System Preference lock up

I have an iMac running Lion. When I go into the system preferences, users and groups and try to unlock, the beach ball just spins until I force quit. Thoughts?

Hi..
Might be corrupted preferences ..
Open the Finder.
From the Finder menu bar click Go > Go to Folder
Type this exactly as you see it here:
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.systempreferences.plist
Click Go
Move the com.apple.systempreferences.plist file from the Preferences folder to the Trash.
Restart your Mac.

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    When I go to
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    Message was edited by: Kris Dee

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