Preview won't open eps, ps

I used to be able to double-click on an eps file, and Preview would say "Converting Postscript file to pdf" and it would open in a new Preview window. Now I always get the error message "File error. Couldn't open the file" after it starts the conversion process. This happens with any and all eps/ps files. If I click OK in the error dialog box, a blank pdf file opens (i.e., it is just a gray window). Any ideas? This used to work fine, and was extremely useful.

I spent about 4 hours on this. Here is what I found.
1) This EPS opening issue if it existz causes problems in Preview, Mail, and even ColorSync when trying to open EPS file.
2) The same machine can have problems in one user account, but be fine in another.
3) Creating a new account usually creates an account that will open EPS files fine. (see strange notes below)
4) Even when you copy all the contents of the old home folder were the EPS files were not working into the the new home folder, eps files will still open fine. (You can do this by copying the old home folder to the root fo the drive. Log off. Go to the new account and change the permissions on all the files to map to the new account as owner. Delete the content of the current home folder. Copy these into the new home folder. Log off and back on.)
BUT HERE IS WHERE IT GETS VERY VERY VERY STRANGE. I copied by entire problematic home folder to a BACKUP drive. Then I logged off and logged in as a different admin. I deleted the problematic account - erasing the entire contents of the account. Then I restarted. If I created an account with a NEW name and short name, then EPS files worked. BUT IF I CREATED A CLEAN BRAND NEW ACCOUNT WITH THE SAME NAME AS THE ACCOUNT THAT DID NOT WORK BEFORE - IT WOULD NOT WORK AGAIN. This is a brand new clean account, that just happens to have the same name as the account that did not work before. Again, the home folder is CLEAN. But when I tried to open EPS on this account, they would hang. I could create another account with different name, and EPS would open fine.
So this makes no sense to me. Something in the OS is different based on account OUTSIDE of the home folder.
So anyway, if you are having this problem here is the SOLUTION:
1) Create a new user account with a different name and short name.
2) Copy the contents of your current home folder to this new account. (following the steps above.)
3) Use the new account.
This seems crazy, but it seems to work. Let me know if you have this issue too.
MacBook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.8)

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