[kirillov]

-mail.app (which i have never had a problem with before) freezes upon launch -- the main window never shows up, and it refuses to force quit.
-the finder, in the volumes area, shows a disc image that isn't actually mounted (something i downloaded), and has no eject button; when i click on it, i get an error message saying that the volume cannot be found.
-disk utility (i thought maybe repairing permissions would solve my problems) hangs on "gathering disk information", then stops responding if i try to close it.

anybody have any ideas of what the problem could be/how i can fix it? the fact that disk utility can't gather disk information is getting me a bit worried, and i'm wondering if i should start backing up everything important in anticipation of a massive failure. then again, i'm a Switcher

by the way, i'm running 10.3.2 on a dual 1ghz powermac MDD.

[bergy]

Repair permissions: Go to Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility and double click it. Then select your hard drive in the left panel and First Aid at the top. Then click on "Repair Permissions." Don't bother verifying.

For general maintenance ..

Macaroni ... just set it and forget it.
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/9633
Macaroni is a tool which handles regular maintenance for Mac OS X's Unix core. Normally these tasks run on a regular schedule, in the middle of the night. However if you don't leave your Mac on all night, they never run. Your Mac won't wake from sleep to handle this. Macaroni solves this problem. If a scheduled maintenance task is not run when it's normally scheduled, Macaroni automatically ensures that it's run at the next opportunity, whenever the Mac is on. Repairs permissions also, on a weekly basis.
Next version will clean caches .. until then use this ...

Cache Out X
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/9538
Cache Out X clears out the cache entries on your machine, helping you recover valuable disk space on your machine. Items removed include the caches in System, Users, and Library, along with the Internet Explorer download cache. Optionally clears the IE's history cache as well.

Buy a copy of Disk Warrior and run it every couple of months .....

Back up important files regularly .. just in case

Good luck!