System preferences is gone

Has anyone ever ran into a situation where when you click on System Preferences, nothing happens?
I have tried it on the Apple logo, the Finder Icon and even in Spotlight but the program does not open.
Any ideas?
Thanks
Les

Hi Les
Are you logged into your Admin. Account or to an-Other that does not have those privileges?
Dennis

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My system preferences has gone frozen and im not computer savvy whats going on peeps ??

my system preferences has gone frozen and im not computer savvy whats going on peeps ??

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
Open  > Force Quit and close System Preferences. Then, it should work correctly

My mac os x 1.5.8 system preference in gone and i need help

my mac system preference (os x 1.5.8) is gone and the computer keeps sleeping when i am watching videos

Reinstall Leopard using Archive and Install:
How to Perform an Archive and Install
An Archive and Install will NOT erase your hard drive, but you must have sufficient free space for a second OS X installation which could be from 3-9 GBs depending upon the version of OS X and selected installation options. The free space requirement is over and above normal free space requirements which should be at least 6-10 GBs. Read all the linked references carefully before proceeding.
1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.
Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger, Leopard or Snow Leopard.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now restart normally.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.
3. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.
4. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.
5. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.
6. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update.

My system preferences are gone.

I can't access my system preferences for some reason. The icon on the dock is gone, and it doesn't work when i try to click it in the drop down menu either.
I want to update my software, but need to back everything up first, and I'm not sure how to without system preferences.

Use Pacifist to extract it from your Mac OS X 10.5 DVD and then run the Mac OS X 10.5.8 combo updater.
(61585)

I did something and my system preferences are gone Now i cant do any tweeks to my system... HELP!

I did something in an update to my computer, and i think i deleted a bunch of files. I had to go to another computer to get Safari back on my computer, and now ive lost all my system preferences. i have no way to update anything on my computer. How can i download this portion of my system preferences so that i can again have control over my computer. any help is greatly appreciated.

As this is the Snow Leopard OS 10.6.8 forum I assume that is what you are running. You reinstall from the original install disk. Snow Leopard has never been available as a download.

System Preferences seems gone from hard drive.

Can't seem to find System Preferences as a folder or icon anywhere in the applications or hard drive listings.

have you tried doing a spotlight search ( spotlight is the magnifying glass in the top right corner of the screen)

"Login Options" in "System Preferences"- Accounts gone.

Hello,
on some of our machines the "Login Options" can not be clicked any more.
These machines are special:
- They came preinstalled (and or are freshly installed) with Leopard
- They are mostly Laptops without Network-homedirectories
- They have (some) a second administrative user for the people who "own" the machine
All other machines that we have are:
- upgraded from Tiger to Leopard
- have networked-home directories (via NFS/Autofs from Linux NFS Server)
- one Administrative User
- users come from LDAP (IBM-Tivoli, nothing with OSX-Server)
We use the puppet configuration management tool to set up our machines. I have looked through all of the options that we set, but could not find any that could possibly cause this error.
We have already:
- deleted all preferences
-- from the user (administrative)
-- from the system
-> Nothing changed
The only possible thing that I can think of is:
- We create users (at most 2) via the command line (with puppet).
- I know that there is no "useradd" or something similar on OS X to enable easy commandline creation of users.
- Could something in this process have gone wrong, such that the Accounts-Preferences were messed up?
I would appreciate any help/hints.
Thanks,
udo.

Open a new account to see if the issue appears there.
Disconnect all peripherals from your computer. Boot from your install disc & run _*Repair Disk*_ from the utility menu. To use the Install Mac OS X disc, insert the disc, and restart your computer while holding down the C key as it starts up.
Select your language.
Once on the desktop, select Utility in the menu bar.
Select *Disk Utility.*
Select the disk or volume in the list of disks and volumes, and then click *First Aid.*
Click _*Repair Disk.*_
Restart your computer when done.
Repair permissions after you reach the desktop-http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25751 and restart your computer.

Airport icon gone from system preferences ?!

Airport icon in system preferences is gone!?

no, i ment the icon in network preferences, but maybe the wifi icon is the airport icon ?
I think i remebered a airport icon in the bar at the left in the network preferences? Or am i wrong ?

Built in microphone option gone from system preferences.

I was having trouble trying to connect my guitar to the mac pro and i had to mess with the sound and the system preferences.
The Built-in microphone option on system preferences is gone. How do i get it back?

Try this Reset and look for it in About this Mac > System Report > Audio
SMC RESET
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
Shut down the computer.
Unplug the computer's power cord and ALL peripherals.
Wait 15 seconds.
Attach the computers power cable.
Wait another 5 seconds and press the power button to turn on the computer.
It is the 5 second timing that initiates the reset.

System Preferences help

Hope someone can help
I am using 10.5.8 on my mac book pro currently.
My Desktop and Screensaver tab under System Preferences is gone, just totally missing.
I am stuck with a generic blue back round that I cant change.
I tried creating new admin account and logging in but the problem still persists. ***? any ideas what I am supposed to do?

