Desktop loads, but no dock, applications, can't [solved]

[auntyjamima]

I could really use some help as I am not sure what happened. I have been running 10.6.2 for the longest time. Last night it was running fine but then all of a sudden I couldn't shut down. I had to do a force shutdown, but now when I startup, it seems as though my install is botched.

My startup widgets are all working (little snitch, istat) but for some reason all my applications now look like safari.app instead of just safari with the logo. The dock is missing, my wallpaper is all blue. Most of my files read as 0 kb. When I try to click the apple logo on the left, the screen goes blue for a second and the beach ball appears, and then in returns to the desktop as though nothing happened.

I can't load applications, I can't shutdown (because the apple menu isn't working). I can browse through the finder and get info.

My specs:
i860
aserebln booter RC4 v 1.1.9
10.6.2
p55m-ud2
gts 250
kexts:
fakesmc
JMicronATA

I haven't had any problems before so I am pretty new to troubleshooting. Is there anything I should do to start?

Thanks so much for any help you guys can provide. I do all my work on this computer so I need to get this fixed or else I am screwed.

 

[auntyjamima]

Re: Desktop loads, but no dock, applications, can't click apple.

Just booted into safe mode. Things look fine here so I am guessing it must be a low level kext problem. Let's hope so. Running Kext Utility and Disk Utility.

 

[auntyjamima]

Re: Desktop loads, but no dock, applications, can't click apple.

ok that seemed to fix my problem