System Preferences crashes when trying to open time setting

Question

My System Preferences are crashing when I try to open time setting on my mac. I have try to repair the permissions by following the help given on this thread (http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/8653/system-preferences-crashes-when-press-accounts), but its not fixing any problem.

Any other solution which can help me? I believe because of this issue my other applications are also crashing.

A little update on the issue: I have installed windows 7 on another partition and problem start occurring after I login into the windows like after 4 months.

I was able to reset the time and date via systemsetup setdate and settime command but System preferences is still crashing! Here is the screen shot of my date and time (its really weird)

This is the console output when I repair the permissions via Disk utility.

Repairing permissions for “Mac HD”
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Classes/dt.jar", should be lrwxr-xr-x , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Repaired "System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Classes/dt.jar".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Classes/jce.jar", should be lrwxr-xr-x , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Repaired "System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Classes/jce.jar".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Classes/jconsole.jar", should be lrwxr-xr-x , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Repaired "System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Classes/jconsole.jar".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Classes/management-agent.jar", should be lrwxr-xr-x , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Repaired "System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Classes/management-agent.jar".
User differs on "System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Home/lib", should be 0, user is 95.
Repaired "System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Home/lib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Home/lib/dt.jar", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Home/lib/dt.jar".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Home/lib/jce.jar", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Home/lib/jce.jar".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Home/lib/management-agent.jar", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Home/lib/management-agent.jar".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Home/lib/security/blacklist", should be lrwxr-xr-x , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Repaired "System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Home/lib/security/blacklist".
User differs on "System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Libraries", should be 0, user is 95.
Repaired "System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Libraries".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Java/Support/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Home/lib/security/cacerts", should be lrwxr-xr-x , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Repaired "System/Library/Java/Support/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Home/lib/security/cacerts".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Java/Support/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/deploy.jar", should be lrwxr-xr-x , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Repaired "System/Library/Java/Support/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/deploy.jar".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Java/Support/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Resources/JavaPluginCocoa.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/deploy.jar", should be lrwxr-xr-x , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Repaired "System/Library/Java/Support/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Resources/JavaPluginCocoa.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/deploy.jar".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Support/Remote Desktop Message.app/Contents/Resources/Italian.lproj/UIAgent.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Support/Remote Desktop Message.app/Contents/Resources/Italian.lproj/UIAgent.nib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/AppleVNCServer.bundle/Contents/Support/LockScreenLeopard386.app/Contents/Resources/Italian.lproj/MainMenu.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/AppleVNCServer.bundle/Contents/Support/LockScreenLeopard386.app/Contents/Resources/Italian.lproj/MainMenu.nib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/RemoteDesktop.menu/Contents/Resources/zh_TW.lproj/RemoteDesktopMenu.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/RemoteDesktop.menu/Contents/Resources/zh_TW.lproj/RemoteDesktopMenu.nib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Support/Remote Desktop Message.app/Contents/Resources/zh_TW.lproj/UIAgent.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Support/Remote Desktop Message.app/Contents/Resources/zh_TW.lproj/UIAgent.nib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/AppleVNCServer.bundle/Contents/Support/LockScreen.app/Contents/Resources/zh_TW.lproj/MainMenu.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/AppleVNCServer.bundle/Contents/Support/LockScreen.app/Contents/Resources/zh_TW.lproj/MainMenu.nib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/RemoteDesktop.menu/Contents/Resources/zh_CN.lproj/RemoteDesktopMenu.