RAM completely used. I tried each solution, anything worked

I have a MacBook Air mid 2012, five days ago I upgrade to yosemite from mavericks. I was having a lot of RAM issues, because as soon as I turned on the computer, I was using 99% of my RAM. So I erase the SSD and I made a clean yosemite installation, but same results for the RAM. I tried everything to solve this, restart the SMC, restart the PRAM, fixing permissions, I get bored of reading post, but anything worked for me. The problem is not only the RAM, battery life is two hours lower than it was with mavericks. How can I fix this?

It's normal since Mavericks for almost all memory to be in use, either by applications or by the file cache. That's what you should want, since unused memory is going to waste. The relevant measure of whether memory is in short supply is what Apple calls "memory pressure."
Apple's explanation of memory pressure is here. If you want a more detailed, technical description, see here.
The short battery life is a known issue, but see below.
1. Check the cycle count of the battery against the rated life for your model. The battery may be due for replacement. If the power adapter is connected almost all the time, the battery may need replacing even though the cycle count is not too high.
2. Follow these instructions, or these for OS X 10.9 or later.
3. In the Energy Saver preference pane, uncheck the box marked
Enable Power Nap while on battery power
if it's shown (it may not be.)
4. You can also try resetting the SMC.
5. Make sure your system is up to date in Software Update.
6. Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store, or go to another authorized service center.

Similar Messages

IPhoto quit unexpectedly. Tried different solutions, none worked. Any suggestions?

Hello,
I have a 2012 non-retina Macbook Pro running OSX 10.8.4 and iPhoto '11 version 9.4.3.
My iPhoto was running fine until about a month ago. And just last week when I tried opening it, I got the "iPhoto quit unexpectedly" message. Since then I have tried many solutions as suggested in the forum but none worked for me. Here are the list of things I tried.
1. Tried reopening.
2. Tried to create a new library, but it wouldn't let me create one.
3. Tried holding the cmd + option keys while opening iPhoto had no effect.
4. Tried downloading iPhoto Library Manager and rebuilding. It didn't work.
5. Tried running in safe mode. It didn't work.
6. Tried logging in using Guest account. It didn't work.
7. Tried completely uninstalling iPhoto (including system files and hidden files) and reinstalling. Still didn't work.
8. Tried restoring iPhoto from my Time machine backup from a month ago. No luck.
All these solutions I tried resulted in the same "iPhoto quit unexpectedly" message.
Could somebody please help me out? If you need further information please ask me.
Thank you.

3. Tried holding the cmd + option keys while opening iPhoto had no effect.
What options did you run from the iPhoto Fix window?
2. Tried to create a new library, but it wouldn't let me create one.
Try the following:
1 - delete the iPhoto preference file, com.apple.iPhoto.plist, that resides in your
User/Home/Library/ Preferences folder.
2 - delete iPhoto's cache file, Cache.db, that is located in your
User/Home/Library/Caches/com.apple.iPhoto folder (Snow Leopard and Earlier).
or with Lion and Mt. Lion from the User/Library/Containers/com.apple.iPhoto/
Data/Library/Caches/com.apple.iPhoto folder
3 - launch iPhoto and try again.
NOTE 1: If you're moved your library from its default location in your Home/Pictures folder you will have to point iPhoto to its new location when you next open iPhoto by holding down the Option key when launching iPhoto. You'll also have to reset the iPhoto's various preferences.
NOTE 2: In Lion and Mountain Lion the Library folder is now invisible. To make it permanently visible enter the following in the Terminal application window: chflags nohidden ~/Library and hit the Enter button - 10.7: Un-hide the User Library folder.
OT

Firefox 3.6.11 will not launch *using vista* & tried ALL "solutions" listed here

The firefox update automatically loaded and I have been unable to launch Firefox ever since. Have uninstalled and reinstalled. System will not let me change profile as illustrated on this site. Have made adjustments to my Norton 360 as illustrated on this system. I don't want to use IE but I've got no choice now.
TFB Mozilla doesn't care about losing a loyal user!!!

