Can't move items in Finder, other Finder issues

[dcslacker]

The Finder is not working like it used to. For example, when I want to move items to different folders, nothing happens. I have to do a force quit of Finder from the Activity Monitor or a restart for the Finder to work properly.

There was a thread suggesting creating a new user account and seeing if you could do actions there without issue. I did this and was able to move items without problem.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/finder-not-responding.1909489/

So I think it's user files that are making Finder act strange. I don't know what files could be affected or how to troubleshoot this.

I tried a clean install of Yosemite 10.10.5 but that didn't resolve issue. Tried deleting plist but that didn't work either.

I have a 2012 MBP with Samsung 850 SSD.

Really needing help on this. I don't want to erase everything and reinstall all my apps and files, especially if I'm just going to reinstall the file(s) that made Finder act all strange.

 

[Weaselboy]

There was a thread suggesting creating a new user account and seeing if you could do actions there without issue. I did this and was able to move items without problem.

So that pretty much proves it is some startup or launch item that is running in the main user account and not the test account. Download and run the app Etrecheck and it will create an anonymized report showing all startup or launch items. You can post the report here for us to have a look. Do this from your main account.

 

[dcslacker]

So that pretty much proves it is some startup or launch item that is running in the main user account and not the test account. Download and run the app Etrecheck and it will create an anonymized report showing all startup or launch items. You can post the report here for us to have a look. Do this from your main account.

Thank you for recommending Etrecheck, Weaselboy. I ran it and found these things in red (though they show up as gray colored in the screen grabs).

The adware surprised me, but they're all rather old so I don't think they're the culprit.
I'll delete the stuff that's out of date/not compatible anymore.
I don't know what the "configuration files" thing is, but it was red and I don't know how to fix that.

In "Launch Daemons" there's a failed plist postgresql that looks suspicious. If that's the bug, then how would I fix that? Just delete and restart?

I'll delete the stuff that's not working and see if Finder improves.

 

[dcslacker]

UPDATE: I deleted everything that was failed or was not compatible. Finder seems to be working better, but still can't do a simple thing like move a file from the desktop to a folder in Documents. I guess I'll have to work with this for now until some other solution can be found.

 

[Weaselboy]

I'll delete the stuff that's not working and see if Finder improves.

The fact that it works okay in another account means the issue is in one of the user launch sections and not the main launch section, so focus there.

I would go to /Library/StartupItems and remove everything there, as that startup method is no longer supported.

Then start removing things from ~/Library/LaunchAgents (~ is your users folder).

Yes, you can just delete the launch daemon from /Library/LaunchDaemons.

There is a section of the Etrecheck report you did not post that shows everything in the login items section of your user name in Users & Groups in System Preferences. That would be a prime spot also since it only impacts the one user account.

You also might want to run MalwareBytes to check for adware/malware since you did find one already.

 

[dcslacker]

The fact that it works okay in another account means the issue is in one of the user launch sections and not the main launch section, so focus there.

I would go to /Library/StartupItems and remove everything there, as that startup method is no longer supported.

Then start removing things from ~/Library/LaunchAgents (~ is your users folder).

Yes, you can just delete the launch daemon from /Library/LaunchDaemons.

There is a section of the Etrecheck report you did not post that shows everything in the login items section of your user name in Users & Groups in System Preferences. That would be a prime spot also since it only impacts the one user account.

You also might want to run title to check for adware/malware since you did find one already.

Well, I've done all the things you listed and Finder seems to improve some but still not able to move a file to a folder. Finder preferences window is all grayed out.

The user login items are few: Dropbox, iTunes, Box, and Caffeine. When I run Etrecheck now nothing is in red and all seems to be clear in the sense that they're blue or green colored.

The test user account does work perfectly fine, so it has to be something in my user account! I'm not sure how to troubleshoot now. Is is possible that it's something in a hidden folder under my user account?

I'm going to try to run Etrecheck on the test user account and compare with what's on my account???

 

[Weaselboy]

Just as a test try removing Box and Dropbox from that user login. Those both have Finder integration and I'm wondering if having them both running together is causing a conflict.