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/RemoteDesktop.menu/Contents/Resources/zh_CN.lproj/RemoteDesktopMenu.nib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Support/Remote Desktop Message.app/Contents/Resources/zh_CN.lproj/UIAgent.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Support/Remote Desktop Message.app/Contents/Resources/zh_CN.lproj/UIAgent.nib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/AppleVNCServer.bundle/Contents/Support/LockScreen.app/Contents/Resources/zh_CN.lproj/MainMenu.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/AppleVNCServer.bundle/Contents/Support/LockScreen.app/Contents/Resources/zh_CN.lproj/MainMenu.nib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/RemoteDesktop.menu/Contents/Resources/ko.lproj/RemoteDesktopMenu.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/RemoteDesktop.menu/Contents/Resources/ko.lproj/RemoteDesktopMenu.nib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Support/Remote Desktop Message.app/Contents/Resources/ko.lproj/UIAgent.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Support/Remote Desktop Message.app/Contents/Resources/ko.lproj/UIAgent.nib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/AppleVNCServer.bundle/Contents/Support/LockScreen.app/Contents/Resources/ko.lproj/MainMenu.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/AppleVNCServer.bundle/Contents/Support/LockScreen.app/Contents/Resources/ko.lproj/MainMenu.nib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/RemoteDesktop.menu/Contents/Resources/Dutch.lproj/RemoteDesktopMenu.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/RemoteDesktop.menu/Contents/Resources/Dutch.lproj/RemoteDesktopMenu.nib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Support/Remote Desktop Message.app/Contents/Resources/Dutch.lproj/UIAgent.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Support/Remote Desktop Message.app/Contents/Resources/Dutch.lproj/UIAgent.nib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/AppleVNCServer.bundle/Contents/Support/LockScreen.app/Contents/Resources/Dutch.lproj/MainMenu.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/AppleVNCServer.bundle/Contents/Support/LockScreen.app/Contents/Resources/Dutch.lproj/MainMenu.nib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/RemoteDesktop.menu/Contents/Resources/Italian.lproj/RemoteDesktopMenu.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/RemoteDesktop.menu/Contents/Resources/Italian.lproj/RemoteDesktopMenu.nib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/AppleVNCServer.bundle/Contents/Support/LockScreen.app/Contents/Resources/Italian.lproj/MainMenu.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/AppleVNCServer.bundle/Contents/Support/LockScreen.app/Contents/Resources/Italian.lproj/MainMenu.nib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/RemoteDesktop.menu/Contents/Resources/Spanish.lproj/RemoteDesktopMenu.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/RemoteDesktop.menu/Contents/Resources/Spanish.lproj/RemoteDesktopMenu.nib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Support/Remote Desktop Message.app/Contents/Resources/Spanish.lproj/UIAgent.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Support/Remote Desktop Message.app/Contents/Resources/Spanish.lproj/UIAgent.nib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/AppleVNCServer.bundle/Contents/Support/LockScreen.app/Contents/Resources/Spanish.lproj/MainMenu.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/AppleVNCServer.bundle/Contents/Support/LockScreen.app/Contents/Resources/Spanish.lproj/MainMenu.nib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/RemoteDesktop.menu/Contents/Resources/French.lproj/RemoteDesktopMenu.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/RemoteDesktop.menu/Contents/Resources/French.lproj/RemoteDesktopMenu.nib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Support/Remote Desktop Message.app/Contents/Resources/French.lproj/UIAgent.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Support/Remote Desktop Message.app/Contents/Resources/French.lproj/UIAgent.nib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/AppleVNCServer.bundle/Contents/Support/LockScreen.app/Contents/Resources/French.lproj/MainMenu.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/AppleVNCServer.bundle/Contents/Support/LockScreen.app/Contents/Resources/French.lproj/MainMenu.nib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/RemoteDesktop.menu/Contents/Resources/German.lproj/RemoteDesktopMenu.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/RemoteDesktop.menu/Contents/Resources/German.lproj/RemoteDesktopMenu.nib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Support/Remote Desktop Message.app/Contents/Resources/German.lproj/UIAgent.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Support/Remote Desktop Message.app/Contents/Resources/German.lproj/UIAgent.nib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/AppleVNCServer.bundle/Contents/Support/LockScreen.app/Contents/Resources/German.lproj/MainMenu.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/AppleVNCServer.bundle/Contents/Support/LockScreen.app/Contents/Resources/German.lproj/MainMenu.nib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/RemoteDesktop.menu/Contents/Resources/Japanese.lproj/RemoteDesktopMenu.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/RemoteDesktop.menu/Contents/Resources/Japanese.lproj/RemoteDesktopMenu.nib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Support/Remote Desktop Message.app/Contents/Resources/Japanese.lproj/UIAgent.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Support/Remote Desktop Message.app/Contents/Resources/Japanese.lproj/UIAgent.nib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/AppleVNCServer.bundle/Contents/Support/LockScreen.app/Contents/Resources/Japanese.lproj/MainMenu.