Was Firefox running when you canceled the SP3 installation?
If it does work in Safe-mode then disable all your extensions and then try to find which is causing it by enabling one at a time until the problem reappears. 
You can use "Disable all add-ons" on the [[Safe mode]] start window to disable all extensions. 
You can also try other options like "Reset all user preferences to Firefox defaults" and "Reset toolbars and controls". 
You have to close and restart Firefox after each change via "File > Exit" (Mac: "Firefox > Quit"; Linux: "File > Quit") 
If a new profile works then you can transfer some files from the old profile to that new profile (be careful not to copy corrupted files) 
See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Transferring_data_to_a_new_profile_-_Firefox

NEED HELP: No Sound / Audio "No Devices Found". Tried many solutions, none work

I have had this issue two months back, where my internal speakers just stopped working. I have tried all alternatives and what solved my problem was resetting SMC. This time around, I have been watching some videos when all of a sudden my laptop started acting really slow and was responding in delays for about 10-15 seconds and there was no sound. I quit Safari but that didn't help, so I restarted my laptop. After the restart, it keeps showing as "mute" whenever I try to increase/decrease the sound level.
I have tried the following:
Restarting
Inserting Headphones
Restarting again
Resetting PRAM
Resetting SMC
Deleting com.apple.BezelServices.plist
Shutting down coreaudiod in the Activity Monitor
Disabling Adobe Flash Player,
Re-installing OSX using the Command + R during startup
Also tried typing this in the Terminal:
sudo kextunload /System/Library/Extensions/AppleHDA.kext
sudo kextload /System/Library/Extensions/AppleHDA.kext
And restarting it another few times for a good measure.
I've got Mid-2012 Macbook Air and I do not have Boom.
This is getting pretty frustrating now.

Also tried typing this in the Terminal:
sudo kextunload /System/Library/Extensions/AppleHDA.kext
sudo kextload /System/Library/Extensions/AppleHDA.kext

Regarding after updating my iphone4 with itunes in laptop after completing,when iam trying to use apps on my iphone4 they are not working

Hi everybody,
From last week when iam syncing my iphone with my laptop and updating songs or apps iam facing some problems.
1) While iam trying to update my iphone with itunes for updating songs.First in library in itunes i will remove old songs and will update new songs,then after syncing with itunes my iphone4 it must show in music only new songs not old songs.but for me both mix it showing for me old and new songs.I tried in manual option also then also it showing same mix songs.please tell me how to over come this problem.I tried my removing update backup also then also it is not showing any advantage in it.
2) Another problem is while iam updating my iphone4 with itunes it automatically sync the apps also but after completing the update when iam trying to use apps in my iphone they are not working.
Please help me how to solve from these problems.

No NAS other than an Apple one includes native support for AFP. They all use an open source package called Netatalk that is junk. Many years ago Apple deprecated the old security modules that Netatalk uses.
The easiest solution is to hack up Lion so that it will connect with the old security protocol. Do a search for "lion dhx2" or something like that. Another option is to update your NAS to a version of Netatalk that includes support for DHX2. That is easier said than done. Netatlk isn't as "open" as other open source packages.

Bought the complete membership, but still in trial version, tried the solutions provided online but...

bought the complete membership, but still in trial version, tried the solutions provided online but I could not find deactivation option/sign out option from clicking Help in the application manager... I even tried uninstall creative cloud manager and all the apps, reinstall and re-sign-in but still couldn't find the corresponding option to click on..
It was not "install" under "find new apps" yesterday right before I paid for the membership, I get it, the system needs time..
I check the application manager and I saw the difference today, but the buttons under "installed apps" did not change, the expiration date is still there!
and.. I have to install everything else in the trial mode! It drove me nuts to read the instructions provided online on how to fix this problem because I did not see the options that are supposed to be there as I followed the steps...
I'm using Mac Pro with OS.X 10.9.5... Help!!

This issues occurs because of the connectivity issue. (You can refer the steps from here : : Sign in, activation, or connection errors | CS5.5 and later)
In a Finder window, choose Go > Go To Folder.
Type /etc.
Select the hosts file and open it.
Back up the hosts file: Choose File > Save As, save the file as hosts.backup, and then click OK.
Search the hosts file for entries that reference activate.adobe.com (for example, 127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com) and delete these entries.
Save and close the file.
Once you remove all Adobe entries followed by 127.0.0.1 from hosts file.
Sign out and Sign in to the Creative Cloud Desktop App, refer the link for steps : Sign out, Sign in | Creative Cloud Desktop app
Hope this will resolve your issue.
Thank you.

Why is 6GB ram being used with barely anything going on?

