System Preferences Not Opening

When I click on system preferences, nothing comes up. I tried clicking the show all preferences option under view, but nothing changed. How do I get it to come up?

I'm having issues as well. I went to open system preferences in the dock, but it had a translucent question mark overlayed on it. When I clicked on it nothing happened. I went to the apple menu to click on system preferences and nothing happened. I then went to the dock again and dragged it out onto the desktop. Bad idea. Poof, its gone now. I went to the HD and then applications, and it wasn't there and it wasn't renamed. A search with Finder proved fruitless as well. Now I am stuck with all of my settings and can't change a darn thing. Any ideas?

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HT1338 system preference not open so how guide to sample?

My mac book pro in system preference not open so how guide to sample?

Hello,
First, Safe Boot , (holding Shift key down at bootup), use Disk Utility from there to Repair Permissions, test if things work OK in Safe Mode.
Then move these files to the Desktop for now...
/Users/YourUserName/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist
/Users/YourUserName/Library/Preferences/com.apple.systempreferences.plist
/Users/YourUserName/Library/Preferences/com.apple.desktop.plist
/Users/YourUserName/Library/Preferences/com.apple.recentitems.plist
Reboot & test.
PS. Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive.

Mail, Skype, Safari and some system preferences not opening

I wonder if anyone else has had this problem....my mac starts up but seems to skip loading things at the loading screen when it boots - When it gets to the desktop, Skype, mail (mac default program), and Safari do not open when clicked - I tried to go to user accounts in system preferences and that fails to open also - AIM, Fireofx and Transmit (FTP program) all work fine and are able to connect to the interent - It has done this before (months ago) and I ended up having to do a system restore to go back to factory settings - Yesterday it started this again and after 1/2 hour mail just popped open and all was well - It has been on for 4 hours so far and none of those programs are working - Has anyone else had issues like this ? any suggestions? I am using a Power Mac G5 cpu 1.8ghz and 1.25 gb of ram and 10.3.9 for system version - Any help is greatly appreciated
thanks

Have you done the basics? Repaired permissions, cleared caches, run cron jobs, booted from DVD and run disk repair etc.?
It seems that when you did a restore, which I presume is an archive and install, it cleared up then over time whatever you do is corrupting things or the drive is on its last legs. Add a new drive (cheap) , clone the boot drive to it with Super Duper (free) and boot from that for a while.

Under APPLE MENU system preferences only opens sporadically, mostly not

Under APPLE MENU system preferences only opens sporadically, mostly not. I booted up with installation disk and ran a check but everything was alright. However, when I tried to click on items using the disk as a startup disk it frequently wouldn't function.

George,
Thanks for asking that question.
I offered this solution based upon similar successful advice which was given to another poster who solved this problem:Long story short I ended up reinstalling Mac OS X using Archive and Install. When I first used the computer following reinstalling Mac OS X, I was able to access the System Preferences by selecting them under the Apple in the menu bar. However, I have now updated my software using Software Update, and now I can't access System Preferences when I click on them under the Apple in the menu. The computer just acts like I never selected System Preferences.
Where have System Preferences gone??? provides another example of Previous Systems folder interfering with System Preferences.
Applications don't work after reinstalling Mac OS X explains a different problem with a Previous Systems folder: Example 1: You downgrade by performing an Archive and Install installation, but do not update to a later version of Mac OS X. The Previous Systems folder contains later versions of applications that may contribute to this issue.If you have proper backups, I recommend trashing the Previous Systems folder as soon as you can determine that the new system is functioning properly. The Previous Systems folders will either take up too much space or contribute to unexplained system problems.
;~)

System Preferences not responding when opening desktop

After installing Lion 10.7, I find that whenever I try to change the desktop wallpaper in system preferences, it freezes and I have to force quit it.
I tried to find the systempreferences.plist, as seen from google searches, but I can't find it anywhere, and those seem to be solutions for SL, L or Tiger.
Help appreciated.
Thanks!

I've been having the same issue with system preferences in osx lion freezing and not doing anything for the past week. Your post solved the problem; all I had to do was move the iphoto library and the photo booth library to the desktop, then I moved them back to my pictures folder in the finder window. Now system preferences works like a charm, even if I restart the system the system preferences utilities are all accessible.
This solved the problem; whereas other posts that had me use disk utility to repair the hard drive or repair the disk permissions didn't solve the issue.
This now saves me a call to apple tech support
Thank you.
>>>
Re: System Preferences not responding when opening desktop
Jul 23, 2011 1:27 PM (in response to alexhung)
It has to do with a problem accessing the images on the home>images folder. To solve it, just move its content (iphoto library included) to another place. Then, restart System Preferences. Moving your iPhoto library to another location seems to fix the problem. I am sure Apple will issue an update to correct this problem. But, for now this seems to work for me.

HT2490 system preferences not responding

Ive recently chagnged my desktop picture on my new mac book pro 13" to a own taken photo and not system preferences when opened does not repond. Can you help?

