com.apple.iphotomosaic.plist Problem Discovered: DiskWarrior To The Rescue!

I was about fed up with my iMac computer, nearing the point of buying a new one just to rid my frustration when I discovered, solved and fixed my problem using DiskWarrior and a good old fashioned internet search.  You see, my computer was stricken with that awful com.apple.iphotomosaic.plist broken file that pretty much makes everything stop working well.

I know very little about how to get a broken computer to start working.  Last year I took my iMac to the Apple store where they tried to find out what was wrong.  The folks at the genius bar recommended I run DiskWarrior, but for them to run it for me, I had to buy the disk from them and let them fix all the broken files.  I paid $99.95 for that disk and even loaned it out to Mama Happy when here computer was acting up last year.

Well, my computer was acting up again.  For months my iMac has been freezing in the middle of applications, my browsers would just stop responding, downloads would get interrupted, uploads would crash my iMac and any type of multi tasking was met with headaches and a horribly slow response team.  I couldn't even power down my iMac without it freezing. 

So I hunted down my Disk Warrior DVD yesterday.  I powered off my computer, put the Disk Warrior DVD into the computer CD slot and turned on the computer while holding down the C key until the grey Apple logo appeared.  This started my Mac from the DiskWarrior DVD instead of my desktop.  From here I was able to automatically "rebuild" my drive and clean it up so files were placed in their appropriate "places".  Over months and years, files apparently get out of place and can slow down the efficiency of the computer.  I did all this with just the click of a button.  

DiskWarrior fixed everything, except a file named com.apple.iphotomosaic.plist.  It said this file was unfixable.   It found the problem file, but couldn't fix it.  DiskWarrior simply couldn't do anything to repair it.  At first I figured it was a non issue.  I mean, it has the word iPhoto in it.  How important could it be?  Little did I know that this file was the root of all my problems.

I decided to dig a little deeper with the issue.  After a several hour internet search, I discovered that a corrupt  com.apple.iphotomosaic.plist file was causing  lots of people the same problems I was experiencing.  It makes the computer unusable at times.  It is the result of using the mosaic screensaver function with iPhoto pictures.  I remember long ago dabbling in this function but had no idea this caused all my problems.

Everything I read said to delete the file and that would fix the problem.  I spent several hours trying to hunt down this file in my drive so I could remove it and place it in the trash.  Once removed, the computer would automatically generate another one if the mosaic screensaver program was used again, one that isn't corrupt. 

It took me forever to find the file, so I'm going to make your life easy.  How do you find your com.apple.iphotomosaic.plist file to remove it?  

1. Go in your Finder
2. Click on "Computer" in the Devices section at the top.  If you don't have "Computer" as an option, click on "Finder" from the top computer bar, then click on "Preferences" and click on the check box for "Computer".  This should place the "Computer" as an option in your Finder.
3. Scroll through your files in the "Computer" section and find "Library" and expand it
4. Now find "Preferences" and expand that.
5. From here, you should be able to find the com.apple.iphotomosaic.plist file.  Right click on it and move it to the trash.  
6. Restart your computer.

It took me hours to figure all this out. But, with DiskWarrior making the diagnosis and a  little help from the internet, I was able to fix my computer and make it functional again.  And to think, I was days away from going out and buying another one.  Fully tax deductible, of course.  Even my DiskWarrior came tax free.  Just another advantage of having a blog.

If you're having problems with your computer, before you spend  a grand or more on a new one or even several hundred dollars on a computer technician, I recommend you purchase DiskWarrior.  It may be the best $100 you ever spent on your computer.  It found my corrupt com.apple.iphotomosaic.plist file and now my computer is working just like new.

Thank you DiskWarrior for a job well done!