So I'm looking at my Activity Monitor for the first time since I got the late 2013 Macbook Pro.
To my amazement it's showing 6GB being used or 75% of my 8GB?!
But looking at the activity monitor is showing that the highest ram use is Kernel Monitor at 600MB.
After that it's com.apple.ServiceAgent @ 170MB and Google Chrome at 140MB.
Than there are like 15 "Google Chrome Helpers" ranging from like 100-30MB. What in the world is "Google Chrome Helpers" this seems like some kind of operating system bug to me...
I have about 13 Google Chrome tabs open but even more Helpers than tabs in the Activity Monitor...
There's no way a small Google Chrome session should take up well over 1gb ram?!
Even still, if I estimate all the Memory usage displayed in my Activity monitor it should be low 2GB, defenitely less than 3GB.
So why is it saying 6GB in use? The MAC OS couldn't possibly be 3 GB right???
This is crazy and I've noticed my MAC is pretty sluggish today while I'm trying to work. What in the world is going on here?
Can I manually cancel all those " Google Chrome Helpers" for starters?
On Windows 7 I could have literally 100's of internet tabs open and see less than 6GB ram useage no joke! Need help here please.

That all sounds great in theory but I'm looking at my Activity Monitor right now and it says:
Compressed: 0 bytes
So it sounds like I'm not getting any of the benefits with the compression from that article?
My other stats are looking like:
App Memory: 3.41 GB
File Cache : 2.05 GB
Wired Memory: ~1GB
My memory pressure looks about 20% at least even with 6.65 GB active.
Is there a reason why I have no compressed memory? It sounds like that was the whole point of this system but it's not doing anything for me? Or does that only kick in once you use up all 8GB?
I'm not sure about all this. I've been a PC guy all my life and overall I'm EXTREMELY satisfied with both my macbook pro and the iPad air I just got. But I got this stuff so I can develope games for iOS using Unity 3D, and I need a laptop. So I didn't make this purchase for the heck of it, this is business to me. And recently I've noticed that Unity 3D and Monodevelop are becoming increasingly sluggish. Because I'm having some lag problems even with just using Monodevelop which is a simple IDE for my C# work, I have been trying to figure out what's the problem here.
Apparently lots of others are having trouble with Mac OS Maverick when using Unity 3D. I'm just hoping this stuff gets sorted out and doing my best to see if I can improve the performance.
Are there any guides for optimizing a macbook pro for faster performance? It's not acceptable for me to have lag while I work. Right now I'm trying to work only on the macbook pro so I get used to it and can hopefully work nearly as fast as the PC even without using duel monitors so I can work on the go.
Just such a big difference from PC where I am quite profficient. On MAC I have no clue what I can do to fix lag.
Is there a way to modify what progams launch on start up similar to on PC typing "msconfig" in start bar allows you to edit this kind of thing?
Unity 3D is a pretty big deal for iOS and MAC development so hopefully if it is just some kind of code problems with Unity and Maverick this get's sorted out ASAP. Until then I'm doing my best to see if there's any thing I can do on my end.
The huge RAM usage was a big red flag to me on first glance, but I guess you guys are saying this is fine. Still seems strange to me how much RAM is being used, on PC I can't imagine ever needing more than 8GB Ram, on Mac it seems like this could be pretty easy to accomplish, which explains why there is 16GB RAM models which to me seemed excessive.
So I'm guessing it's normal to have that many "Google Chrome Helpers" active at once?

I am trying to burn a music cd on iTunes, but I am getting an error that reads that the cd burner is being used by another application. I know that I am not using the cd burner for anything else. I have restarted the Mac and nothing. Any ideas?

I am trying to burn a music cd on iTunes, but I am getting an error that reads that the cd burner is being used by another application. I know that I am not using the cd burner for anything else. I have restarted the Mac and nothing. Any ideas?

One other thread said it was fixed by waiting till prompted by iTunes to insert the blank disk, instead of putting it in first. Does that work? Found a number of hits on this Googling.

HT4061 Every time I use my I pad it keeps popping up with enter my iTunes password. I have nothing waiting to download and not trying to purchase anything yet every time I want to listen to music or use my apps this happens. Can anyone tell me how to stop

Every time I use my I pad it keeps popping up with enter my iTunes password. I have nothing waiting to download and not trying to purchase anything yet every time I want to listen to music or use my apps this happens. Can anyone tell me how to stop this?

