Tried to Clear up Space on HD...now having lots of problems!

[nolste]

Hello,

I decided to clean up my HD a little to make more space since I kept getting that 'out of space' prompt. Now I'm having lots of problems, I think I may have deleted some important files:

1. Certain characters are showing up as question marks (for example in my Entourage, the header now reads "Mail ? Main Identity") I believe what is now a question mark used to be a dash or a bullet...but I'm not positive.

2. Can't get to" Get Info" or "Find" windows...not through the file menus and not via keyboard shortcuts either.

3. Safari will not go online. It launches, but no pages actually load. It looks like google (my homepage) is about to load...but it just stays blank.

4. Getting error message in Enrourege "An unknown error (-8770) occurred."

5. Can't seem to delete things I want to delete on my desktop. Screen icons disappear...then reappear and nothing was sent to the trash.

I REALLY MESSED UP! Please if anyone can direct me...it would be so greatly appreciated.

Here is all my computer info::
Hardware Overview:

Machine Model: PowerBook G4 17"
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (1.1)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 1.5 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 167 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.8.6f0

Thanks,
Nicole

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

Hello Nicole and welcome,

Do you have the install discs that came with your PB? Do you have your important data backed up?

 

[nolste]

Thanks SO much for the quick reply. No I do not have the discs...and I have not backed up my data.

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

That's OK, have you tried rebooting? Also navigate to Disc Utilities and repair permissions and repair your hard drive too.

MacintoshHD -> Applications -> Utilities -> Disc Utility (or press Command + U to go straight to the Utilities folder)

If you had the install disc I was going to suggest an Archive & Install, which would protect your data and hopefully repair any damage caused by the deletion of important files.

 

[nolste]

Okay, I am going through Repairing Permissions now...

Yes, I've tried rebooting.

Let's see what your suggestion does...thank you SO SO much by the way.

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

So, how did it go Nicole?

 

[nolste]

Unfortunately it did not help. Any other ideas?

 

[Walrus666]

Hello, As far as applications are concerned you could download and reinstall them. However, it sounds like you might have trashed some system files and the only fix that I'm aware of for this is to reinstall the operating system. You could try Disc Warrior- http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/ or reinstalling the 10.4.10 update-
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/macosx_updates/macosx10410updateppc.html but these are long shots.