Also go to to that users launch agents folder I gave you earlier and remove everything and reboot just as a test.

Finally, run this command in Terminal the reboot immediately after. That will reset Finder's preferences.

rm ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist

 

[DeltaMac]

I would also suggest that you may still have some adware.
Download and run MalwareBytes. That should find anything else that is part of your "internet shopping experience".

 

[dcslacker]

Just as a test try removing Box and Dropbox from that user login. Those both have Finder integration and I'm wondering if having them both running together is causing a conflict.

Also go to to that users launch agents folder I gave you earlier and remove everything and reboot just as a test.

Finally, run this command in Terminal the reboot immediately after. That will reset Finder's preferences.

rm ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist

YES!!! I removed all the stuff related to Box from the System Preferences and other places Box has files (I referred to the Box website on what files to remove).

Right now Finder seems to be working again!!!

Thank you so much for your help, Weaselboy!!!

In case Finder starts acting up again I will try these other steps!

My weekend got a lot better LOL.
[doublepost=1486246456][/doublepost]

I would also suggest that you may still have some adware.
Download and run MalwareBytes. That should find anything else that is part of your "internet shopping experience".

Thank you for suggesting the app. Weaselboy also suggested this and I did download and run it and things seem to be okay.

Your confirmation of the app suggestion just means that's what I needed, because I have been looking for a malware app!

So thankful for the Macrumors community!!!

 

[Oakmountain]

Hi Mac-community!

Strangely I am experiencing exactly the same issue – The Finder is not working as it should, when I simply try to move an item (file or folder) into a different folder it just does not happen... I see that this dialogue was conducted around an older version of OS so maybe the solution to the problem is not the same?! I have done an EtreCheck scan as @Weaselboy suggested in the previous solution but I do not possess the tech-savviness to decipher what the report says =) It would be very interesting if someone could guide me to what could be the best steps to solve the issues?

Best regards,
Sweden

 

[Weaselboy]

The Finder is not working as it should, when I simply try to move an item (file or folder) into a different folder it just does not happen...

Just as a test, reboot and hold the shift key down as it starts to boot to safe mode. That will stop all launch and startup items from running. See if that helps, then we can discuss what to do next.

You have a LOT of third party launch and startup items running there.

 

[Oakmountain]

Greeat The reboot in safe mode solved the specific issue with the moving of files in Finder! Is the issue now solved or will it come back when I reboot in normal mode?
I also deleted some launch files that the EtreCheck-program suggested could be deleted – but now the computer is super slow...
I also installed the MalwareBytes-program as instructed in the previous dialogue but have not run any searches yet.

I did a new EtreCheck, this time with full access – @Weaselboy Any suggestions on how to proceed?

Thanks a bunch for the guidance!

 

[DeltaMac]

If you haven't run a Malwarebytes scan, that's your next step.
You will find that it only takes a couple of minutes, if that long.

 

[Oakmountain]

If you haven't run a Malwarebytes scan, that's your next step.
You will find that it only takes a couple of minutes, if that long.

Check done with first Malwarebytes; found a program called Spigot - removed that! is that serious?
Then did a check with a trial version of CleanMyMac X; it found no more Malware but a ton of stuff that I should delete =)

 

[Weaselboy]

Greeat The reboot in safe mode solved the specific issue with the moving of files in Finder! Is the issue now solved or will it come back when I reboot in normal mode?

It will likely come back. Safe mode just stops all those launch and startup items from running as a troubleshooting method. So restart in normal mode and see if the problem is still there. If it there in normal mode and not there in safe mode, that proves it is a launch or startup item causing the problem.

There is no magic way to figure out which item is causing the problem. You just have to keep removed them and restarting until you figure it out. What I would do is print out the Etrecheck report to use that as a worksheet to mark off what you have done. Then remove half the items at a time and restart until you narrow it down and find the culprit.

If MWB removed Spigot, you should be okay as far as that goes.

These are the folder you need to be looking in to remove things. Also the login items section of your account in Users & Groups.

~/Library/LaunchAgents (~ is your users folder)
/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/LaunchDaemons
/Library/StartupItems
/Library/Extensions
/System/Library/Extensions/