Member Avatar for CEDickson

I renamed an iMovie project folder while iMovie was minimized. When I tried to maximize iMovie it would not come back. I tried restarting to get it back with no luck. I tried to Force Quit iMovie, but is was not listed. I tried to reinstall iMovie, but the installer says it is running and to Quit the application. I tried trashing iMovie but that didn't help either. i also ran Norton Utilities and Drive 10. Nothing has helped.

I movie won't start and I can't install it. What do I do?
:o

C

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Brief summary and a focused checklist that complements ’s notes and the suggestions from and . The installer is refusing to run because something at login/system level is holding iLife/iMovie resources open even though the app doesn’t appear in Force Quit. The safest approach is an ordered set of diagnostics and fixes so the installer can run cleanly.

Start with low-risk tests: boot the Mac into Safe Mode to prevent login items and third‑party extensions from loading, then try the installer. If that’s not possible, create a new administrator account and run the installer there to determine whether the problem is user‑level. Run Disk Utility (from the OS CD or Utilities) and Repair Permissions / run First Aid on the volume before proceeding.

Use Terminal to find and stop any stray processes that mention iLife/iMovie, then watch the installer log to see what it thinks is running. Example commands:

ps -ax | grep -i imovie
lsof | grep -i -I imovie
sudo kill <PID>
sudo kill -9 <PID>     # only if a polite kill fails
tail -f /var/log/install.log

Check for open files (lsof output) and kill the exact PIDs blocking installation rather than removing files blindly.

If a process or background agent keeps reappearing, inspect Login Items in Accounts preferences and /Library/StartupItems (or LaunchDaemons/LaunchAgents) for anything iLife‑related and move suspicious items aside. As a last resort (after a verified backup), remove stale installer receipts for iLife/iMovie from the system receipts folders or perform an Archive & Install from the OS CD. Avoid indiscriminate rm -rf or repeated kill -9 without backups; keep installer/Console logs handy — they’re the most useful evidence if escalation to Apple/repair is needed.

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Member Avatar for Kezz

I knowe this probably sounds like a stoopid question (;)) but:
Have you tried rebooting your Mac?

Member Avatar for CEDickson

Thanks for reading my problem and trying to help. Yes I did reboot! (see original question quoted below.)

"I tried restarting to get it back with no luck."

I guess I'll have to initialize my hard disk.... :(

C

Member Avatar for Kezz

Oops, yeah - sorry, didn't notice that :o

Member Avatar for yellow

What happens when you try to start iMovie? Have you removed it's preference file?

Member Avatar for CEDickson

If I click on the icon on the menu bar literally nothing happens. If I doubleclick on the application I get an error message: The operation could not be completed. An unexpected error ocurred (error code 1000).

I don't know where the preference file is in OS X 1.2.8.

(I'll look for the preference file, but I may be afraid to delete it unless it is REALLY obvious what it is.)

Thanks for your help!

C

Member Avatar for yellow

~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iMovie.plist

OR, if you have iMovie 3

~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iMovie3.plist

~ = your home directory.

Member Avatar for CEDickson

Thanks yellow for the locations. ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iMovie.plist was NOT there. But, ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iMovie3.plist was so I trashed it.

iMovie4 app was still in Applications, so I tried it again with the same error message, so I trashed it and this time the trash emptied.

However, the installer says to quit all the iLife 04 apps, but none are running.

Do I have to remove all of the iLife apps and their preference files?

Is there someplace in the Finder that needs to be cleaned out? Like rebuilding the Desktop?

Any help is most appreciated. Thanks again for your time.

C

I have installed OS X on a different HD and tried to run the installer on that new HD and I got the same instruction to close all the iLife 04 apps before trying to install. It seems to be something at a very deep system level. :sad:

Member Avatar for RonH

I had the exact same problem.

Go under the Apple menu and Log Out.

Then Log back in and immediately hold down the shift key. This will bypass the background iTunes stuff that is hanging you up. Now you will be able to reinstall your iLife apps.

Hope that helps

Ron

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