If you get an error that says can't backup, try moving the existing backup file to a safe location and thry again. again. You can find the location of the backup file here:
iPhone and iPod touch: About backups

Has anyone tried to download anything using linux?

Has anyone tried to download anything using linux? I can't seem to get anywhere with this site or the Ottawa Library Site.

Well, if your husband managed to ade 1.8 running with wine, I'll gladly take any hint on how he did that. I get get ADE to start.

Match gets deleted and process takes over 20 tries each time to complete.

I have gone through the match twice (each time taking over 20 tries each). For some reason, my itunes match gets deleted, and I'm expected to try it again. This is really frustrating. How do I get my Match to stick and stop being deleted on the server. I'm not sure what is causing it to go wonky. I do have my library in about 3 spots (2 local disks and one network disk). But goodness, why is it being removed on the server side? Shouldn't it realize that i've gone through this agonizing process more than once?
I have a 2007 MacBook Pro running 10.7.5
thanks in advance!

I have gone through the match twice (each time taking over 20 tries each). For some reason, my itunes match gets deleted, and I'm expected to try it again. This is really frustrating. How do I get my Match to stick and stop being deleted on the server. I'm not sure what is causing it to go wonky. I do have my library in about 3 spots (2 local disks and one network disk). But goodness, why is it being removed on the server side? Shouldn't it realize that i've gone through this agonizing process more than once?
I have a 2007 MacBook Pro running 10.7.5
thanks in advance!

Black Screen with Cursor (Tried most solutions)

