[jrramsey]

Within the last several days, my finder menus have disappeared. My dock works and I can open preferences and other apps with their menus but still no finder menus. I can't open a new finder window and I can't "relaunch" using command-option-escape.

I tried zapping PRAM...no change.

Any suggestions?

[awaspaas]

Use Disk Utility to repair permissions. Boot in single-user mode (cmd-S on boot) and type fsck -fy to repair your startup disk. Repeat fsck -fy until no more errors are detected.

If Finder still doesn't work right, create a new user. If Finder does not work in new user, I suggest an archive and install. If it does work in a new user, trash your personal Finder preferences in ~/Library/Preferences/

[jrramsey]

Originally posted by awaspaas:
Use Disk Utility to repair permissions. Boot in single-user mode (cmd-S on boot) and type fsck -fy to repair your startup disk. Repeat fsck -fy until no more errors are detected.

If Finder still doesn't work right, create a new user. If Finder does not work in new user, I suggest an archive and install. If it does work in a new user, trash your personal Finder preferences in ~/Library/Preferences/

Thanks for the suggestions. When I ran fsck -fy it returned an "invalid file or directory ID found" under Catalog file and referenced (4, 306) then said volume check failed. I also tried a new user...and that user had no finder. When I did a disk utility check (boot CD), I got all sorts of file permission problems and had them "repaired" but some kept coming back. When I tried to do an archive and install, it got about 1/3 of the way and then said it failed.

I've done a complete backup of my hard disk and am thinking about a clean wipe and fresh install. A real bummer.

BTW: This is a new (<4 months) Barracude 7200.7 120 gig hard drive. (Panther)PL 1.4Gig (7457), ATI9000, cooling fans...when it runs, it's VERY GOOD, but this is a major concern.

Any ideas what could have caused this type of corruption?