Mac OS X 10.4.8 Special Report: Safari Issues: Bad plug-ins, caches, more

CNET staff

Sept. 2, 2009 12:15 a.m. PT

3 min read

Safari -- being taken advantage of, and therefore being affected by so many underlying components of Mac OS X -- is prone to significant issues after incremental updates. The most pressing issues are those which cause the application to fail when starting up, or crash when accessing specific content.

If you are having crash issues, first check the ~/Library/Plug-ins folder for any recently added third-party items, and remove them, then re-check for persistence of the issue in Safari. Failing that, remove all items from the following directories:

/Library/Internet Plug-Ins
~/Library/Internet Plug-Ins

then check for persistence of the issue. You can then add items back in batches to identify the problematic plug-in.

Also, manually delete all contents of the folder:

~/Library/Caches/Safari

then quit and re-launch Safari.

You may also want to try re-applying the Mac OS X 10.4.8 combo updater (PowerPC or Intel).

Finally, temporarily turning off Unsanity's APE (Application Enhancer) has been reported as a fix by some users.

Failing the above, you may want to try creating a new user account per the instructions in our tutorial "Common workaround -- create a new user account."

Reader reports

MacFixIt reader Paul Hamburg writes:

"Since installing Mac OS x 10.4.8 I have watched Safari crash repeatedly without any rhyme or reason. Trashing plist files has not helped."

MacFixIt reader Paul writes:

"I upgraded to Mac OS X10.4.8 from 10.4.7 using the combo updater. After the update Safari and software update will quit every time when launch. What is the possible cause and any fixes? I have repair permission but did not fixed the problem."

Mike Laude adds:

"Since the update, Safari crashes every time I try to print."

One more reader writes:

A case example, MacFixIt reader Robert writes: "My Safari crashed after the update always soon after launch. I deleted the complete contents of /library/internet plugins. Now it seems to work fine."

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