Problem Launching Applications

Question

Greetings everyone.
I’m trying this again, as previous suggestions haven’t worked ...
I’ve got a bit of a problem with my Titanium PowerBook, and,
as always, when I can’t seem to fix it myself, I turn to the
great people of the world for assistance.
The machine:
Titanium PB G4, 400MHz, 10 GB HD w/5GB available, 256MB RAM w/VMemory on, running OS9.1.1
The problem:
When opening some programs, such as PhotoShop or Adaptec Toast (not at the same time), the application will start to open and then immediately quit. No error message or other indication of a problem. Occasionally, a program will open, but immediately upon trying to use it (i.e., opening a photo, creating a
new document, etc.) the program crashes. As this is happening with more than one of my programs, I feel it is a OS problem and not the specific program.
Examples of memory specifics:
Photoshop-Suggested Size:16384k; Min. Size: 16384k; Pref Size: 23616k.
Toast-Suggested Size: 8000k; Min. Size: 8000k; Pref Size: 10220k.
What I have done to try to solve this problem:
I trashed the preferences for both these apps and the Finder and System prefs, rebuilt the desktop, and also increased/decreased the memory for each app. No change.
I ran Disk Doctor and TechTool with no problems found.
I completely deleted all PhotoShop, Toast, or other effected/relevant files and programs from the computer, and re-installed everything via disk. No change.
I re-built the Desktop and zapped the PRAM. No change.
Note: All other apps seem to work fine and as expected. Just these
few apps are giving me the problems. I feel that it is a computer-wide problem that is affecting only a few applications, not an application problem.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks!!
Bill
G4 Titanium   Mac OS 9.1.x  

Answer 1

If it gets to the point where the only thing left for you to try is a clean install of Mac OS 9 (and the associated headache of reinstalling all the third-party system extensions), try this procedure that I call "the big Preferences folder purge." Only try this if your next option is a clean install.
The following procedure is something I posted in another forum a few years ago. I found the text for that posting in an email, so I'll copy/paste it here, for your consideration.
The procedure is "purging" the preference files in the Preferences folder (the one inside the System Folder). There have been utilities that attempt to selectively "weed out" preference files that are not being used, but I think that's only part of the problem. I suspect that some key preference files can become corrupted or set improperly (either intentionally or by accident). This might lead to some of the instability experienced by users in the classic Mac OS and/or applications.
My old desktop Mac was running fine, but I experienced occasional freezes or "Finder quit unexpectedly" errors (which are almost always unrecoverable). The problem seemed to be getting worse.
Looking through my System Folder, I found I had over one thousand files in my Preferences folder. Many of the files were for programs I tried just once or from old programs I stopped using long ago. Even if this was not a problem, I wanted to get rid of all those unnecessary files. I came up with and used the procedure outlined below to do the "big purge" in a way that was easily reversible, if necessary.
(1) In the System Folder, find the Preferences folder and COPY it elsewhere, that is, MAKE A DUPLICATE of the entire Preferences folder. If it is on the same volume, be sure you are NOT moving the Preferences folder.
(2) Record key Control Panel settings, such as for remote access and network configuration, if this info is not already recorded or memorized.
(3) Back in the System Folder, rename the Preferences folder "Preferences Old" or any appropriate name. Later, if you need to "undo the purge," you can simply rename this folder back to "Preferences."
(4) Now create a new (empty) folder in the System Folder and name it "Preferences" (make sure that's plural).
(5) Optional step - If you have any system/application configuration settings that you absolutely do not want to have to replicate -OR- if you do not want to dig up the registration numbers for applications require them, find the relevant preference files in the DUPLICATE folder and copy them back into the NEW Preferences folder. Use your DUPLICATE folder to ensure keeping the "Preferences Old" folder intact, so that you can "undo the damage" if necessary.
(6) Restart the Mac.
(7) Fresh preference files related to the Mac OS and Finder should be created automatically. Adjust Control Panel settings as needed.
(8) Run your frequently used applications. Allow them to create fresh preference files. If some applications need licensing information and you don't want to go find those old registration cards (or emails), find the relevant preference files in the DUPLICATE folder and copy them back into the NEW Preferences folder. Use your DUPLICATE folder to ensure keeping the "Preferences Old" folder intact, so that you can "undo the damage" if necessary.
[As much as possible, allow the OS and applications to create fresh preference files.]
(9) Run your system to ensure it works properly. If there are problems and you need to revert to the old preference files, just delete the NEW Preferences folder and rename the unchanged "Preferences Old" folder back to "Preferences." Restart.
(10) If everything is fine (or better), you can eventually delete the "Preferences Old" folder and the DUPLICATE Preferences folder. Or just keep them around until the next time you decide to do a preference file purge.
After purging my Preferences folder, my system has been absolutely stable running Mac OS 9.1. No freezes, no "Finder quit unexpectedly" errors, and fewer application crashes. Additionally, instances when my system appeared to "hang" for a few seconds have disappeared, which may have been caused by the OS rifling through the 1000+ files in my old Preferences folder, looking for a specific file.