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/AppleVNCServer.bundle/Contents/Support/LockScreen.app/Contents/Resources/Japanese.lproj/MainMenu.nib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Classes/dt.jar", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Classes/dt.jar".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Classes/jce.jar", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Classes/jce.jar".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Classes/jconsole.jar", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Classes/jconsole.jar".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Classes/management-agent.jar", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Classes/management-agent.jar".
User differs on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Home/lib", should be 95, user is 0.
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Home/lib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Home/lib/dt.jar", should be lrwxr-xr-x , they are -rw-r--r-- .
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Home/lib/dt.jar".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Home/lib/jce.jar", should be lrwxr-xr-x , they are -rw-r--r-- .
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Home/lib/jce.jar".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Home/lib/management-agent.jar", should be lrwxr-xr-x , they are -rw-r--r-- .
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Home/lib/management-agent.jar".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Home/lib/security/blacklist", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Home/lib/security/blacklist".
User differs on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Libraries", should be 95, user is 0.
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Libraries".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Resources/JavaPluginCocoa.bundle", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Resources/JavaPluginCocoa.bundle".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Resources/JavaPluginCocoa.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/deploy.jar", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Resources/JavaPluginCocoa.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/deploy.jar".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Resources/JavaPluginCocoa.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/libdeploy.jnilib", should be -rwxr-xr-x , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Resources/JavaPluginCocoa.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/libdeploy.jnilib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Home/lib/security/cacerts", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Home/lib/security/cacerts".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/deploy.jar", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/deploy.jar".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/libdeploy.jnilib", should be -rwxr-xr-x , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/libdeploy.jnilib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/RemoteDesktop.menu/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/RemoteDesktopMenu.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/RemoteDesktop.menu/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/RemoteDesktopMenu.nib".
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/ARDAgent" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Support/Remote Desktop Message.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/UIAgent.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Support/Remote Desktop Message.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/UIAgent.nib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/AppleVNCServer.bundle/Contents/Support/LockScreen.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MainMenu.nib", should be drwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/AppleVNCServer.bundle/Contents/Support/LockScreen.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/MainMenu.nib".

Permissions repair complete

Answer 1

Two possible remedies, and I'd try in this order.

1) Safe Boot, then reboot normally (Read about Safe boot mode in the Help menu)

2) Reset PRAM. This a software reset that I just tried yesterday to fix nuisance problems in 2 Macs that did not respond to a Safe boot.

Crashes like you describe often indicate there is a software screw-up somewhere in the OS. How it got out of whack is going to be tricky to solve, Unless you are good at understanding Console messages. You could try typing Crash in the Console filter blank to see what might snow up.

The 2 steps above are what I would use to attempt a repair.

The next 2 steps are more time consuming, but may be required:

A) Download and re-install the Combo update for your OS. B) Reinstall the OS, then the Combo update.

Your settings and data are safe in both cases UNLESS you "erase and install". That would require complete backup beforehand to save important data/files.

Answer 2

If you haven't tried creating a new user and checking if it also crashes in that user's account, I would suggest trying that.

You could try moving the following preference files out of ~/Library/Preferences/ then log out and back in and see if it still crashes.

com.apple.HIToolbox.plist
com.apple.menuextra.clock.plist
com.apple.systempreferences.plist
com.apple.systemuiserver.plist

(These are all the preference files I found that seem to be related to date & time, but there could be more.)