Try rebooting the machine.
If the problem persists, open Terminal (Applications > Utilities > Terminal.app) and paste this command:
mv ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.systempreferences.plist ~/Desktop/com.apple.systempreferences.plist
(it's all one line).
Press 'return'.
Restart the computer.

In System Prefereneces, when I am in Desktop and Screen Saver, I am unable to remove folders. I can click the "-" and the folder appears to be gone, but when I close and then reopen System Preferences, and open Desktop and Screen Saver, the folder reappea

In System Prefereneces, when I am in Desktop and Screen Saver, I am unable to remove folders. I can click the "-" and the folder appears to be gone, but when I close and then reopen System Preferences, and open Desktop and Screen Saver, the folder reappears in the list. I have tried deleting preferences "plist" but I am totally unable to remove the folders.

I've seen one other report like yours, and I think the issue is caused by a bug, but I don't know what triggers it.
Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
The purpose of the test is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party software that loads automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, or by corruption of certain system caches.
Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Boot in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain iMacs. The next normal boot may also be somewhat slow.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin. Test while in safe mode. Same problem? After testing, reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

Security and privacy system preferences not working after Lion install. What to do?

Security and privacy system preference not working after Lion install. Not sure if it happen with Lion installer or after updating. What to do?

Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a diagnostic test. It won’t solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
Third-party system modifications are a common cause of usability problems. By a “system modification,” I mean software that affects the operation of other software — potentially for the worse. The following procedure will help identify which such modifications you've installed. Don’t be alarmed by the complexity of these instructions — they’re easy to carry out and won’t change anything on your Mac.
These steps are to be taken while booted in “normal” mode, not in safe mode. If you’re now running in safe mode, reboot as usual before continuing.
Below are instructions to enter some UNIX shell commands. The commands are harmless, but they must be entered exactly as given in order to work. If you have doubts about the safety of the procedure suggested here, search this site for other discussions in which it’s been followed without any report of ill effects.
Some of the commands will line-wrap or scroll in your browser, but each one is really just a single line, all of which must be selected. You can accomplish this easily by triple-clicking anywhere in the line. The whole line will highlight, and you can then either copy or drag it. The headings “Step 1” and so on are not part of the commands.
Note: If you have more than one user account, Step 2 must be taken as an administrator. Ordinarily that would be the user created automatically when you booted the system for the first time. The other steps should be taken as the user who has the problem, if different. Most personal Macs have only one user, and in that case this paragraph doesn’t apply.
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ If you’re running Mac OS X 10.7 or later, open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the page that opens.
When you launch Terminal, a text window will open with a line already in it, ending either in a dollar sign (“$”) or a percent sign (“%”). If you get the percent sign, enter “sh” (without the quotes) and press return. You should then get a new line ending in a dollar sign.
Step 1
Copy or drag — do not type — the line below into the Terminal window, then press return:
kextstat -kl | awk '!/com\.apple/{printf "%s %s\n", $6, $7}'
Post the lines of output (if any) that appear below what you just entered (the text, please, not a screenshot.) You can omit the final line ending in “$”.
Step 2
Repeat with this line:
sudo launchctl list | sed 1d | awk '!/0x|com\.(apple|openssh|vix)|edu\.mit|org\.(amavis|apache|cups|isc|ntp|postfix|x)/{print $3}'
This time, you'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up. You don't need to post the warning.
Note: If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before taking this step. If that’s not possible, skip to the next step.
Step 3
launchctl list | sed 1d | awk '!/0x|com\.apple|edu\.mit|org\.(x|openbsd)/{print $3}'
Step 4
ls -1A /e*/mach* {,/}L*/{Ad,Compon,Ex,Fram,In,Keyb,La,Mail/Bu,P*P,Priv,Qu,Scripti,Servi,Spo,Sta}* L*/Fonts 2> /dev/null
Important: If you synchronize with a MobileMe account, your me.com email address may appear in the output of the above command. If so, anonymize it before posting.
Step 5
osascript -e 'tell application "System Events" to get name of every login item' 2> /dev/null
Remember, steps 1-5 are all drag-and-drop or copy-and-paste, whichever you prefer — no typing, except your password. Also remember to post the output.
You can then quit Terminal.