To save your time and mine, I’ve tried all options in “press f8” and “recovery disk”. Over the past 3 days, I read almost all threads, videos, articles, and official MS help containing any mention of this problem. I also applied many commands, created few
“SystemRescue CDs” and “Kaspersky Rescue 10” on a usb drive. I follow instructions very well, and have never been stumped by a windows problem like this before. If someone solves this, you are a wizard!
Nothing has worked so far, but I really want to figure this out and not ‘reinstall’. It appears to be a simple and popular problem: “Right after Win 7 boot Logo, I get black screen with white mouse cursor,
no matter if I boot in safe mode, last good configuration, or normal startup”, but all the solutions that worked for most people are not working for me.
TL;DR: (answers to any of the 7 questions in the end will help me out)
Custom System: Win 7 64 bit (updated consistently), 4gb ram, Quad Core 2.66, 64GB SSD (Crucial M4) and 4 hard other drives. Only windows installations/updates have been installed onto the SSD, no other programs. Only 1 OS has ever been installed
on this computer. Never dual booted.
Mobo: Asus Maximus Formula. GPU: AMD HD7870LE
2014-04-19
I haven’t installed or downloaded any programs in the past 3 weeks, and did not notice anything unusual up until this incident.
In the morning the computer went into hibernation because I was away, it couldn’t wake up (usually happens), so I turned off the power supply. Turned it back on, and computer resumed, I was concerned as it may have run out of hard drive space on my 64GB
SSD (4GB free), but it booted fine.
Later during the day, I decided to restart the computer, and as it booted up again, it went into “start up repair”. I let it run and restart, and it arrived at the dreaded Black screen with mouse cursor, of death, right before logon screen.
Symptoms while on this black screen.
Ctrl alt del doesn’t work, power off doesn’t work, cursor can move, pressing ‘shift’ many times doesn’t bring up the ‘sticky key’. No task manager.
Hard drive is not loading anything, just idle.
Computer falls asleep after 15 minutes or so, and can wake up back to this black screen, so it remembers my power settings
Safe mode loads the drivers fine, but also gets stuck on the same ‘black screen with cursor’ forever
I tried every option in the ‘advanced boot’, including ‘safe with command prompt, safe with networking, last known configuration, etc’
Last known configuration, and all of the above, all boots to ‘black screen with cursor’, this means windows believed it booted fine the last time, so it remembered this configuration. That’s because all the drivers loaded without issue. While loading
Safe Mode, I can see windows loading all the drivers ok.
No restore or backups (I know, I do not deserve to live, lesson learned)
I tried all applicable functions from the ‘recovery cd command prompt’, bcdedit, bootrec, diskpart, and still couldn’t get it to boot.
Commands applied in Elevated Command Prompt from Installation DVD: (very careful with backups and overwriting)
Diskpart -> list volume, tells me that 100mb is system reserved, the other 59GB has no label, and is a different partition
Bootrec -> scanos, tells me that I have 0 windows installations, used fixboot, /fixmbr, /rebuildmbr, all successful. Mounting the drive later on RescueDisk’s TestDisk shows no problems with either partition.
BCDedit: shows both boot manager and winloader to be on the same drive, and I referenced it with a typical BCDedit enum output, and nothing is out of place.
I went into Regedit by typing “regedit” in command prompt in Win7 recovery cd, and confimed that ‘Shell=explorer.exe’ under:
HKEY_local machine/software/microsoft/WindowsNT/Currentversion/winlogon.
Sfc /scannow couldn’t run due to “Pending repairs/restart”
So I used: SFC.EXE /scannow /offbootdir=c:\ /offwindir=c:\windows
Which ran and repaired some errors the first time. I ran it more just to make sure, with restarts in between, it gave me
Win resource protection did not find any integrity violations.
So the system files appears to be fine and not corrupted.
Bootrec /scanos does not detect any windows installations. “0 Windows installations identified”, yet “Diskpart -> Detail Disk” and bcdedit both detects the windows directory.
From windows recovery disk:
Startup Repair diagnosis: (Show Details)
All tests completed successfully
Boot status indicates that the OS booted successfully
It seems that the system and the OS boots successfully, and windows believes it boots successfully (that’s why last know good configuration gives me the black screen also, and Win Startup Diagnosis all says it booted successfully”
It’s the second before it enters into the logon screen, the black screen and movable cursor appears, and hangs here forever. What programs load during this step, and how can I find out this info? Is there a diagnosis tool that allows me to see the programs
as they load during windows start up?
Other attempts:
Then I read it could be windows using “winresume.exe” instead of winloader.exe, since I have “hiberfil.sys” in C:\windows, so I backed it up and deleted it using SystemRescue.
Another thread said “winevt” bad logs, in C:\windows\system32\winevt were causing this black screen, so I backed it up and deleted that also, and it still won’t boot.
I plugged in the devices that were attached (just 1 ext hard drive, through a 10 port usb hub) that was connected while it went into hibernation on April 19th, and it didn’t help.
The files on that disk and the file system is not corrupt; I tested it by taking it out and docking it on a usb Blax Duet, and my laptop did a scan disc, and it’s fine. The Sfc Scan also shows that it is ok.
I also unplugged all the other sata drives, switched the SSD sata cable around to other sata ports to no prevail.
So far I know:
Very unlikely that it’s a virus problem, I haven’t installed or downloaded anything this month, scans from Kaspersky 10 rescue disk shows nothing, Farbar scan shows nothing. I also never install anything suspicious, like toolbars or junk. I scan regularily.
Not a driver problem, since I haven’t changed or updated anything. I unplugged all devices, and starting in 640x480 mode also gives the black screen with cursor. Drivers all loaded fine while starting windows and safe mode
Boot files are intact, windows system files are in the right place since windows actually boots into a shell? Both bootloader and boot manager show up in bcdedit enum scans
Not due to system file corruption, since file integrity are confirmed ok by above CMD commands, and windows diagnostic tool, and testdisk.
My questions:
What could be the cause of this? I didn’t make any changes to BIOS, windows settings, perform any updates, suspicious activities, installations, or crashes, before this. The files on that disk and the file system are not corrupt either, I tested it by
taking it out and docking it on a usb Blax Duet, and my laptop did a scan disc, and it’s fine.
Which program (classpnp.sys? explorer.exe? winlogon.exe?) is being loaded right before “windows logon screen” that would cause it to hang with a black background and cursor?
How can I find out this information? Is there a tool that can record all programs that are being loaded by windows at boot?
I only have access to regedit, elevated command prompt, and I can change files through SystemRescue or Kaspersky recue, how can I get the computer to boot past that black screen with a mouse cursor? The answer seems so close.
From the Rescue Disks, what could I really do to get past the black screen?
Those who are computer technicians could tell me: If I take it to a computer shop or technician, what could they do in a situation like this aside from all of the above? Do they have some ‘next level’ access tools or are they just going to waste my time
and tell me I have to reinstall?
At the very worst, I will obviously reintall. On my 64gb SSD, I didn’t install any important softwares. All my important software installations are on a separate drive. However, will they still work if I did a ‘Inplace Upgrade’ install of windows? Does
registry get wiped?

