you can take...
Repair Permissions then use your 10.5.x install disk to run repair disk.
Be sure you drive is not overly full. Rule of thumb would be over 85%.
(First, be sure you have a good backup, or create one now.)
Create a new User go to System Preferences > Accounts > "+" (make it an admin acct) and test the apps in this new account, if they work the problem is isolated to your User and not systemwide.
If the issue is limited to your user account try starting up Safe Mode (It will take more time to startup in Safe Mode because it runs a directory check.)
If your apps functions correctly that way, go to System Preferences >> Accounts >> Login Items, and remove them. Boot normally and test. If not go to/Users/yourname/Library/Contextual Menu Items and move whatever is there to the desktop. Then do the same with /Library/Contextual Menu Items. Lastly, try moving/Users/yourname/Library/Fonts to your desktop and restarting.
Log out/in or restart, if that sorts it start putting items back one at a time until you find the culprit.
If the issue is systemwide then,You may be able to repair this with the 10.5.8 Combo Update This is a fuller install, as opposed to an incremental "delta" update so it should overwrite any files that are damaged or missing. It does not matter if you have applied it before.
Remember to Verify Disk before update and repair permissions after update from /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility.
-mj
Remember to Verify Disk before update and repair permissions after update from /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility.
-mj