PMU Reset and System Preferences not Responding-Always 1969

Hi, I am having a problem that I have not been able to match up on forums (mostly because it's sort of hard for me to pinpoint a short way of typing it up).
I have had a problem before, with my PB not responding (to turning on after turning itself off), so I was familiar this morning when I found myself having to unplug the power adapter, unlatch the battery, holding the Power button for 5 seconds, plugging in the power and locking in the battery and finally Power again to reviving my Powerbook G4.
As usual, after startup, the date has been changed to December 1 1969 so if not changed, the computer may act erratically. My problem this particular time is that I cannot change the date or time! I can't even open System preferences, or use Get Info on my desktop icon of my computer's harddrive. It acts as if it's not responding, holding down my pointer on the System Preferences in the dock gives me the Options such as start on login, hide, Force Quit but when I go to click Force Quit, it does nothing. I cannot use Command-Option-Esc to open the Force Quit window. I click on the Apple pulldown tab at the top left of my screen and Force Quit does not respond there as well. THIS IS SO UNUSUAL TO ME and I am at a total loss at how to get things running smoothly again. I have restarted my powerbook a couple times (but only able to do this by holding down Power for a few seconds, again the Apple pulldown bar then Restart does nothing) but nothing changes the not responding System Preferences.
Any help would be greatly appreciated or even a hint at how to search this problem, narrow it down to a few words, searching 'System Preferences not responding or freezing' hasn't given me any similar troubleshooting results.
Thank you in advance

laurenlovescomputers,
reset the PMU again.
your welcome,
laurenlovescomputers

HT1199 Why I couldn't change my screensaver, my system preferences not responding?

Why my system preferences not responding (display & screensaver) and my mail doesn't received all mails?

Your
com.apple.systempreferences.plist
file is corrupt in your
(use the Finder > Go > Go To folder and paste & Go)
~/Library/Preferences
Trash the flle you can (may be two of them, one is a lock file) and reboot.
Reset your system preferences again.
Step by Step to fix your Mac

My system preferences wont open anymore, whats up

my system preferences wont open anymore, whats up

Hi xronjonesx,
To make sure that we are on the same page, you cannot open System Preferences. Have you tried opening it from the Apple Drop down menu? If you are still unsuccessful, then the next step would be to reinstall OS X Snow Leopard as that app is part of the operating system and the reinstallation with all the software updates afterwards will resolve the issue.
Mac OS X 10.6: Reinstalling Mac OS X
https://support.apple.com/kb/PH6606
Take it easy,
-Norm G.

Systems preference not responding

I have tried all the 'solutions' to the problem of my system preferences not responding but none of them have worked. I would like to know if there is another solution not posted anywhere that i could try. Thanks

Try starting in safe mode to run a file ckeck. It may or may not do any good but an easy place to begin.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1564
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1455

System Preferences pane opens off-screen

What can I do to have the system preferences panel open in the center of the screen instead of off the screen?
Whether I open it by Apple->System Preferences or open any other module within System Preferences (such as Network Preferences) it opens in the lower left-hand corner with 80% of the window off the screen. Then I have to drag it back to the center to use it.
I used to have dual-monitors, but now only use the laptop screen.

The position you have the System Prefs on your screen when you close it should be stored in the plist file.
/Users/yourname/Library/Preferences/com.apple.systempreferences.plist
Thus, if you trash the plist it really ought to be created with the default position, but even that shouldn't actually be necessary: when you move System Prefs window to where you want and close it the new position should be recorded in the plist and used next time you open it.
The only thing I can think of is perhaps something is funky in the way your account is considering the dispaly. Launch the Displays preferences and try clicking the "Gather Windows" button and the "Detect Displays" button, check that Rotate is Standard, and also check the Arrangement tab to make sure it shows one display with the menu bar.
Francine
Francine
Schwieder

System Preferences - Display Preferences ---- not opening

In my Snow Leopard 10.6.5 under System Preferences only Display Preferences not loading. It is giving error "System Preferences cannot be opened because of a problem".
I tried resetting PRAM and NVRAM. Also is deleted the file com.apple.systempreferences.plist. Still it did not solve the issue.
Please let me know how i can solve the issue.
Thanks
Jana

Get a bootable, external HD (preferably FireWire, since it's 40-50% faster than USB 2 and designed for data transfers), make a bootable backup/clone before updating/upgrading, and ensure that it's bootable and works like the original. Then have your corporate IT reinstall the image and use the Migration Assistant to restore all of your customizations. See these for details:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106941
http://www.macmaps.com/upgradefaq.html
http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/installswupdates.html
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/backuprecovery.html

I purchase this macbook at a yard sale. did not come is os disc. i can not get the system preference to open up an operate to change desktop and remove old accounts. any suggestions will be very helpful

hello community, im new to macbook; i purchase this macbook at a yard sale everything seems to be working ok but i am unable to access the system preference in order to change the desktop or remove old accounts. the owner did not have the os disc. does anyone have any suggestions on how to fix this problem.
thank you

If you don't have your install disks you can get the gray install disks by calling Apple StoreCustomer Service at 1-800-676-2775 They can send them to you for about $16 per disk plus S & H. Just give them your serial number and they'll know which ones you need. Which would be $32 for the two disks. With the original disks you also get the iLife that was current when your MacBook was bought included on the #2 disk.
You can order a Snow Leopard 10.6 install disk for $29 as long as you have at least 1gb of RAM and 5gb of free space on your hard drive. http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573Z/A?mco=MTY3ODQ5OTY

System Preferences Not Opening

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