Hi,
Have you tried to take startup repair when booting with the rescue disk?
Startup Repair
And we'd better bring the PC to the vendors, then take an examination of the hardware health.
How does the Bootrec /scanos show 0 installation identified? We may take a try with chkdsk from command line to check if there are any disk errors:
Run Check Disk from a Command Line to Check for and fix Disk Errors
Please also take a check if the system reserved partition is stay in health:
Understand (and Get Rid of) the Mysterious Small Partition
Another shoot, please try to rebuild BCD:
Use Bootrec.exe in the Windows RE to troubleshoot startup issues
Regarding the repair install, detailed information please take a check with the article below:
How to do a repair install to fix Windows 7
Hope this may help
Best regards
Michael Shao
TechNet Community Support
Did you read his post at all as it does not look like it.
As to take it to a vendor "Custom System:"" Win 7 64 bit (updated consistently), 4gb ram, Quad Core 2.66, 64GB SSD (Crucial M4) and 4 hard other drives. Only windows installations/updates have been installed onto the SSD,
no other programs. Only 1 OS has ever been installed on this computer. Never dual booted."
As to your other suggestions he has tried them all as have thousands of us out here , all you have to do is search the internet and you see millions of hits about this.
And glad to see a moderator can mark a non answer as an answer.

Desktop Icons have vanished, have tried many solutions offered in forums with no results

I'm at a complete loss as to what to do after searching high and low for answers to this problem.
My desktop icons have mysteriously vanished as I switched it on last night. I had been using it with no issue earlier that day, but for some reason, switching it on last night, I was greeted with a completely clean desktop.
This has happened once before, so I figured simply rebooting the computer (like the last time this occurred) would bring back the icons. No such luck, even after restarting it or shutting it down, and reopening it 15 minutes later. When this problem last occurred, I think I was using Snow Leopard; I'm now running Mountain Lion (if this makes any difference).
I searched a few forums, and tried every solution listed in these topics with absolutely no success. List of things I've tried, as suggested by users on other forums (that seemed to work for people with similar problems):
Checked to see if the "Desktop" folder was renamed to something else, it wasn't;
Relaunched Finder several times
Restarted the computer, shut it down for hours and restarted
View>Clean up by/Sort by all tried, nothing happens
Changed the resolution several times, nothing happens
Quit iTunes, nothing happens
Verified the disk in Disk Utility, no problems (so repair disk was greyed out);
Verified the permissions, repaired the permissions successfully, nothing happened;
Checked Macintosh HD>Users>(username)>Desktop, nothing in the folder (0kb when I check Get Info);
Searched for and tried to remove via Terminal the following preferences: com.apple.finder.plist AND com.apple.FolderActions.plist but they are non-existant on my account OR guest account
Booted in safe mode, still no icons
Logged into guest account, no icons on administrator Desktop (I overrided permissions to see the desktop, and still no icons)..
Tried to "killall Finder" in Terminal, no response.
I did not recently:
download any new software, games, etc (with the exception of FluidApp, which was installed 3 weeks ago and frankly I don't see how it would affect my computer weeks later);
connect my MacBook to an external/additional monitor (have never done this, so icons can't be off-screen)
Additional info:
When in Finder, most functions in my View menu are greyed out. Available options: "Clean Up By", "Sort By", and "View Options". Selecting any of these do nothing.
I checked this article (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1916) and my Computer Name actually DID contain an illegal character (a dash) so I removed it; however it did not correct my problem even after reboot/logging out and in/relaunching Finder. (I'm running Mountain Lion though, so not sure if this even applies, but it was the closest thing I could find).
Nothing but the contents of the desktop seem to have been compromised. I can open applications, install software, use any application, view/open/access files everywhere else on my computer.
I can save new files on my desktop and they don't disappear.
I can put files from other places in my computer on the desktop and they don't disappear.
I DID do a system update to the latest version of Mountain Lion AFTER encountering this problem, in hopes it would correct the problem somehow, but it did not.
I installed one application in hopes of figuring out a fix after the problem occurred (TinkerTool) but after playing with the options (and in the end, not changing anything) I still have the problem. The "Disable Desktop Features" thing was not checked. I checked it, relaunched finder, and what I put on the desktop disappeared, so I unchecked it and relaunched and they reappeared, but my old desktop did not.
It's seriously as if someone did a "Select All > Delete", and overpassed the Trash bin somehow (because it still has a few items I had put in there previously).
Does anyone have any other suggestions in how to retreive my lost desktop icons? I'm going crazy..