First, try the following:
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now restart normally.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
If this doesn't help then do the following:
How to Perform an Archive and Install
An Archive and Install will NOT erase your hard drive, but you must have sufficient free space for a second OS X installation which could be from 3-9 GBs depending upon the version of OS X and selected installation options. The free space requirement is over and above normal free space requirements which should be at least 6-10 GBs. Read all the linked references carefully before proceeding.
1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.
Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger, Leopard or Snow Leopard.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now restart normally.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.
3. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.
4. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.
5. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.
6. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update.

System preferences wont open

so im still kinda new to my macbook and the other day i noticed that my system preferences was gone and i can not find it, and i do not know what i did or what happened. is there anywhere i can download it from or anything like that?

If its icon isn't on the Dock, then open Mac HD/Applications/ and drag the System Preferences.app icon onto the Dock. Assuming that you're new to Macs, but familiar with PC boxes, see these:
Switching from Windows to Mac OS X,
Basic Tutorials on using a Mac,
Mac 101: Mac Essentials,
Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts,
Anatomy of a Mac,
MacTips, and
Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Snow Leopard Edition.
Additionally, *Texas Mac Man* recommends:
Quick Assist,
Welcome to the Switch To A Mac Guides,
Take Control E-books, and
A guide for switching to a Mac.

Systems Preferences

Where has my systems preference folder gone? It is not in my applications, nor does it come up when I type it in to spotlight. My disk utility folder is there so it should be somewhere on my hard drive. How can I find it and open it. It does not, of course, open when I click on the apple icon file nor on the systems preference icon in my dock (here it comes up with a question mark.
Thanks for your help

if you can run system preferences from apple menu open it.
then run "activity monitor" application in your Utilities folder.
in activity monitor window, double click on "System Preferences". a new window should open open. click on "Open files and ports"
the top line shows where your system preferences is located.

My system preferences have suddenly disappeared! I have the language and text icon but that is the only icon that is displayed! where have my system preferences gone and how do i get them back??

I went to my system preferences today and they are all gone except for my language and text icon! I have the language and text icon but that is the only icon that is displayed! where have my system preferences gone and how do i get them back??

Double click on the picture of the HD on your desktop, then look at the bottom of the window that opens.
First check the S.M.A.R.T. status on your HD: Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility > in the panel at left, select the first item in the list/your HD mechanism > look atthe bottom of the main window next to S.M.A.R.T. status and see if it says “Verified” or something more ominous like “Failing.”
If S.M.A.R.T.status is "Verified," run Repair Disk: Boot from install disc (insert disc > restart > immediately hold down c key and keep holding it until you see “Preparing Installation”) > at first screen select the language and click Continue > click on the Utilities Menu in the menu bar > open Disk Utility > select your HD in the panel on the left side > click Repair Disk at bottom of main window. Run this at least twice, and keep running it until it says “appears ok” twice in a row. If that doesn’t happen, you may need a stronger utility such as DiskWarrior or if the directory is damaged beyond repair, you may need to reinstall the OS, or you may have a damaged HD (repair utilities can only repair the directory structure, not the HD itself). When this is finished, quit Disk Utility, quit the installer, and restart. Once booted normally, go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility and run Repair Permissions.

Display System Preference Underscan Slider Gone

I always look for solutions in these support communities but have never posted one. Figure I was due as I was up till 3:30am fixing this problem, sort of.
My TV is a Mac mini with an old/ancient Sony WEGA LCD Projection TV for a display. When I upgraded from Mountain Lion to Mavericks, the image displayed was larger than the TV screen so the Menu Bar and Dock were not visible. I remembered using the Display System Preference Underscan slider to correct the issue but it's gone in Mavericks. Afer massive searching online, the only solution I found that worked was SwitchResX. It took a lot of setting tweaking and restarts but finally I have the full screen displaying now except it's shifted left a bit. That I can grin and bear. Still on the trial version.
http://www.madrau.com/indexSRX4.html
I have to agree with other posts I've read. Why does Apple remove features? First the ability to change resolutions in the Menu Bar and now this. Seems like Apple is sacrificing function for form these days. Sad and frustrating.

Welcome to Apple Discussions.
Quit System Preferences and delete these files:
Delete these files or folders then relaunch System Preferences.
Users/yourname/Library/Preferences /com.apple.systempreferences.plist
Users/yourname/Library/Preferences/By Host/com.apple.systempreferences.xxx.plist
and com.apple.PrefPane.Network.xxx.plist (the X's will be numbers)
Also, Users/yourname/Library/Caches
-mj

System Preference ........"poof" gone

My cousin's lil one got to my laptop while I was at work and like all small children began pushing buttons. Well I got home and woke my machine I noticed that System Preference Icon was gone, and then saw that the whole folder was gone some how she deleted it.
What can I do to get them back?!
*I know I should have had my laptop password protected,and that is the first thing I will do once I get my Systems folder back.

You can get replacement System Install & Restore CD/DVDs from Apple's Customer Support - in the US, (800) 767-2775 - for a nominal S&H fee. You'll need to have the model and/or serial number of your Mac available.
If you're not in the US, you may need to go through the regional Apple Store that serves your location to find the contact number. Here's a list of links to all of those -
http://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/intlstoreroutingpage.html
You will need the above in order to run the Repair Disk option.
Carolyn

System preferences is gone

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