If you have a backup, try restoring your Desktop folder from there.
You should have a Finder and a FolderActions .plist. Have you tried looking in your user library folder manually instead of using Terminal?
If you prefer to make your user library permanently visible, use the Terminal command found below.
http://osxdaily.com/2011/07/04/show-library-directory-in-mac-os-x-lion/
You might want to bookmark the command. I had to use it again after I installed 10.8.4. I have also been informed that if you drag the user library to Finder it will remain visible.

Phone freezes up while trying to download anything greater than 600 KB?

I do frequent web searches for info for my son for school and when trying to dowlnload anything greater than approx 600 KB the phone freezes after dowloading 90-95% and I need to reboot. For example was downloading something that was 881 KB and it froze at 878. Have good reception and XEV is what I am receiving on. Are there any solutions to this problem or am I just trying to do too much. There are no graphics involved just text. Thanks

First things first. Let us see how much free space - also called available "storage" - you have on your hard disk.
From the Apple menu select "About This Mac", then click on "More info", then click on "Storage" (at the top of the little window). It should tell you "xxx free out of yyy", that's how much free space you have. There is also a cute graphical depiction of how your storage is being used. Could you report on that please?
charlie
P.S. In Activity Monitor it sounds like you were examining how much RAM - also called "memory" - is being used. This is different from "storage" which is what is relevant to installing stuff. (Files, photos, applications, etc. are stored in "storage". The computer takes them out of storage and puts them in memory when it wants to use them.)

No programs open, but 3GB RAM in use?

I'm running into some problems with the amount of free RAM I have available to me, and it's causing serious performance problems.
I have a new 2011 MBP and I just ran into a situation where I ran out of RAM and the computer became extremely sluggish. I had 1 Safari window open and XCode open, editing a very small project. Between these two programs I was using about 600MB of my total 4GB of RAM. Even though I was only using 600MB of RAM on actual programs, Activity Monitor reported I was out of Memory, and did not say that any programs were using all my memory, only that it was gone.
I decided to quit all open programs, but the problem did not go away. Sitting there with no open programs, my computer was using 3GB of its total 4GB of RAM in either wired or active state, and another 750MB in inactive state. I seem to be entirely unable to reclaim that 750MB even when using the "purge" command in Terminal. Activity monitor claims that kernel_task is using 300MB right now, but doesn't list any other programs using significant amounts of memory, yet I only have 400MB of my 4GB available as "free" memory.
If this were only a reporting error from Activity Monitor, and the RAM really was free and it was just reported incorrectly, then that would be fine. But the computer behaves as if it's constantly out of memory. Also, rebooting isn't a great solution because this happens to me all the time, even after reboots. It only solves the problem for a few minutes.
Any suggestions? Does this happen to anyone else? I didn't notice this behavior on my old 2007 MBP (also with 4GB RAM).

About OS X Memory Management and Usage
Reading system memory usage in Activity Monitor
Memory Management in Mac OS X
Performance Guidelines- Memory Management in Mac OS X
A detailed look at memory usage in OS X
Understanding top output in the Terminal
The amount of available RAM for applications is the sum of Free RAM and Inactive RAM. This will change as applications are opened and closed or change from active to inactive status. The Swap figure represents an estimate of the total amount of swap space required for VM if used, but does not necessarily indicate the actual size of the existing swap file. If you are really in need of more RAM that would be indicated by how frequently the system uses VM. If you open the Terminal and run the top command at the prompt you will find information reported on Pageins () and Pageouts (). Pageouts () is the important figure. If the value in the parentheses is 0 (zero) then OS X is not making instantaneous use of VM which means you have adequate physical RAM for the system with the applications you have loaded. If the figure in parentheses is running positive and your hard drive is constantly being used (thrashing) then you need more physical RAM.
Adding RAM only makes it possible to run more programs concurrently. It doesn't speed up the computer nor make games run faster. What it can do is prevent the system from having to use disk-based VM when it runs out of RAM because you are trying to run too many applications concurrently or using applications that are extremely RAM dependent. It will improve the performance of applications that run mostly in RAM or when loading programs.

RAM completely used. I tried each solution, anything worked

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